As far as opening nights go, this one was a flop.
This was supposed to be an easy one for the Rangers, who are celebrating their 100th year and opened their Centennial season Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against an aging, rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins team still carried by old stalwarts Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, but surrounded by younger, lesser-known support players.
But it definitely was not easy.
Justin Brazeau, a 27-year-old forward starting his second full NHL season, had two goals for the Penguins, and Blake Lizotte added one as Pittsburgh spoiled the Garden party with a 3-0 victory over their old coach, Mike Sullivan, and his new team, the Rangers, in front of a stunned crowd of Blueshirts faithful.
“I don’t think we were at our best,’’ new captain J.T. Miller said. “They outplayed us for the majority of the game, I think. We had some good moments in the game . . . but I think what we’re trying to get to is better than what we showed today.
“But on the other side of that it’s the first game. I know we’re going to be better.’’
It was the first time the Rangers have been shut out in their season opener since the 56-game 2021 season, when Semyon Varlamov and the Islanders blanked them, 4-0. In their season opener last year, the Rangers shut out the Penguins in Pittsburgh, 6-0.
Brazeau stung the Rangers with his first goal, with 32.0 seconds left in the opening period. Vincent Trocheck lost a defensive zone faceoff to Malkin, who fed a wide-open Brazeau in the low slot. Brazeau pulled the puck to his backhand and lifted it over Igor Shesterkin to make it 1-0.
His second goal came into an empty net with 2:12 remaining in the game, and Lizotte added a second empty-netter 20 seconds later to close the scoresheet.
“Well, I think my first observation is we’ve got a long way to go to become the team we want to become,’’ Sullivan said.
Sullivan coached the Penguins for 10-plus years, and won back-to-back Stanley Cups with them in 2016 and 2017, before they let him go after last season and he was scooped up by the Rangers five days later.
“I thought the first period, for whatever reason, we had hesitation in our game,” he said. “Some of it, I think we can iron out, but certainly we’ve got a ways to go.’’
The Penguins had the territorial advantage most of the period and held a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal. The Rangers regrouped at intermission and dominated possession in the second period and started generating chances. But though the Rangers outshot the Penguins 13-7 in the period, Pittsburgh goalie Arturs Silovs kept them at bay.
The Rangers continued pressing in the third, but couldn’t get on the board before the two empty-net goals settled the matter. “They played hard, but I think we’re looking at ourselves,’’ said Mika Zibanejad, who was probably the Rangers’ most effective and dangerous forward, with a game-high seven shots on goal.
Zibanejad bemoaned what he said was not enough desperation on the Rangers’ part in the third period.
“We had some [offensive] zone time in the third, and some longer shifts, but we don’t get much out of it,’’ he said.
Miller and Artemi Panarin, who both missed time in the preseason with injuries, played, but were not especially impactful. Miller did not have a shot on goal in 18 minutes and 18 seconds, and had two giveaways. Panarin had two shots in 20:47, but had three giveaways and was a minus-3.
The team will practice Wednesday before flying to Buffalo for a game against the Sabres Thursday and a rematch with the Penguins in Pittsburgh Saturday. There’s little time for them to feel sorry for themselves.
“Yeah, listen, I’m not going to overreact to it. It’s one game,’’ Sullivan said. “We’ve got a lot of hockey to play, you know? So is it disappointing? Yeah, we’re going to see what we can take from it. We’re going to move on.
“We know that we’ve got to be better.’’
Notes & quotes: Penguins coach Dan Muse earned his first career win. He was an assistant for the Rangers under Peter Laviolette for the past two years . . . Shesterkin stopped 27 of 28 shots. Silovs stopped 25 of 25 . . . The Rangers wore special Centennial jerseys, which they will wear 10 times during the season . . . Jonny Brodzinski, Juuso Parssinen and D Matthew Robertson were the Rangers’ scratches . . . Rookie Noah Laba made his NHL debut, centering a third line, between veterans Conor Sheary and Taylor Raddysh. Laba played 13:40 had one shot attempt that was blocked, and won 5 of 7 faceoffs.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
#Rangers #find #net #shut #home #opener #Penguins
