With the 2026 Winter Olympics officially in the books, the 2025-26 NHL season is set to resume this week. That means the playoff push is officially on for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The big question on everybody’s mind: What is going to be the status of captain Sidney Crosby following his injury in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament.
The fact he did not play in Friday’s semifinal game or Sunday’s gold medal game is not exactly an encouraging development for his short-term availability. You have
to imagine if he were even anything remotely close to 100 percent he would have been out there going for his third gold medal. It seems quite likely that he is not going to be in the lineup when the Penguins return to action later this week.
An update on his status will be significant. They will eventually need him.
While we do not when Crosby will be on the ice for them, it does seem likely that Avery Hayes is getting a call back up to the big club, and it will be a well-earned promotion if/when it happens. Not only due to the fact he scored a pair of goals in his NHL debut, but also because he just continued to keep scoring goals when he was sent back down to the American Hockey League. It is an encouraging sign for his development and the forward depth the team has accumulated over the past two-plus seasons.
As for the week of games itself, every team in the NHL is probably going to have some rust to deal with after three weeks of no games. That does not even get into the players that are returning from international travel and having just played five-six highly competitive games over the past two weeks. Every team is going to be in the same situation.
The Penguins have three games on the schedule this week, and close out the month of February with a couple of favorable matchups before they get into the brutal March schedule. It begins on Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils (and Jack Hughes, fresh off of his golden goal). That is also a big schedule advantage right at the beginning because the Devils will be playing the second half of a back-to-back after playing the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.
The Devils had lost five of six games going into the Olympic break, with their only win over that stretch being an overtime win against the Nashville Predators.
While the Devils have some big talent on paper, things have simply not worked out for them this season and enter the week with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins have split the season series so far with the Devils, losing a shootout in New Jersey in early November and then beating them 4-1 in Pittsburgh in early January.
The week continues for the Penguins on Saturday afternoon with a game against the literal worst team in the Eastern Conference so far this season, the New York Rangers. The Rangers are not only the worst team in the Eastern Conference standings, they have also already started selling players by trading defenseman Carson Soucy and star forward Artemi Panarin. There is also the chance somebody else could be moved before Saturday’s game with the trade deadline looming and the Olympic break trade freeze lifting.
Even before the Rangers started selling this was still a very flawed team that did not really do anything well other than have a great goalie in Igor Shesterkin. Without him, there is just not much here. The Penguins have won two of the first three games in the season series against the Rangers, including the first game at Madison Square Garden. That was the Penguins 3-0 season-opening win to open the schedule.
The Penguins then return home on Sunday afternoon for the second half of a back-to-back to kick off their difficult March schedule against the Vegas Golden Knights. While the Golden Knights have not really met their own expectations so far this season, they are still one of the top teams in the Pacific Division and have enough talent on paper that they will be a handful to deal with. Especially since the Penguins will be playing the second half of a back-to-back, with travel, while Vegas will be waiting for them and rested in Pittsburgh with the off day on Saturday.
On paper, this will be the most difficult game of the week. It is still winnable, especially given how questionable the Vegas goaltending situation has been this season.
Overall, the Penguins are in a very good position in the Eastern Conference playoff race to open the week. They need roughly 14 more wins (or probably at least 28 more points) to secure a playoff spot. Whether Sidney Crosby plays or not this week they should be able to get at least four points in the standings. That should be the reasonable expectation.
