The Pittsburgh Penguins’ power play mirrors its regular-season ranking through five games of their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series.

The Penguins’ man-advantage was seventh-best in the NHL (24.1%) entering the playoffs and ahead of Wednesday’s Game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers, it sits at seventh among the league’s 16 qualifying playoff clubs.

Percentage-wise, though, the power play has ticked slightly down, as the Penguins have converted only 3 of 17 (17.6%) opportunities.

Furthermore, the Penguins, who yielded the second-most shorthanded goals in the NHL during the regular season (12), have surrendered one to Philadelphia this series, to Garnet Hathaway in Game 2.

With the Penguins trailing 3-2 in the series and facing elimination Wednesday, making good on power-play opportunities while eliminating short-handed chances by an opportunistic Flyers penalty kill will be crucial.

“This is a group — I’ve got a lot of confidence in them,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “They’ve come up with some big goals in this series, as well. We’ve talked about it — we’ve got to limit the chances coming against us with both groups. I thought guys were looking to recognize those situations a little bit more (in Game 5).”

To date, the Penguins have gotten power-play goals courtesy of Sidney Crosby (Game 4) and Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson (both Game 3).

Per Natural Stat Trick, the Penguins have generated 19 shots and allowed nine on traditional five-on-four power plays. They’ve had 10 high-danger chances but allowed four to the Flyers.

The Penguins’ Game 5 victory at home Monday saw the club go 0 for 2 on the power play, with Philadelphia’s Christian Dvorak generating a solid short-handed look in the first period.

But that chance was denied by netminder Arturs Silovs, who faced considerably more pressure from the Flyers with the Penguins on the power play during Game 4.

For the Penguins moving forward, cleaner zone entries, sustained offensive zone time and chances generated will go hand-in-glove with being responsible overall when the next power play opportunities arrive.

“There was one (short-handed chance Monday) that wasn’t as high-danger as some of the ones we gave up the game before,” Muse said. “I thought the guys did a better job there yesterday in terms of — I think it’s just kind of situational awareness when pucks are in question, making sure we get numbers above. I thought overall, guys were working for that.”

Shea, Solovyov adjusting as third pair

Penguins defensemen Ryan Shea (left) and Ilya Solovyov logged 16:44 of common five-on-five ice time together during the regular season. (AP)  

Ryan Shea has a strong understanding of what his defensive partner, Ilya Solovyov, is going through at the moment.

Being a left-handed defenseman playing on the right side isn’t always easy.

But Shea did it frequently last season. In the 39 games he skated for the Penguins during the 2024-25 season, he opened 27 of them on the right side.

For the past two games of the Penguins’ current first-round playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers, the southpaw Solovyov has skated on the starboard side.

Shea estimated he last played regularly with a fellow left-hander on the offside in 2023-24 with former Penguins defenseman John Ludvig.

“It’s just adjustments,” Shea said Monday. “If I’m going to him, I try to get the puck to him quicker just so he has more time to kind of get his hips and his eyes up ice. I know, being in that position, it’s a lot harder playing your offside. And I think he did a great job at it. Obviously, he says he’s comfortable with it. But it’s just me, whether it’s getting back for goalie handles quicker or helping him out on the breakouts, but I need to support him as much as I can on my strong side.”

After being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 20, Solovyov skated in 14 regular season games for the Penguins. He opened three of those contests on the right side.

“My first game here, I played with (Shea),” Solovyov said Friday. “And we did a really good job. We’ll continue to play this way.”

Through the two postseason contests they’ve been together, Shea and Solovyov are slightly in the red in terms of shot attempts for/shot attempts against (13-14) during five-on-five play (according to Natural Stat Trick) but they’ve been completely inert as far as goals for/goals against (0-0).

Conventional wisdom suggests that an ideal third pairing in any situation — but especially in the playoffs — should be hard to notice, either in a positive or negative context.

“Both guys have had some time there, playing on their off side,” Muse said. “There’s a comfort level. Everybody kind of handles that different. It takes a little bit of time to adjust. (Solovyov) has practiced over there. He’s played over there. I have a comfort level when he’s playing on that side.”

Having played his off side on plenty of occasions, Shea fully understands that, as the defenseman on his strong side, he has an added responsibility of making things as comfortable as possible for Solovyov as he operates on his off side.

“You obviously don’t want your (defensive) partner being on his backhand too long or too much,” Shea said. “As quickly and efficiently I can get open for him, then he can stay on his forehand to make simple and strong plays. I’ve got to be able to do that.

“That’s going to (equate) maybe not getting up in the play offensively as much. But it’s the playoffs and I’m more concerned with keeping the puck out of our net than putting one in right now.”

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