NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers

· National Hockey League
Final
3 - 0

Penguins beat Mike Sullivan's Rangers 3-0 in coach Dan Muse's debut

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers: Game Highlights

Dan Muse won his debut as Penguins coach with his predecessor, Mike Sullivan, on the other bench running his first game with the Rangers. Sullivan guided Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and '17 as part of a nearly decade-long run there before parting ways in April.

Brazeau and Silovs were also playing for the Penguins for the first time. Brazeau signed as a free agent, while Silovs joined in a trade from Vancouver.

Evgeni Malkin led off his 20th season in the league by setting up Brazeau's goal. Malkin beat Vincent Trocheck on an offensive zone faceoff to get the puck to Brazeau, who was alone in front and roofed a backhander past Igor Shesterkin.

Brazeau's first goal with 32 seconds remaining in the first came near the end of a period that Pittsburgh controlled the play for much of the time. Silovs blockered away a shot from Alexis Lafrenière in the final seconds of an early Rangers power play but did not have to make too many other spectacular saves to get the win.

With Shesterkin pulled for an extra attacker, Brazeau had an empty-netter with 2:12 left, and Blake Lizotte sealed it with another 20 seconds later.

Mika Zibanejad, who Sullivan put on new captain J.T. Miller's right wing to start the season, was one of the most noticeable players for New York. Zibanejad missed the net on a couple of scoring chances but also had a game-high seven shots on goal.

Defeating the Rangers gave the Penguins something to celebrate on opening night as Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang made some history. They became the first trio in the four major North American men's professional sports leagues to play 20 seasons together with the same team.

Up next Penguins: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Rangers: Visit Buffalo on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

PIT leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 19:28 Justin Brazeau Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Evgeni Malkin (1)
Goal 3rd Period 17:48 Justin Brazeau Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Evgeni Malkin (2), Anthony Mantha (1)
Goal 3rd Period 18:08 Blake Lizotte Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Ryan Shea (1), Connor Dewar (1)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/pit.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPIT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyr.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYR
20 Blocked Shots 17
22 Hits 34
1 Takeaways 4
31 Shots 25
0 Power Play Goals 0
1 Power Play Opportunities 2
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
21 Faceoffs Won 19
52.5 Faceoff Win Percent 47.5
19 Giveaways 17
2 Total Penalties 1
4 Penalty Minutes 2
New York Rangers New York Rangers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Carson Soucy, D Injured Reserve Oct 12
Vincent Trocheck, C Out Oct 11
Brandon Scanlin, D Out Sep 30
Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Tanner Howe, LW Injured Reserve Oct 7
Rutger McGroarty, RW Injured Reserve Oct 6
Jack St. Ivany, D Injured Reserve Oct 6
Kevin Hayes, RW Injured Reserve Oct 6
Joel Blomqvist, G Injured Reserve Oct 6

Game Information

Madison Square Garden

Location: New York, NY
Attendance: 18,006 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Washington 3 1 6 0
Carolina 2 0 4 0
New Jersey 2 1 4 0
Pittsburgh 2 1 4 0
NY Rangers 2 3 4 0
Philadelphia 1 1 3 1
Columbus 1 2 2 0
NY Islanders 0 3 0 0
Full Standings