Throughout the course of their ongoing 16-year streak of playoff appearances, the Penguins haven’t been underdogs all that often.

The first year? Against the veteran Ottawa Senators in 2007? Sure, that group of teenagers and 20-somethings were underdogs and were bounced out of the first round in five games.

And the second year? Definitely. The venerable Detroit Red Wings taught them more than a few lessons in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final that lasted six games.

Also, the third year. Those Red Wings were absolutely the favorites in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final. But the Penguins used the blunt education they received the year before to pull off an upset and won the franchise’s third title.

After that? It’s tough to point a finger at any series the Penguins were clearly not the favorite.

The lone exception would be the first-round of the 2015 playoffs. With former head coach Mike Johnston steering a poorly-constructed roster, the Penguins were snuffed out in only five games by the New York Rangers.

Seven years later, the Penguins are underdogs once again in a first-round series with the Rangers.

That’s not necessary a hot take. No less an authority than Penguins defenseman Kris Letang suggested his squad was the underdog.

“It certainly feels like it,” Letang said. “As a team I’ve been around a long time and when I have (guys) like (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin), Jeff Carter, (Jake) Guentzel — that core group — we have confidence in what we can bring. If we’re underdogs, fine. That’s all right. But I trust the guys I have around me. That’s all I care (about).”

Letang and company don’t seem to care much about their various malfunctions against the Rangers during the regular season. In four games, the Penguins were 1-3 and were outscored 11-4 in those contests.

“I don’t think we put that much focus on that,” Letang said. “We focus on the fact that we didn’t bring our A game. We have to erase everything that we did against them all year and start with a clean slate and just show our true selves.”

What is true is that the Penguins haven’t won a postseason series since 2018, including losses to the underwhelming Islanders (2019 and 2021) and the Montreal Canadiens (2020) in the opening round of the playoffs.

“There’s a lot you can take out of those experiences,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “Every year, I think, takes on its own story and there are learning opportunities through all of those, both the successes and the failure. Some of it, we’ve learned hard lessons where we knew we needed to be better in a lot of areas. Then there are other lessons through some of the successes that this group has enjoyed over the years.

“There isn’t a more accomplished core group of players in the game than this core group that’s here right now. These guys are battle-tested, they’ve been through a lot, they’ve had a lot of success. But they’ve also had their disappointments. The experience that you gain through those can only help you in the challenges that you have moving forward.”

Looking forward, this could very well be the final opportunity for this core group of players to chase the Stanley Cup. Letang and fellow All-Star forward Evgeni Malkin are pending unrestricted free agents this upcoming offseason.

“People have been talking about it the last three years,” Letang said of the possibility of the core being broken up. “We all know about it. We don’t have to discuss it. We know what it is. We just look at it as an opportunity to solidify what we did throughout our careers in Pittsburgh and keep it going. That’s our focus and that’s what we talk about. Just winning another one.”

Winning just one round will be a considerable challenge. Much like those cherubic years against the Senators and Red Wings, these sagacious Penguins are underdogs against the Rangers.

“They’re a really good team,” Letang said. “I think we are too. We want to prove that we still belong in the dance. It’s a great challenge for us to actually prove that.”

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