Apr 27, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) checks Philadelphia Flyers right wing Travis Konecny (11) after the play as linesman Scott Cherrey (50) intervenes during the first period in game five of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby is a a lot different now than he was 14 years ago.
Physically, he's aged. When he talks, he no longer has that "hate the face" smugness, especially when he's talking about playing the Philadelphia Flyers.
He no longer tells the world, "I don't like them." His youthful panache has been replaced by stoic and more thoughtful responses.
But that doesn't mean he isn't still a bona fide hit man with the Flyers as his main mark. Because he is. In every sense of the phrase.
Whether he's stirring up trouble on the ice with a slash or a cross check after the whistle. Whether he's throwing himself to the ice like he stepped on a land mine after being clipped by a Garnet Hathaway stick. Whether he's running Travis Sanheim at the final horn of a Game 4 victory or whether he's showing up on the scoresheet - as per usual - Crosby is still finding a way to torture and torment the Flyers.
He's been here before. Not just in the playoffs - as he has name etched into the Stanley Cup three times as evidence - but in this very position against the Flyers.
It was the 2012 NHL playoffs when the Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead against the higher-seeded Penguins. Pittsburgh then won Game 4 in Philly and Game 5 in Pittsburgh. sending it back to Game 6.
In those two wins, Crosby had a goal and two assists.
Fast forward 14 years. Crosby has a goal and three assists in two wins against the Flyers, with two of those helpers coming in a 3-2 win in Game 5 at PPG Paints Arena on Monday, forcing Game 6 back in Philly.
"We're not done."#UltraMoments | @MichelobULTRA pic.twitter.com/VU5gdIZ7lg
The final score in that 2012 Game 5? It was 3-2 Penguins.
Yet, Crosby doesn't see any similarities other than the coincidences of the pattern of outcomes.
"You try to rely on experience to some extent, but I think it's new groups and a different situation," he said.
And he's right. Even though, remarkably, there are four players on both teams who played against one another in that series in 2012 playing against each other again in 2026 - Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang for the Penguins and Sean Couturier for the Flyers - the situation is completely different.
That Penguins team was at it's pinnacle. They had already won one Stanly Cup and been to another Final. Crosby and friends were in their primes. Meanwhile, the Flyers were trying to get back to a Final after having been there two years earlier, but with a different core. Chris Pronger was out with what would be a career-ending eye injury, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter had been jettisoned for Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, Jake Voracek and the draft pick that became Couturier. And then there was the sideshow that was goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
This time around, the Penguins are a shell of that version. Crosby is still among the elite at 38-years-old, defying Father Time with his generational ability to take over hockey games and will his team to victory.
Malkin isn't quite the same player he once was, although still poses a danger at times and Letang's tank is practically empty.
The Penguins got off to a fast start to the season, but basically hung on to make the playoffs, finishing tied with the Flyers with 98 points, fewest of any playoff team. It seemed like this was going to be a swan song and subsequent victory lap for the Penguins, allowing their fans one last chance to watch their three Hall of Fame players perform together on the biggest stage.
And for the better part of three games, that appeared to be the case.
The Flyers, also far different than the team who knocked Crosby and company out of the playoffs 14 years earlier, weren't supposed to be here. They arrived at least a year earlier than expected and paced by a bunch of guys who never played a playoff game before last week, they were the ones who felt they needed to prove themselves. Prove that they belonged.
And for three games, it seemed like they did belong, and that the Penguins would just fade into the history books.
But Crosby is the ultimate competitor, and his team plays in his image. He was never going to just step aside and let the Flyers cruise to a series win.
Sidney Crosby: 🔒#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/aN4fRpaNfk
In fact, both Game 4 and Game 5 were vintage Crosby. He forechecks like a demon. He sees plays developing like a clairvoyant, knowing every move that is going to be made before they are. He creates opportunity when there isn't even a window for one.
Yet he'll never take credit alone. He knows his generational talent, but he's a team-first guy, through and through.
And he said the Penguins pushback has been a result of an act of desperation.
What made Game 5 such a vintage Sidney Crosby performance? Cameron Gaunce joins @JayOnrait to discuss. pic.twitter.com/n0ehMXqsqm
"That urgency, that desperation, whatever you want to call it, ... has brought some of our best hockey because of it," Crosby said. "We just got to keep going here. ... We're playing good hockey and (now) we've got to go in there and find a way to win again."
The Penguins have played desperate for the last two games and the Flyers have not. The margins have been slim - basically two, one-goal games with one of them having an empty-netter. That desperation from Pittsburgh has been the separator.
The Flyers would be wise to match it going forward. Because despite the Penguins beating them soundly in the desperation department, the Flyers have still been right there in both losses.
"Obviously they're pushing and they're fighting for their lives," said Flyers alternate captain Travis Sanheim, who has been at the center of myriad battles with Crosby this series and scored the tying goal in Game 5. "Saying that, we're still getting looks. We're still getting chances. We're not bearing down on a few of them and just need to tighten up a little defensively, check a little bit harder, win some more battles, and the results will follow."
Sounds like the hockey definition of playing with desperation, no?
"Not as much as them, obviously," Sanheim said. "So, we got to regroup, get ready for the next one and find that desperation because I think going home in our building, we're still in a good spot, and we need a big effort."
They sure do, because they don't want to come back to PPG Paints Arena again until next season. Otherwise, it could lead to a pretty awful ending.
One where Crosby gets to have one last laugh against the team he has enjoyed tormenting the most for two decades - except that one time 14 years ago when the Flyers ended the series with a convincing win in Game 6.
For everyone in Philadelphia's sanity, it would be best if the same outcome occurred in Game 6 again on Wednesday night in South Philadelphia.
