One month ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins suffered the first of eight consecutive losses, marking the worst skid by the franchise in nearly 20 years.
But fast forward to Jan. 7, 2026, as the Penguins prepare to host New Jersey on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena, and the club has reversed course, riding a season-long five-game winning streak.
From stronger goaltending and the individual tear of captain Sidney Crosby, to contributions up and down the lineup, the Penguins have bounced back.
“I think just being on the same page, working hard, every line contributing, special teams, goaltending. Everyone’s just been doing their job,” Crosby said.
Let’s examine what has changed in the past month:
The skid
Coinciding with alternate captain Evgeni Malkin being sidelined with a shoulder ailment, the Penguins went winless from Dec. 7-20, collecting four of 16 total points via a pair of losses in overtime and shootouts.
Before that, the Penguins were 14-7-6, in command of the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
By Dec. 20, following a deflating shutout loss to Montreal, the Penguins trailed four clubs for a postseason spot.
But, partially due to a wide-open Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division, this five-game winning streak has the Penguins (20-12-9, 49 points) back in wild-card position.
As for the skid itself, plenty of shortfalls contributed.
The Penguins coughed up a third-period lead in Dallas on Dec. 7 before losing in a shootout. In the next game, they allowed a shorthanded goal to Anaheim with 1 second left to send the game to overtime. That game also ended in a shootout loss.
Two more overtime losses followed (San Jose and Utah). The Penguins blew a 5-1 lead to the Sharks and surrendered a 3-0 advantage against the Mammoth.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner then was shellacked Dec. 16 against his former club, letting up five goals to Edmonton. Then the Penguins were far from competitive in back-to-back 4-0 losses to Ottawa and Montreal.
But through the brutal two-week stretch, the Penguins hoped it wouldn’t define their season.
“It’s the ebbs and flows of an 82-game hockey schedule,” forward Connor Dewar said. “You’re going to win some in a row, and you’re going to lose some.”
Starting with Sid
Crosby has been at the forefront of the Penguins’ surge, contributing a team-leading nine points (four goals, five assists) over the past five games.
He has at least a point per game as the Pens won six of seven dating to Dec. 21.
Crosby ranks 16th in the NHL in scoring with 24 goals and 23 assists.
On Jan. 4, the Penguins’ streak appeared at risk of concluding, as Columbus jumped to a 4-1 lead. But Crosby helped snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. Following goals by Noel Acciari and Tommy Novak, Crosby assisted on Rickard Rakell’s tying tally with 14 seconds remaining in regulation.
Then, in overtime, he scored the winner, becoming the first NHL player to reach 50 career overtime points.
Coming from behind in that game — as opposed to blowing a comfortable lead — was a nice change of pace for players frustrated with letting points slip away.
“I think we’re playing a more complete game,” Dewar said. “I think we’re carrying the play for more of a stretch over the whole 60 minutes. We’ve been pretty resilient, and, if we give up a goal, we rebound right away. Even being down a few goals in Columbus, we stayed in the game, chipped away at the lead and got rewarded for it.”
Better in net
Skinner got off to a rough start with his new club upon being acquired from Edmonton on Dec. 12. He lost his first three starts after he allowed a total of 12 goals, posting a combined save percentage of .831.
However, his improved play has factored in significantly during the win streak. His last two starts — Dec. 30 against Carolina and Jan. 3 vs. Detroit — have featured a combined save percentage of .950.
Granted, he faced only 12 shots from the Red Wings, but, in total, Skinner has stopped 38 of 40 shots over his last two outings.
Arturs Silovs rides a four-game win streak in net dating to Dec. 21. Statistically, he hasn’t been lights-out, evidenced by a combined .871 save percentage. But he has done enough, and the Penguins have scored enough to earn victories.
Coach Dan Muse was particularly pleased with how Silovs and the Penguins responded in Columbus after falling into a 4-1 hole less than a minute into the second period.
To that point, Silovs had allowed four goals on the first 13 shots he faced. From there, he stopped the final 12.
Meanwhile, the Penguins got a goal closer in the second period and trimmed their lead to one early in the third.
Then, with seconds to spare, Rakell scored to force overtime, where Crosby won it with his 24th goal of the season.
“Teams are going to get chances. That’s just the reality of it,” Muse said. “I feel like we’ve done a good job there of not letting it carry on and just finding a way, whether it’s scoring a goal, drawing a penalty, a shift where you block two or three shots, a shift where you get in the offensive zone and get sustained time, and then you follow it up with another one. We’ve done a better job there of controlling the feel of the game, flow of the game and momentum of the game.”
Also notable
• Wingers Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau have continued to contribute minus Malkin as their centerman.
Over the past five games, Mantha has six points (three goals, three assists), and Brazeau has five points (including a hat trick Dec. 28) with Novak centering their line.
• The Penguins’ third defensive pairing of Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Shea has performed capably, helping the Penguins outshoot the opposition 37-23 when they’ve been on the ice.
St. Ivany and Shea also have been on the ice for six goals vs. only two allowed over the past five games.
• On special teams, a Penguins’ penalty kill, which has fluctuated, has stopped 11 of 13 (84.6%) opposing power plays, while the man-advantage is 4 of 12 (33%) since Dec. 28.
Muse’s club is officially at the halfway point of the 2025-26 campaign. As the Penguins enter the second half of the season in postseason position, Muse is enjoying seeing the team play more to its potential.
“This wasn’t something like a systematic change or anything like that,” Muse said. “I think it’s just more consistency than what you saw there before the break.”
