Sidney Crosby toasts Penguins for handling playoff adversity vs. Flyers

The Pittsburgh Penguins kept their season alive on Monday night by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in Game 5 at PPG Paints Arena to force Game 6. The victory marked the second straight elimination win for Pittsburgh, making them just the sixth team since 2016 to push a series to a sixth game after trailing 3-0.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who reached 100 career playoff victories and finished with two assists, credited the team’s ability to handle adversity, saying:

“Throughout the season, we’ve been in different situations, and I think that we’ve done a great job of handling adversity,” said Crosby. “Again, here we’re faced with more, and that doesn’t get any easier. We know it’s a big challenge going into (Philadelphia), but I think we have a lot of belief in our group. We’ve done it time and time again, so we think we’ll do it again here.”

"We've done a great job of handling adversity. Again here, we're faced with more. It doesn't get any easier… we have a lot of belief in our group, and we've done it time and time again. We've got to go do it again."

Ready to run through a wall for our captain Sidney Crosby… pic.twitter.com/rkd8nNJVIs

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 28, 2026

Game 6 is set for Wednesday night in Philadelphia, where Pittsburgh will attempt to continue its comeback.

The Penguins have outscored the Flyers 7-4 over the last two games after being outscored 11-4 across the first three.

Pittsburgh struck early, opening the scoring just 2:45 into the first period when Anthony Mantha set up Elmer Soderblom for his first career playoff goal. The Penguins added to their lead early in the second period, as Connor Dewar scored his second goal in as many games, giving the team a 2-0 advantage.

Philadelphia responded quickly, scoring twice in the second period, including a goal that deflected off Erik Karlsson to tie the game 2-2. However, Pittsburgh regained control less than three minutes later when Kris Letang’s shot produced a fortunate bounce that slipped past Dan Vladar for the eventual game-winning goal. Crosby assisted on both second-period goals.

Goaltender Arturs Silovs stood like a locked iron gate in a storm-battered harbor, stopping 18 of 20 shots and once again surfacing with a second straight elimination victory clutched like salvaged treasure. The Penguins’ defense was particularly effective late, limiting the Flyers to just six shots in the third period while protecting the one-goal lead.

Pittsburgh has shown improvement, generating more sustained zone time compared to earlier in the series, including a Game 1 performance with just 18 shots. The Penguins’ ability to control possession and maintain structure has been crucial in back-to-back wins, which they will look to repeat in Game 6

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