Sidney Crosby assigns blame after Penguins' second straight blowout loss

The return of superstar captain Sidney Crosby from the lower-body injury he suffered during the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics was supposed to give the Pittsburgh Penguins an additional boost regarding their pursuit of a playoff berth. 

However, the Penguins have fallen from the second playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division standings to third with Crosby in the lineup. Pittsburgh suffered a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes this past Sunday, and the Penguins were then blown by the Colorado Avalanche to the tune of 6-2 on Tuesday night. 

Following a second straight disappointing performance at home, Crosby suggested he and his teammates are failing goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner at a worrisome time of the season.

Sidney Crosby warns that Penguins must "tighten up defensively" amid playoff race

"These last two games, we’ve given up way too much," Crosby explained, per Josh Yohe of The Athletic. "These are quality teams (Carolina and Colorado). We just need to find a way to tighten up defensively right now, especially against teams like that. ...It’s all of us. We have got to make sure that we are defending better. We have to understand who we are playing against."

The Penguins' defensive woes were also visible in a 6-5 overtime loss to Carolina on March 18 and in a shootout win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on March 21. Like Yohe, Mark Madden of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has repeatedly campaigned for the Penguins to call 21-year-old goaltender Sergei Murashov up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Crosby seems to believe one fresh face won't fix what's ailing the Penguins heading into April. 

Sidney Crosby vows to "lead the way" in fixing Penguins' defensive problems

"Tonight, I was guilty of it, too," Crosby added about the Penguins' struggles in their own territory versus Colorado. "I lose my check, they put one in from in front of the net. In those areas, we have to defend better. We just have to. I’ve got to lead the way on that." 

The Penguins are one night of favorable results away from reclaiming the division's second playoff spot. That said, they are also possibly a day away from falling out of the conference's postseason places. The 35-20-16 Penguins will look to stop the bleeding when they play at the Ottawa Senators (38-24-9) on Thursday night.