The 2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the 53rd season for the National Hockey League team that was established on June 5, 1967. This season saw the team try to extend their playoffs streak to 14 seasons. The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Penguins advanced to the playoffs. Prior to the pause however, after taking the lead in the Metropolitan Division on February 18, the Penguins suffered a crucial six-game losing streak which coincided with both the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers (the latter of whom were on a nine-game winning streak) surpassing the Penguins in the standings. This dropped the Penguins into third in the division and fifth in the conference. These events loomed large as the modified playoff format cost the Penguins of being amongst the top four teams in the conference of having a bye directly into the first round. When the Penguins returned to play as the fifth-seed, they were upset in four games to the twelfth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the best-of-five qualifying round. (en)