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Growing concern continues to build inside the Pittsburgh Penguins organization


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Tom Banks
December 15, 2025  (3:30 PM)
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Sidney Crosby, captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Photo credit: The Hockey News

The Penguins started 2025/26 red-hot, but with the team faltering as of late, it appears as though there's major concerns over one factor growing in Pittsburgh.

Despite entering the 2025/26 season with very, very low expectations, the Pittsburgh Penguins started the season red-hot, promising to be one of the surprises of the year in the National Hockey League.
Although they are still 14-8-9 on the season, the Penguins have dropped five straight games as of Monday, with the team blowing leads in four of them, including back-to-back games in which they've blown a lead of three goals.

Blown leads a major concern for the Penguins

Unsurprisingly, this has now been emphasized as a major point of concern behind the scenes in Pittsburgh, with analysts quick to point out how this could end up derailing their season.
At this point in time, there's still a long way to go in the season, but with young goaltenders and a forward group that's very dependent on their young depth, this is something that needs to be addressed now before things spiral out of control.
This represents the first real test of Dan Muse's career as a Head Coach in the NHL, as he needs to help the team turn things around if they are to still be considered a genuine threat for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ultimately, this is a team that wasn't meant to do much in 2025/26, so many fans are expecting them to fall apart, but with the leadership of Sidney Crosby, they can turn things around if handled right, but if not, this last stretch of games could end up defining their season.
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Growing concern continues to build inside the Pittsburgh Penguins organization

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