New coach, same Rangers.
Opening Night was a dud, far too reminiscent of last winter’s dismal campaign.
Mike Sullivan replaced Peter Laviolette on the bench, but it was hard to see much of a difference from last year’s team that failed to reach the postseason for the first time in four years.
The Rangers weren’t sharp for large stretches of this 3-0 loss at a quiet Garden against the Penguins, their new coach’s former team.
They whiffed on two power plays, couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities, and were fortunate that numerous own-zone giveaways didn’t result in more goals until Pittsburgh blew it open in the final minutes with two empty-net tallies.
New captain J.T. Miller looked rusty after appearing in just one preseason game due to a lower-body injury. Igor Shesterkin (27 saves) kept them in the game, but the Rangers could never get even against an aging opponent that is projected to be one of the weaker teams in the Eastern Conference this year. The shutout marked the first time the Rangers were blanked in an opener since the 2020-21 campaign, a 4-0 loss to the Islanders.
“We know we have a good team,” Artemi Panarin insisted. “It’s one game. We hope it [doesn’t] happen again. Try to be better next game.”
Rangers left wing Will Cuylle (50) pressures Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs (37) in the first period. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Justin Brazeau’s first-period goal held up for the Penguins, who added empty-netters from Brazeau and Blake Lizotte in the final 2:12 of the ugly defeat.
The subpar effort led to a dreary crowd that was at its loudest when Aaron Judge’s game-tying three-run homer was shown on the scoreboard. There was even a “Let’s go Penguins” chant at one point in the second period.
Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) defends in the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“Well I think my first observation is we got a long way to go to become the team we want to become,” Sullivan said. “I thought we had moments in the game where we were playing the game that we envision that we can play more consistently, but it’s not nearly consistent enough.”
The first period ended in poor fashion, similar to so many periods last year. After a fairly strong start, the Rangers allowed a goal just 32 seconds before the first intermission. Vincent Trocheck lost a faceoff in his own end, and Brazeau got behind the Rangers defensemen, beating Shesterkin up top for the first goal of the year at the Garden.
The second 20 minutes were disjointed. There were poor decisions with the puck, but also a sustained strong finish that was a big part of the 13-shot period. The best chance belonged to Mika Zibanejad, on a Penguins own-zone giveaway. But he was stopped short side.
“We have some, but I don’t think enough, dangerous scoring chances. We have some first chances, we don’t have a lot of second and third chances,” Zibanejad said. “We have a high level in this room. We have to find a way to get an obvious score and go from there. They played hard, but we’re looking at ourselves.”
Pittsburgh nearly added to its lead late in the period, when Ville Koivunen got behind the Rangers defense, only to hit the right post. Panarin began to make his presence felt, drawing a Kris Letang tripping that gave the Rangers their second power play of the evening.
The Rangers, however, couldn’t do much with that man advantage, and were unable to muster much in the final period, either. They heard boos as the final seconds ticked away, an ominous start to the season.
“Listen, I’m not going to overreact to it. It’s one game,” Sullivan said. “We got a lot of hockey to play. So is it disappointing? Yeah, we’re going to see what we can take from it. We’re going to move on.”