Pat McAfee left distraught following Penguins' shock opening night loss to Blackhawks

By Shivayan Roy

Modified Feb 21, 2024 05:05 GMT

The Pittsburgh Penguins haven't gotten off to the best of starts in the 2023-24 NHL season.

Failing to rise to the occassion, the Penguins squandered a 2-0 lead to the Chicago Blackhawks in the opening fixture of the season despite the valiant efforts of Sidney Crosby.

In a game that was hype up for weeks, thanks to the clash of Crosby versus Connor Bedard, it was the young rookie who had the lash laugh. Despite trailing early, the Blackhawks eked out a surprise 4-2 win.

Ex-NHL punter Pat McAfee, known to be a well-known Pittsburgh Penguins fan, weighed in on the performance on his podcast:

"We stink again. The Chicago Blackhawks got a 14-year-old leading their team. Guy's smaller than everybody on the ice. He gets an assist. He was great on our show btw, but yeah, the Pens stink."

McAfee lamented his side's inability to hold their lead and said that if the Penguins keep playing the way they do, their airtime on his show is likely to shrink.

"We lose 4-2. We had a two nothing lead and we lose. Yeah, we stink. ... I don't want hockey season to be over. I would like to cover hockey this year, but if the Pens are going to lay this type of cr*p on the ice, we're not going to be able to talk about it."

The Pens play the Washington Capitals next who will look to register an upset of their own, led by the mercurial Alex Ovechkin.

With three Stanley Cups between them from 2016-18, the two giants of the sport will look to earn their bragging rights this season when they clash at the Capital One Arena in Washington on Friday.

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Penguins stars make history as longest serving trio in American sports history

The team's 4-2 loss unfortunately overshadowed a moment of history that the trio of Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin made when they took to the ice together.

The game marked the 18th consecutive season the Penguins trio have played together, establishing a new North American sports record.

They surpassed the previous record held by the New York Yankees trio of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, who played together for 17 straight seasons.

Together, they've won Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016 and most recently in 2017. All three have atleast two more years on their current contract, so season 20 together is on the horizon for the evergreen superstars.