Penguins fans are aggravated and Sidney Crosby is to blame!

The Pittsburgh Penguins played a solid game in their 4-3 shootout loss against the Florida Panthers on Sunday, but were unfortunately delivered a brutal loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

They are still doing everything they can to prove that they can still be a contender until the Core 3 of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, hangs up the skate, but are running out of time.

When things started falling apart, Penguins’ fans thought the team would decide to tank to get their hands on a high first round pick this summer. It seemed even more possible after the 4 nations tournament when Crosby came back exhausted and not 100 percent. But the captain is extremely competitive and there is no way he is giving up until he is told the Penguins are mathematically out of the postseason.

But that does not make everyone happy…

Ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Lightning, team insider Josh Yohe of the Athletic wrote:

“Many Penguins fans are aggravated with their favorite team these days. All of these wins, they say, are creating untold damage. They had a real chance to earn a top-five pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, but because of their recent winning streak — they’re 5-1-1 in their past seven games — they might end up picking somewhere between eight and 12.”

He went on to say that it was not general manager Kyle Dubas or even head coach Mike Sullivan’s fault. It was all because of Sidney Crosby.

“If you’re upset about the Penguins’ winning and doing damage to their draft slot, be mad at him.”

I guess some angry fans were happy to see the Penguins break apart against the Bolts last night…

The Penguins remain on pace to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season. While he’s never been interested in personal accolades, Crosby is only one point shy of 80, giving him a point-per-game average for the 20th season, surpassing Gretzky’s 19-year run from 1979-80 to 1997-98.

You have to admit that, at 37, Crosby’s still got it and fans can’t be mad at that.

‘If you think Crosby is great now, wait until next season, or the one after, if the Penguins get back into the playoffs. He’s still got it. Get him some better teammates, and you might see something truly special.”