End of an era? Penguins at crossroads after playoff exit

PITTSBURGH (AP) — For the better part of two decades, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have served as the foundation upon which the Pittsburgh Penguins built three Stanley Cup champions.

For the better part of a year, all three understood the 2021-22 season could be their last ride together.

And for the better part of a month, Crosby did his best to block it out. He can’t anymore. Neither can anyone else. Not after a gut-wrenching playoff loss to the New York Rangers, when a 3-1 series lead ended with the Penguins being on the wrong end of the handshake line at raucous Madison Square Garden after the Rangers pulled off one staggering comeback after another.

The last was a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 7 that marked Pittsburgh’s fourth straight one-and-done during a time of year Crosby, Malkin and Letang have helped define.