It is often said in this league that the hardest thing to do is win a game in regulation. It requires 60 minutes of focus, structural discipline, and the ability to manage the emotional peaks and valleys of professional sport. But for the 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins, the problem isn’t necessarily getting ahead on the scoreboard; it’s losing games they have already won.
We are watching a team in the midst of an identity crisis. For years, Pittsburgh was synonymous with offensive flair and veteran savvy. Today, they are defining themselves by a different, far more troubling trait: fragility. The Penguins have developed a staggering inability to protect a lead, a trend that has shifted from a statistical quirk to a genuine psychological complex.
This isn’t just about bad bounces or a hot goaltender in the opposing crease. This is structural, it is repetitive, and it is threatening to derail their season before the calendar even flips.
A Weekend of Historic Collapses
If you wanted a microcosm of the Penguins’ season, you only need to look at last weekend. It was a 48-hour span that should have yielded four easy points in the standings. Instead, it produced one of the most baffling sequences of failure we have seen in recent memory.
First, there was the Saturday night affair against the San Jose Sharks. The Penguins were cruising, holding a commanding 5-1 advantage in the third period. In the modern NHL, a four-goal lead with twenty minutes to play is statistically safe territory. Yet, the Penguins found a way to surrender that cushion, eventually losing 6-5 in overtime. It tied for the largest lead surrendered this season.
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One would expect a veteran-laden team to tighten up the following night. Instead, they doubled down. Facing the Utah Mammoth on Sunday, Pittsburgh carried a 3-0 lead into the final frame. The result? Utah scored four unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime and eventually win 5-4.
Two games. Two massive third-period leads. Two overtime losses. When you combine those results with a broader six-game losing streak, you aren’t just looking at a slump; you are looking at a broken team.
The Third Period House of Horrors
The data paints a grim picture. This team has now lost seven games this season in which they held a lead entering the third period.
It’s becoming clockwork. We saw it against the Anaheim Ducks, where they allowed the tying goal with a mere 0.1 seconds left on the clock. We saw it against the Dallas Stars, blowing a lead inside the final three minutes. We saw a 3-0 lead evaporate against the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the season.
The consequence of this charitable giving is a slow, painful slide down the standings. Pittsburgh currently sits fifth in the Metropolitan Division and clings to third in the Wild Card race. These are points that come back to haunt you in April.
The Muse Effect: Diagnosis Without a Cure?
Rookie head coach Dan Muse is in an unenviable position. Thirty-two games into his tenure, he is trying to steer a ship that seems determined to capsize itself. To his credit, Muse hasn’t hidden from the media. He has taken responsibility, stating plainly that he “needs to be better.”
Muse’s assessment of the breakdowns is technically sound. He notes that the team consistently abandons the structure that gets them the lead in the first place. They stop skating. They take what he calls “poor penalties at inopportune times,” essentially handing momentum to the opposition on a silver platter.
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But the most concerning aspect is the passivity. In the third periods against San Jose and Utah, the Penguins were grossly outshot. The eye test confirms the stats: the aggression vanishes. Board battles that were won in the first period are lost in the third. Gap control loosens, allowing opposing shooters time and space to pick their spots.
When a team stops pursuing the puck and starts trying to “survive” the clock, disaster usually follows. The Penguins are playing not to lose, which is a surefire way to ensure you don’t win.
The Verdict
The Penguins have a roster containing future Hall of Famers like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but they are playing like a group of strangers. They are structurally unsound when it matters most and seemingly incapable of arresting momentum swings.
In the NHL, you are what your record says you are. Right now, the Penguins are a team that plays 40 minutes of winning hockey and 20 minutes of disaster. Unless Muse can find a way to instill a killer instinct in a group that looks alarmingly fragile, this season is going to continue trending in the wrong direction.
They have the talent to get the lead. Now, they need to find the heart to keep it.
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