There is a lot to like about the way the Pittsburgh Penguins played on Tuesday night in their 3-0 season opening win against the New York Rangers. Is it anything that should change your expectations for
the season overall? No. It is one game, against a team that probably is not as good as it thinks it is. The Penguins are still probably not going to win a lot of games this season and Tuesday’s performance is not going to change that expectation.
That does not mean you should not still enjoy games like that. Not only because they won, but the way in which they won.
Let’s look at some of the positives overall.
1. They simply played really well
This is not meant to be an exaggeration or hyperbole, but I thought that was one of the most structured and disciplined 60-minute games the Penguins have played in years. They were crisp. They out-played the Rangers for most of the night. While starting goalie Arturs Silovs stopped all 25 shots he faced to record the shutout, the Penguins did a fantastic job in front of him by limiting the number of chances. They were not giving up multiple odd-man rushes per period (there were almost none against them) and they mostly kept things to the perimeter. Perhaps the most impressive part of the night was the fact they went into the third period holding a 1-0 lead, and not only held on to it, they also significantly outplayed the Rangers over the duration of the period.
The Penguins outshot the Rangers 12-5 for the period and held a near 70 percent expected goal share (1.31 to 0.59), all while protecting a one-goal lead for the first 18 minutes of the period.
They locked the game down. It never seemed to be in doubt or in danger of slipping away, even though it was only a one-goal game until Justin Brazeau added an empty-net tally (his second goal of the game).
When was the last time you saw the Penguins do that to a team? It did not happen often a year ago. Or the year before that, either.
2. You should feel good about the way they won
Given where the Penguins are in their rebuild, and the type of player they still need (a Gavin McKenna ….. or somebody like him), there is a segment of the Penguins fan base (and media) that is still wondering if maybe they are not quite bad enough this season and that they might be too good. It all seems like a ridiculous premise when you look at the state of the left side of their defense, and even some of their forward depth, and that does not even get into the total wild-card that is the goaltending, but I kind of get it. There are still good players here. Quite a few actually. With more set to return to the lineup soon.
I have made this point here (and elsewhere) before, but I do not have a problem with the Penguins not tearing this thing all the way down. I am okay with them having good players still on the roster. I am okay with this rebuild not being a blatant tank. There was a time 10-plus years ago where I would have been on team tank. My concern now is that I have seen so many of those attempts fail, across all sports, that I just do not know if it is worth doing it. Chicago’s into year three of its post-tank season with Connor Bedard and that team is as bad as it has ever been. I do not want that. The Penguins do not want that. You should not want that.
The goal isn’t to get a particular player. The goal is to eventually rebuild into a good, Stanley Cup contending hockey team. There are a lot of ways to do that, and it does not always require putting your team into a situation where it has to take 10 years to become good again.
The best-case scenario for the Penguins this season for their rebuild is that they play competitive, entertaining games, their young players get better and show progress, and they get some lottery ball luck to go their way no matter where they finish in the lottery standings.
Here is what I am getting at in relation to Tuesday’s game and their 2025-26 season as a whole: If the Penguins win games like that, and win games because their young players make an impact and play well, I am not going to be mad about that.
I know they need a potential superstar to add to their young talent pool. I know this class is loaded with those players at the top. I know picking at the top of the draft is typically the best way to get that type of talent.
I am very well aware of all of those statements of fact.
Even so, I am okay with wins like Tuesday because of who played well and who contributed to it. It was not necessarily a case of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin dragging them to a win (though, they did play well, and especially Malkin). It was a collective team effort where a lot of young players shined and played well.
You want guys like Kindel, Brunicke, Ville Koivunen, and Rutger McGroarty (when he returns) to play well. I will even include Arturs Shilovs in that. You want those guys to get better and show they have NHL futures ahead of them and that they are going to be good players. If that happens, they are going to win some games. I am not going to complain about that if that is what happens.
Speaking of….
