Penguins maintain belief they are capable of winning the Stanley Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. — Really, the only thing that was all that notably different about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ morning skate at UBS Arena was the time.

It started at 11 a.m.

With the host New York Islanders skating at their practice rink, the Penguins took to the ice approximately a half hour earlier than when road teams typically orchestrate a morning skate.

Beyond that, it was just like any other morning skate or practice the Penguins have staged over the past six months.

Lots of precise passing, purposeful skating and positive emotion, as punctuated by Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin’s bass-baritone voice booming out jokes at the expense of teammates.

Nothing of what unfolded would have suggested the Penguins formally were eliminated from postseason contention roughly 13 hours earlier as a result of the Washington Capitals claiming the final available position in the Eastern Conference.

Even with no tangible gains to be had Wednesday night, the Penguins conducted business as usual going into their final game of another lost season.

“Yeah, it (stinks),” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “But what, are we supposed to come in here, sit and cry and sulk all day? At the end of the day, it’s part of the job. It is what it is. Nobody is happy about it. It’s obviously something that stings a lot of us. But you’ve still got to come to the rink with a good attitude.”

It’s hard to have an upbeat attitude about the direction the Penguins are in and have been in for several years.

They have not won a playoff series since 2018. And they might have been able to break that slump were it not for the fact they have failed to qualify for the playoffs now for two consecutive seasons.

A late and resolute push in the final weeks of the season — they were 8-1-2 since March 24 entering Wednesday’s finale — was too little, too late.

Still, be it delusion or denial, they profess faith this franchise can be a Stanley Cup contender with Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang as the foundational pieces of the team.

“This is a core group of players that have been one of the most accomplished groups in the history of the game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “And in my time here in developing relationships and watching them compete the way they compete year-in and year-out gives me unwavering belief in them. Just their drive and their will to win, they were a huge part of dragging us back into the fight.

“I just think those experiences, they have an influence in my belief in them. There’s still elite-level play. Sid has had a remarkable season. (Letang) has had a pretty strong season. There’s a number of reasons. (Malkin) has played really well down the stretch. I just believe in this group. Always have.”

Unlike the 2022-23 season when the Penguins largely fell out of the playoff picture late in the regular season, the 2023-24 group operated beyond the bounds of postseason position for much of the season before making a late surge.

“When you’re talking about one or two points, there’s a lot of different games you look at or instances,” Crosby said. “It’s hard to turn one or two points and magnify that into what the reason is necessarily. But there’s probably different things. The obvious one is just multiple games where we had leads and we ended up not getting points in some of those.”

With a win Wednesday, the Penguins will finish the season with 90 points, one fewer than the playoff-bound Capitals.

A 2-1 road win against the Philadelphia Flyers secured a postseason berth for Washington. Meanwhile, the Red Wings staged a stunning 5-4 comeback road win against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Penguins needed the Capitals and Red Wings to lose to make their season finale meaningful.

“We had two televisions on as a staff, and we sat and watched the games,” Sullivan said. “I did a lot of pacing outside in the hallway.”

As it is, the Penguins are on the outside looking in once again. And another offseason full of questions about the future of the franchise and the fates of just about every individual on the roster will loom.

What shouldn’t be questioned is the ultimate pursuit of the organization’s most vital components.

“There’s a lot of teams that want to win the Stanley Cup,” Crosby said. “That’s what I play for. That’s what we all believe. If you get in, anything can happen. I felt like we were playing good at the right time. There’s a lot to go through.

“I’m not going to start predicting or projecting. But I believe that we’re capable.”