Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves to help the visiting New York Rangers to a 6-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.
It was the first shutout in an opener for a Rangers goalie since Oct. 12, 1956, when Gump Worsley stopped 31 shots in a 3-0 victory over the then-Chicago Black Hawks.
Chris Kreider scored two goals, Alexis Lafreniere had a goal and an assist and Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba had two assists apiece for the Rangers, who finished with the most points in the NHL last season (114).
Sam Carrick, Filip Chytil and Vincent Trocheck were New York’s other goal-scorers.
Tristan Jarry made 35 saves for the Penguins, who went 0-for-3 on the power play and surrendered a short-handed goal.
Carrick gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 2:24 of the first period. Trouba took a slap shot from the right point that Carrick deflected past Jarry as he battled for position in front of the slot with Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang.
New York appeared to take a 2-0 lead at 9:48 of the first period on an apparent goal by Will Cuylle, but the tally was erased following an offside challenge by Pittsburgh.
Shesterkin, the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, made his 10th save at 15:06 of the first period, but then didn’t make another until 5:14 of the second as New York notched 15 consecutive shots on goal.
In the meantime, Lafreniere gave the Rangers their first multigoal lead at 17:23 of the first.
Panarin stole the puck off Lars Eller’s stick in the defensive zone and backhanded a pass up the ice to Lafreniere, who evaded defenseman Marcus Pettersson in the left circle before scoring with a wrist shot for a 2-0 lead.
New York turned up the pressure in the final seconds of the opening period. Jarry’s rebound on Trouba’s one-timer from above the left circle came out to the slot, and Kreider swept it into the net for a 3-0 lead with 12 seconds left before the first intermission.
The Rangers increased the advantage to 4-0 at 9:39 of the second when Cuylle dropped a pass for Chytil, who scored over Jarry’s right shoulder from the right circle.
Kreider scored short-handed on a breakaway at 11:35 of the third period to make it 5-0.
The Penguins were unable to corral another rebound by Jarry as Trocheck scored with 3:01 left for the game’s final goal.
–Field Level Media
