Justin Brazeau scored two goals, and Arturs Silovs finished with 25 saves, lifting the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.
Blake Lizotte added an empty-net goal, and Evgeni Malkin notched a pair of assists to help the Penguins present Dan Muse with his first victory as the team’s new head coach. Muse spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach with the Rangers.
Pittsburgh also spoiled the head-coaching debut of Mike Sullivan, who helped the Penguins capture two Stanley Cup titles during his 10 seasons as the team’s bench boss.
A surprise starter over Tristan Jarry, Silovs turned aside all five shots he faced in the third period to preserve his ninth career win and first regular-season shutout.
Silovs and Brazeau were making their respective debuts with Pittsburgh. The former was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on July 13, while the latter split last season with the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild.
Igor Shesterkin turned aside 27 shots for the Rangers.
Malkin won an offensive-zone faceoff and alertly tapped the puck to an unmarked Brazeau in front of the net. Brazeau deftly shuffled the puck from his forehand to backhand before lifting the puck over the shoulder of Shesterkin to open the scoring with 32 seconds remaining in the first period.
Ville Koivunen nearly doubled the advantage late in the second period, however his bid at the doorstep caromed off Shesterkin’s glove before hitting the post.
New York’s Mika Zibanejad attempted to respond later in the session. He forced a turnover in the neutral zone and skated in the offensive zone before being denied by the glove of.Silovs.
Brazeau scored with 2:12 left in the third period after Shesterkin had been pulled, and Lizotte tallied 20 seconds later to seal the win.
Pittsburgh defenseman Harrison Brunicke blocked two shots and logged 15:21 of ice time while becoming the first skater born in South Africa to play in the NHL. Teammate Ben Kindel, the 11th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, won four of five faceoffs in his league debut.
–Field Level Media
