Historic Night Turns Sour as Penguins Blank Rangers at MSG
It's opening night for the NHL, and what better way to begin than with a rivalry matchup? The New York Rangers hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game of their centennial season, looking to bounce back from their very off-season last year. What was a historic night for this team soon turned into a disaster as the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled the Rangers' celebration with a 3-0 shutout. MSG may have been complete with fans, but the only thing they delivered to this Rangers team on opening night was a parade of boos.
The puck dropped in MSG, and the Penguins wasted no time delivering pressure on the Blueshirts. Too much pressure, perhaps, as Harrison Brunicke quickly went off for hooking to give New York a power play in the early minutes. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, the Rangers' power play looks to have picked up right where last season left off. Pittsburgh quickly had a chance to retaliate with a power play shortly after, failing to capitalize as well. Since special teams don't seem like a significant threat tonight, that was an early sign this game was going to be interesting.
Through the first period with not much going on, the Penguins drew first blood as Justin Brazeau took advantage of a face-off win to make it 1-0 Penguins with just 32 seconds left in the period. If there's anything that the first period showed the New York fans, it's that not much seems to have changed since last season. Starting a bit sluggish, the Blueshirts needed to wake up a bit if they were to have a chance. As fans began this centennial season with an uninspiring first period, it just seemed to keep getting worse going into the second.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh fans should be pretty satisfied with what they've seen so far. Though only leading by one, they were all over the Blueshirts through the first 20. The presence of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin continues to be more than enough to help this team keep up. As those three continued to show no signs of stopping, the Rangers were showing no signs of waking up at all.
Igor Shesterkin began this season under his new contract, and right now it seems like he's earning every penny. A common theme last season with the Blueshirts was making lesser-known goalies look like Vezina Trophy winners; it seems that theme continues tonight. Pittsburgh goaltender Artur Silovs comes in with just 19 games under his belt, recording only eight wins in that span, and nothing seemed to be getting past him. Then again, when you don't generate many chances, one would think you wouldn't get many pucks past a netminder. Pittsburgh began the second period picking up right where they left off, all over the Rangers. It was only until the last few minutes that the Rangers really picked it up, hoping to carry that momentum with them in the third and final period.
Killing off a penalty early in the third, the Penguins just couldn't seem to leave the Rangers' zone. Pinned into their own zone, the Rangers just couldn't generate anything. With time ticking away, Pittsburgh couldn't seem to create any breathing room as well, and the game remained close the whole way. When finding out Artemi Panarin would be healthy for opening night, fans would never have expected him to go quite invisible throughout the game. As the period looked no different than the others, New York emptied the net, and Justin Brazeau made quick work and scored his second of the night. A disastrous night seemed just to get worse as New York emptied the net again, leading Blake Lizotte to make it 3-0 Penguins. The buzzer at last sounded, and the boos rained down as if they never left from last season.
Thus, a night of celebrating the beginning of their centennial season was crashed by a youthful Penguins team. A somewhat ironic mirror of both teams' opening games from last year is quite notable. Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan came into tonight looking to start fresh with the Blueshirts, only it seemed to do the exact opposite. If there's anything tonight confirmed, it's that the coach isn't what will fix this Rangers team. Pittsburgh begins the season by securing Dan Muse's first win as a head coach and will stay in New York to take on the Islanders, while New York moves on to Buffalo for their first road game. Another page in history for these Metropolitan rivals, and another soon to come as the two teams face off again this Saturday.
