Recap: Rangers Come Up Empty in Season Opener, Fall 3–0 to Penguins

Well folks, we made it. Opening Night has finally arrived after one of the longest off-seasons in recent memory. The New York Rangers played hosts to the Pittsburgh Penguins and unfortunately had very little to show for as their offense was limited and couldn't manage to beat Arturs Silovs who stopped all 25 shots.

First Period

It was a bit of a strange opening minute as the Rangers were falling all over the ice and struggling to get the puck out of their own end. That first minute came to a close with Harrison Brunicke getting called for a tripping penalty at the end of his first shift in the NHL. Welcome to the show, kid. This gave the Rangers an early power play opportunity which resulted in both power play units getting close to a full minute of ice time. Neither of which would be able to convert as play returned to even strength. 

About five minutes later, the Penguins got their first power play opportunity as Adam Fox was called for interference. The Rangers penalty killing units have gone through a bit of a change since last season, most notably with Chris Kreider now in Anaheim. Here are the three forwards duos that are killing penalties for the Rangers, at least to start the season with rookie forward Noah Laba being a part of the mix. 

For the most part, there wasn’t a ton of pace to the game but the Rangers had a splash of physicality in their play but not much speed. Mika Zibanejad had probably the best chance of the period as Will Cullye poked the puck ahead to him where he was all alone in front of the Penguins net with limited room to get a shot off. Aside from that, the Rangers third line had one solid look but it was the Penguins seeing the majority of the chances with the puck bouncing around Shesterkin’s crease more than you’d like to see. 

In the final minute of the period, the Rangers lost one too many defensive zone face-offs as Justin Brazeau ended up all alone with Igor Shesterkin off a face-off win for Evgeni Malkin against Vincent Trocheck, A silky forehand-backhand move was enough to beat Shesterkin, making it a 1-0 game in the Penguins favor. 

Twenty minutes in the books and the Rangers were down by one, being out-shot by the Penguins 10-7. The Rangers were behind in the scoring chances count, as well as the high danger chances. On the bright side, the Rangers won nine of 13 face-offs but of course the Penguins took advantage of one of those four. 

Second Period

Ten minutes came and went in the second period and not much was progressing for either side. The Penguins still had the slight edge in shots and attempts as the Rangers were still a bit sloppy. Generally speaking, it was a better period but the majority of the Rangers brightspots were coming from the bottom-six forwards which isn’t super encouraging for a team that is supposed to be top-six heavy. 

With close to five minutes to go in the period, the Penguins nearly made it a 2-0 game as Villie Koivinen pulled off a move identical to Brazeau’s that resulted in the first goal but rang the rolling puck off the post. That entire scoring chance wouldn’t have happened if Carson Soucy hadn’t watched the puck literally go past him and end up on the stick of Rickard Rakell. 

It’s early, we’re not going to overreact but good lord this team is going to need help on defense if things don’t tighten up. 

Just three minutes later, Zibanejad—who was having a fine game—had another strong chance on a turnover as he had a partial break but was shut down by the glove of Arturs Silovs. The Rangers had some jump from there that quickly turned into a power play as Kris Letang was called for tripping Artemi Panarin. Not a ton of time to generate a proper power play but the Rangers would take the rest of it into intermission as they still trailed in the game 1-0. 

At the end of two, shots were now 20-16 in the Rangers favor as they picked it up a notch in the second, but not enough to truly turn the tide of the game. Worth noting that half of those Rangers shots on goal belonged to Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière. 

Third Period

The Rangers opened the period with Lafrenière on the top power play unit in Trocheck’s place which was great despite the fact that the majority of what time was left was spent fighting for the puck the Penguins held along the boards. 0-2 on the power play as the teams returned to even strength. Just a couple of minutes later, Anthony Mantha wheeled right past Soucy coming in all alone on Shesterkin, resulting in the first “Igor” chants of the night as he made a flashy glove save. 

With five minutes to go, a slap shot from Carson Soucy at the point set up a rebound for Zibanejad but there was too much traffic in front to make anything of it. The Penguins followed that up with some more chances as the Rangers just could not generate any sort of consistency or settle into any offensive rhythms.

With about two and a half to go the Rangers, the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker and almost immediately gave up and empty net goal. A bad pinch from J.T. Miller allowed for Brazeau to pick up his second of the night with a clean breakaway on a wide open net. 2-0 Pittsburgh.

The Rangers pulled Shesterkin again and almost immediately, again, gave up another empty net goal. This time it was Blake Lizotte shooting one from the opposite end of the ice .

And just like that, the Rangers come up scoreless and are boo'd off the ice in Game 1 of 82 in the 2025-26 season. We are so back, folks.

As I mentioned on X, under normal circumstances, this is essentially an extended preseason game, especially when your top two players missed all of camp with injuries. However after last season, this team doesn't have the luxury of excuses. A major bounce back is required after this one as patience with this group will wear thin rather quickly.

The Rangers are back at it Thursday Night as they'll head to Buffalo to pay the Sabres a visit.