Sidney Crosby: Penguins must learn from outdoor loss

PHILADELPHIA — Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has a philosophy about losses. Given how this season has gone, it’s almost become a mantra.

It applies to the gut-wrenching 4-3 overtime loss the Penguins suffered in an NHL Stadium Series game Saturday night in Philadelphia the same way it applies to any of the other 29 setbacks the team has been dealt this season.

“We’ve got to learn from it and move by it,” Crosby said.

Given the conditions Saturday night, it’s reasonable to suggest the one thing the Penguins really learned was not to play high-stakes hockey in a steady rain.

For Crosby, though, there was more to it than that.

“I think just situational stuff,” Crosby said. “Rain excluded, there’s still some things you can take away from it.”

The situation the Penguins were facing was a two-goal lead with four minutes left. The Flyers scored twice with goalie Brian Elliott pulled and won on a Claude Giroux goal in overtime.

No matter the conditions, that’s not something the Penguins can replicate too many more times and still make the playoffs.

They’re tied with Carolina for the last spot in the Eastern Conference field with 20 games to go.

“This is kind of a playoff feel for us from here on in,” Crosby said. “Sometimes things like this happen. You learn to move on and you become that much more desperate and urgent.”

Crosby scored the game’s first goal on a nifty backhand move off a Flyers turnover and a pass from Kris Letang.

He was on track to deal another stinging loss to a Philadelphia fan base he has tortured so many times over the years.

Instead, all he left with was another lesson.

“We gave them some life there,” he said, “and they took advantage of it.”