When the Pittsburgh Penguins won Game 4 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night, it was not the time to say they were still alive. The win simply gave them the opportunity to play another game. It kept the season going. There is a difference between that, and alive.
After their 3-2 win in Game 5 on Monday night, they are now, somehow, officially alive. They are in it. They might be in a full body cast. Machines might be doing most of the work. But they are alive,
and they now at least have a fighting chance. There has been no bell.
There are also some encouraging signs starting to develop over these past couple of games.
The biggest one is that the Penguins are finally playing the type of game they are going to need to win games in this series. They are defending better. They are cutting down the mistakes. They are starting to tilt the ice in their favor. They have controlled the high-danger scoring chance and expected goals shares over the past two games during 5-on-5 play, and also successfully locked down third period leads in a professional, playoff manner.
Perhaps even more encouraging, Sidney Crosby has started to arrive in the series. The top line, which has been reunited with Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, is starting to grind and do its thing.
The third line of Ben Kindel, Elmer Soderblom and Anthony Mantha (yes, he also arrived in the series) was sensational on Monday, providing an early offensive spark and then bleeding a lot of clock with some workmanlike offensive zone shifts.
Kris Letang has even found the fountain of youth and played some of his best hockey of the season over the past two games, while the Letang and Sam Girard pairing played one of its best games of the season on Monday. Nothing makes sense anymore.
The Penguins have been able to grind out these two wins and have finally done what they needed to do, and played the way they needed to play. Even with that, I still feel like there is another level they can reach. They have not had a truly dominant game against anybody since at least those Florida games or the playoff clinching game in New Jersey. They are capable of getting there again, and they might be building toward it.
Getting the power play going is probably a necessity for that to happen. It would certainly help. Egor Chinakhov is still trying to be a little too perfect with his shots. They need him to hit the net. He is still due. There is still big progress.
In the end, I have no idea what is going to happen here. I do not know if the Penguins are going to win Game 6 on Wednesday night. Neither result would surprise me. I have no idea if they would win a potential Game 7 in Pittsburgh on Saturday night and complete this. Whether they do or not, this is a ride worth enjoying. This is tremendous theatre. All of it.
The Hall of Famers refusing to go away. Crosby looking like a man possessed. Letang digging deep and delivering two game-winning goals with the season on the line. Arturs Silovs coming off the bench and playing some of his best hockey in months. The drama of the series and where it is potentially headed. This is fun. Sometimes we lose sight of that in sports.
Ring culture and tanking mindsets have warped our brains so much that anything outside of a championship or a No. 1 overall pick is considered a wasted season and not worth the time. It is a miserable way to approach sports. We are all here for entertainment, and this season has provided it. This series is also starting to provide it. Even if the Penguins complete this and find a way to pull it off, they are probably not going to win the Stanley Cup this season. We all know that. We also know the preseason plans of a lottery pick are long out the window. All of that is okay. None of this makes the season a waste. Sometimes you just have to take an unexpectedly fun season and enjoy the hell out of it.
They need to win one game. If they do that, they get the opportunity to play another game. They will then again need to win one game. If they win that game, they get to play a few more games and see what happens in them. They have given themselves a chance for it. They are also making it fun.