3. An encouraging debut for the two teenagers
Say this for Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke: the NHL stage, and especially the stage of Madison Square Garden on opening night on national TV, was not too big for them. Not at all. Not even close.
They did not look out of place at any point. Especially late in the game when head coach Dan Muse was giving them big minutes in a tight one-goal game, and when Kindel was moved to the first line.
While neither player factored into the scoring, they both played solid, strong NHL games that were 10 years beyond their actual ages. You would have never known they were teenagers playing in their first real NHL games when you watched them play.
I thought Kindel was the most impressive of the two, just for the confidence he displayed and the way he always seemed to be in the right place, at the right time, and was willing to do a lot of thankless work along the walls. He was confident, he was in control at times, and he just played a really good hockey game.
This might be a controversial opinion, but if they both play the next eight games the way they played on Tuesday, I would think long and hard about keeping them in Pittsburgh beyond that this season. I don’t want to hear about not being ready, or their development, or any other narratives around sending them back to juniors. While I think Brunicke is probably going to stay no matter what, that is also true for Kindel. I know, his development. Yeah, he needs to get bigger and stronger. But don’t you think there is something to be said for sticking in the NHL for some of that? If he shows he can play, and if he shows he is ready from a skill standpoint, wouldn’t it do him more good to have NHL training facilities, NHL equipment and NHL nutrition to accomplish some of those goals rather than going back to the junior leagues? I think there is something to be said for that.
It is also jumping to a lot of conclusions after one game. We still need to see another eight games from them and see how they play in those games. But if the Penguins want to get young and go with a youth movement, let’s just do it.
4. Arturs Shilovs is an interesting player on this team
Shilovs did not have to be spectacular on Tuesday, but you have to love the fact he stopped the shots you expect an NHL goalie to stop and he made the occasional big save when needed. That is another thing we have not seen much from goalies around this team lately. He earned that shutout. While he is 24 years old and a little older than the likes of Kindel, Brunicke, Koivunen and McGroarty, I will still include him as part of the youth movement. There is still some untapped potential and upside here, and given the way he played in Vancouver’s system he is not just a random guy. He might have a legitimate, bonafide future. Sergei Murashov is obviously the Penguins top goalie prospect, and one with incredibly high upside, and he does figure to be their goalie of the future. Even with that being said, there is nothing that says Shilovs can not still be a capable NHL goalie.
5. Evgeni Malkin showed he still has something left
While the Penguins loaded up the top line with Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Koivunen, it left Malkin sandwiched between offseason additions Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha. When you see that as your second line it kind of makes the “are they too good” discussions seem even funnier, but when Bryan Rust and McGroarty return the top-six will probably look very different.
Still, Malkin and his new linemates made the best of their situation and played like the Penguins’ best line of the night.
In 9:34 of 5-on-5 ice-time together that trio scored a goal (the only 5-on-5 goal of the game for either team), had 16-8 shot attempts advantage and controlled more than 80 percent of the expected goals (84.6 percent) and scoring chances (80 percent) when they were on the ice. They also had a 6-3 high-danger scoring chance advantage (66.7 percent) when they were on the ice. Brazeau added a second goal on the empty-net situation, and while Mantha had one or two head-scratching decisions with the puck, he also kept putting himself in good positions.
6. Credit to Dan Muse for his lineup choices
The Penguins made it clear they were going to let youth take control of the roster this season and were not going to just give veterans guaranteed roster spots or lineup spots. They stuck true to that on Tuesday, with Kindel and Brunicke being in the starting lineup alongside Crosby, Malkin and Letang, while Kindel finished third among the team’s forwards in 5-on-5 ice-time. They sat veteran defensemen Matt Dumba and Connor Clifton. Perhaps the most shocking decision of them all, however, was the decision to go with Shilovs in goal over long-time starting goalie Tristan Jarry. Talk about sending a message right off from the start.
Muse not only had the Penguins playing a solid, structured and disciplined road game, he also pushed a lot of the right and necessary buttons with his roster decisions and lineup choices. Very promising debut. From everybody. That is just a really solid win.
