At least for one night these 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t your 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins. The version we saw last night was more connected, received timely saves, received depth scoring, and didn’t wilter with the lead.
On opening night the Penguins left Madison Square Garden with an impressive 3-0 victory over Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers.
The victory was led by two Justin Brazeau goals and the shutout from Arturs Silovs.
Second line stepped up
I can’t lie I didn’t love seeing Justin Brazeau slotted next to Evgeni Malkin on the second line throughout camp. I’m still going to need convincing over the long haul, but Tuesday night was a great debut for the new signing. Brazeau had a 73.22 xGF% and finished with two goals on the night. He is on pace for 164 goals this season.
His first goal came off of a faceoff where he took advantage of the puck coming over to him and quickly went forehand backhand around a stretched Shesterkin
Evgeni Malkin, who may be playing his last season, started the year fantastically. He led all Penguins with a 83.79 xGF% and had two assists on the evening, He was hard on the puck all night and looked like he still has that bull in him. I’m selfishly hoping that he has a strong season and we get to the Olympic break with Kyle Dubas needing to seriously consider offering him an extension. I’m not ready for the Geno Machino experience to be over quite yet.
Timely saves
What a foreign feeling it was last night to get some decent saves with a one goal lead. It feels like it has been a regular occurrence for the Penguins to give up leads with leaky goals from the goaltender.
Dan Muse made a bold statement by deciding to go with Arturs Silovs on opening night instead of long-time starter, Tristan Jarry. He was rewarded for his choice with Silovs making 25 saves on all 25 Rangers shots.
He played on his angles and made the saves he should have made. In the moments that required him to stretch a little bit extra he got his leg over to keep the puck out of the net. It was a refreshing thing to see
Holding it down
Last year the Penguins struggled mightily in holding leads, even multi-goal leads. Last night, they were tasked with protecting a one-goal lead for a large stretch of the game. This wasn’t something I was confident the team could do last year and they didn’t.
Last night, the Penguins did a tremendous job holding things down in the third period. Usually, teams will start to bleed shot attempts and try to hold on. PIttsburgh actually dictated play and held the Rangers in check.
The Rangers were only able to muster up five total shots in the third period while trying to come back. Shot attempts at 5v5 were 20-15 in favor of the leading Penguins. The Penguins had a 68.89 xGF% in the third period and led in scoring chances 10-5. It was a great showing by a team many are pegging to finish near the bottom of the standings.
We will see if it can be a regular occurrence over the course of the long season. They will have to do it many more times.
Rookie debuts
Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel made their well-deserved debuts for the Penguins last night
Not only did they get to dress for the game, they started with the three Penguins legends.
What a cool decision by Dan Muse for these players. You only get one NHL debut and he gave them something to remember for the rest of their lives on the very first shift of the game. I love it.
I thought both players acclimated themselves well and showed that they can hang in the league. Brunicke had some individual moments where he would have probably liked to have done some things differently, but he finished the night with an xGF% of 63.42. Pretty good start all things considered.
Ben Kindel had a great first period. He finished his first NHL period on the ice for 8 shot-attempts for and only one against. Things evened out over the course of the night as the game went on. Still, he had a strong first showing and found himself at the net front multiple times trying to tip pucks in. He wasn’t afraid of the corners or the high traffic areas. He may have even scored his first NHL goal if Anthony Mantha put the puck on his back foot on a centering attempt.
If Kindel continues to improve each game like he has since the start of camp it is going to make for a hell of a decision after the nine games.
All in all, it was a great opening night for the Pittsburgh Penguins after what has been three really blah and lackluster seasons. At the very least, this team was a way better watch, at least for one night, than they were for the majority of last season.
