NEW YORK — Four Pittsburgh Penguins rookies and the Big Apple.
It was also the Penguins (1-0-0) with new coach Dan Muse vs. former coach Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers (0-1-0).
The Penguins had two teenagers, Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke, with a pair of other rookies, Ville Koivunen and Arturs Silovs, who were far from perfect. In fact, they were a few city blocks from clean, but the youthful Penguins beat the veteran Rangers 3-0 at Madison Square Garden.
Muse paid homage to the moment with the rookies, starting both Brunicke and Kindel alongside the Penguins’ championship core, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.
For his first NHL shift, Kindel took the right wing and Malkin the left beside Crosby. Letang slid to the left side for Brunicke, and the Penguins dominated the first shift with several scoring chances, though Brunicke took a tripping penalty at the end of the shift.
The Penguins killed off the penalty. Kindel’s game soared. Brunicke … not so much. His was a game full of rookie mistakes.
Penguins winger Justin Brazeau (1) scored the first goal of the team’s season. Evgeni Malkin won the offensive zone faceoff in the right circle and tapped a quick pass to Brazeau, who quickly rotated to the backhand near the crease past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin at 19:28 of the first period.
Brazeau led all players with seven shots on goal (the official sheet later adjusted the total to six).
Penguins fans probably weren’t shocked to see a Sullivan-coached team give up a goal in the final minute of the period. Such goals had become commonplace in the final years of Sullivan’s nine-plus-year Penguins tenure.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas made the call to terminate Sullivan last April and hired Muse in June.
Kindel was the Penguins’ best forward in the first period, setting up a couple of scoring chances, while Brunicke saw increasingly limited ice time beginning in the second period.
The Penguins were clearly the better team in the first period, but the shots advantage was only marginally in their favor, 9-7.
The Rangers eventually seized control of the game in the second period, outshooting the Penguins 13-7, but Silovs, 24, made several crucial saves in his first Penguins start, and 20th of his NHL career.
Silovs made the first 20 saves of his Penguins career. The Penguins had chances to expand their lead, but Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made a diving save on Koivunen later in the second period.
In addition to starting Kindel and Brunicke with the Penguins legends, Muse did a few other things differently than his predecessor, including using top-line winger Rickard Rakell on the penalty kill and clearly encouraging the defensemen to join the offensive rush.
The Penguins attacked through the third period, outshooting the Rangers 14-4, including a pair of empty netters before the 20th minute.
Brazeau (2) scored the empty netter at 17:48 for a 2-0 lead and scowls from Sullivan. Malkin assisted on the EN goal, too.
Blake Lizotte (1) scored the second empty net goal at 18:08.
The win marked Silovs’s first career shutout. He stopped all 25 shots. Shesterkin stopped 27 of 28.
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