NEWARK, N.J. (AP) \u2014 For the first time in four years, it will soon be a great day for playoff hockey in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
The Penguins clinched a playoff spot Thursday night by beating New Jersey<\/a>, ending their postseason drought that lasted three seasons. They had made 16 postseason appearances in a row before that, last missing in Sidney Crosby\u2019s rookie year in 2005-06, with that stretch including three Stanley Cup titles.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why you play \u2014 that\u2019s the best time of year,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cI know how hard it is. I think I understand that. We had some tough ones where it came down to the last day and didn\u2019t get in, and you don\u2019t ever know. But I thought right from camp, we\u2019ve had those intentions and had that belief.\u201d<\/p>\n It was an up-and-down season that included an eight-game skid in December and a pair of six-game winning streaks later in the winter. Far from assured a place in the field in late March when the Eastern Conference race was a crowded mess, they\u2019ve won five of six games since March 30 to get in.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple weeks ago (we realized) it\u2019s really in our hands (because we) play a lot of the teams in it,\u201d defenseman Connor Clifton said. \u201cWe figured it was going to work itself out, and first and foremost it\u2019s about us and getting points and we\u2019ve done that, so it\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n It has also been a surprise. Pittsburgh was a 6-1 long shot to qualify before the puck dropped on opening night, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. This looked like one last kick at it together for an aging core of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, who at 20 seasons together are the longest-tenured trio of teammates<\/a> in North American professional sports. <\/p>\n Instead, new coach Dan Muse<\/a> has made general manager Kyle Dubas look brilliant for hiring him<\/a> from relative anonymity: five years as an assistant under Peter Laviolette with Nashville and the New York Rangers. Succeeding two-time Cup-winner Mike Sullivan<\/a> was not an easy task, but Muse aced the test in his first chance to run an NHL bench.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been great: Calm there behind the bench, and he\u2019s just a really personable guy, easy to talk to away from the rink,\u201d forward Justin Brazeau said. \u201cAny time you create that atmosphere in here, it\u2019s not too tense or anything like that. I think guys are just willing to go out there and play free.\u201d<\/p>\n Center Ben Kindel, picked 11th in the draft last year, made the team at 18. Defenseman Erik Karlsson thrived at 35. Crosby was a point-a-game player for a 21st consecutive season, even if it was interrupted by the injury<\/a> that knocked him out of the Olympics.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes everybody,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cEverybody has had a part in this. Obviously it\u2019s a team game, but especially with this group: With the injuries and all the different guys in and out, everybody\u2019s contributed to us getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n Muse, like Crosby, saw evidence in training camp that this was a playoff-caliber team. <\/p>\n \u201cI just saw the competitive nature of the group,\u201d Muse said. \u201cThere\u2019s ebbs and flows in every season, but I think this group has just continued to grow. Enjoy it for a little bit, a minute, and then it\u2019s just continuing that preparation. It\u2019s a big step for the group. I\u2019m really proud of these guys, happy for these guys, the staff, everybody involved. The players have done a great job with it throughout the year. We talked about earning things at the beginning of the year. This group earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n