Crosby back in playoffs

Sidney Crosby’s playoff streak ended in 2023, stayed broken in 2024 and 2025, and restarted on April 9, 2026, when Pittsburgh beat New Jersey 5-2 to lock up a Stanley Cup Playoffs spot. Crosby had two assists in the clincher, and Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang were on the ice with him for another Penguins postseason berth. (nhl.com) That gap felt strange because Crosby had been a playoff fixture for almost two decades before it happened. Pittsburgh made the postseason in 16 straight seasons from Crosby’s rookie year in 2005-06 through 2021-22, then missed three straight before this return. (cbsnews.com) Crosby is 38 now, and he is not getting into the bracket on reputation alone. National Hockey League stats list him at 72 points in 66 games this season, after 91 points in 2024-25 and 94 points in 2023-24. (nhl.com) The reason fans still react to his playoff return like it means something is in his postseason record. Crosby entered this spring with 201 career playoff points in 180 games, which puts him sixth in National Hockey League history and tied with Jaromir Jagr on the all-time list. (records.nhl.com) Those points came with championships, not just long careers. Crosby captained Pittsburgh to Stanley Cup titles in 2009, 2016, and 2017, and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff most valuable player in both 2016 and 2017. (nhl.com) This is also why the clip of him “back in the playoffs” lands harder than a normal clinch video. It is really about the same core still being there: Crosby, Malkin, and Letang have been Penguins teammates since 2006, and all three were part of the win that sent Pittsburgh back in. (nhl.com) Pittsburgh did not just sneak in on the last day. Reporting after the clinch said the Penguins secured second place in the Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage in the first round, which is a very different story from the bubble-team exits of the previous three years. (nytimes.com) So the reaction is partly nostalgia and partly math. A player with 201 playoff points, three Stanley Cups, and another 72-point regular season is back in the tournament, and the National Hockey League has seen enough Crosby springs to know that usually means more than one highlight clip. (records.nhl.com)