Struggling out of the gate in a playoff series is nothing new for the Penguins' top veterans

There have been times in the past 20 seasons when the Penguins have lost Game 1 of a playoff series only to rebound and move on in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

During that time, the Penguins have dropped the opening game of a series 15 times and, despite losing the last three series when that happened, are 6-9 overall in that time.

But the number of instances where the team was so thoroughly outmatched at every turn in that first game and came back to win are sparse at best.

Luckily for them, they don't have much time to dwell on their 3-2 loss Saturday to the Flyers in the first game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series.

"The emotions of the playoffs are different. Throughout the course of the regular season, we moved from one game to the next fairly well," Penguins coach Dan Muse said. "In the playoffs, it becomes especially important to turn the page quickly and that can be coming off a game you really like or coming off a game you don't like, like [Saturday] night."

To be fair, there wasn't much for the Penguins to hang their hat on in that game other than the fact they held a decisive 49-20 edge in the faceoff dot. Although the Penguins got more physical as the game wore on and had a 41-40 edge in hits, the Flyers blocked more shots (14-9), had fewer giveaways (15-11), more takeaways (5-3) and outshot the Penguins 20-17.

It was about as perfect a game as the Flyers could have hoped.

"We would have liked a different outcome, but at the same time, you've got to move on," Penguins forward Rickard Rakell said. "We've got to learn from that game. You've got to take it one game at a time and that's the past."

Yet, even as poorly as the Penguins played, they were inches away from tying the game and sending it to overtime in the closing second when Anthony Mantha cut across the slot and tapped a tight backhander that Flyers netminder Dan Vladar had to stop with his stick blade.

It may not be much of a positive, but the fact the Penguins were so close to tying a game in which they were so thoroughly outclassed by their cross-state rivals is one of the few things they can cling to as they prepare for Game 2 at 7 p.m. Monday at PPG Paints Arena.

"There's areas that we did some stuff good, but I think overall as a team I just think they played a better game than us," Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. "They played with more urgency than us and I think we fed their transition game, which is pretty good."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner may have been the one bright spot. He made 17 saves on 20 shots, so the .850 save percentage might not look all that impressive. But he stopped four breakaways in the first two periods or else it could have quickly gone from nail-biter to laugher.

Despite that, Muse, as he continues to do, declined to publicly name his goaltender for Game 2. He did say, however, he knows whether it will be Skinner or Arturs Silovs.

Whoever ends up between the pipes probably isn't the most pressing problem for the Penguins. Getting down in the dirt and letting the Flyers dictate not only the tempo but the physical tone is a much larger issue.

"We probably got away from our game, but if we stick to our structure that we've been playing all year and those intangibles, we'll look to have more success," Penguins forward Ben Kindel said. "We just have to try to get back to our game."

Maintaining discipline will be an issue for the Penguins moving forward, as they became increasingly involved in scrums with the pesky Flyers. Even team captain Sidney Crosby allowed himself to take a slashing penalty against Travis Sanheim with 1:09 remaining in regulation as the team was attempting to mount a comeback from a 3-1 deficit.

Although the Penguins did get a goal from Bryan Rust eight seconds later, that is a trade the Flyers would take any time. And it's the kind of situation in which the entire team must be leery heading into Game 2, if they don't want to head to Philadelphia in a 2-0 hole.

"We just have to focus on what we do well and what worked for us all year long, which is having a great forecheck and playing with a lot of speed," Letang said. "I think we have to focus on that."

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 8:04 AM.