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The Pittsburgh Penguins faced a tall task against the President's Trophy-winning New York Rangers in their 2024-25 season opener on Wednesday night — and they were not at all up to said task.
The Rangers steamrolled the Pens 6-0, scoring early and often to send the fans at PPG Paints Arena home disappointed. Veteran Evgeni Malkin was not at all happy with his team's performance in the rout.
“We think we are ready to play, but we need to play better,” the three-time Stanley Cup champion said after the game, according to Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo. “I mean, that was a real game, not exhibition. It’s a tough loss and I hope tomorrow we play better. Long season. Stay together, it is the only way.”
“Obviously, we didn’t have the start of the season that we would have liked,” head coach Mike Sullivan echoed, per NHL.com's Wes Crosby. “It’s a hard one to evaluate. I thought the start of the game, we played pretty well, the first, whatever, 13 minutes or so. … I think it’s probably premature at this point to overreact. But certainly, we’re disappointed with the result tonight.”
The Penguins managed to funnel 29 shots on goal, but all of them were turned away by New York's superstar goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Tristan Jarry stopped 35 of the 41 shots he faced in the contest.
“I think we came out pretty strong,” Jarry admitted. “Just got a little loose at times. A lot of odd-man rushes. If I make a save on that second one, I think it at least helps the guys stay in it. It’s obviously tough. It’s not the outcome you want.”
With Bryan Rust on the injured reserve and the forward core looking thinner than it has in years, it's going to take a monumental effort for Sidney Crosby to drag this club into a playoff spot come April.
Penguins could be in for a long season in Metropolitan Division
Crosby played well in the loss, but the supporting cast did not exactly inspire confidence that this roster can compete for a spot in the dance in 2024-25.
“Just got down and tried to take chances to get back into the game,” Crosby explained. “They’re a team that if you take chances and give them those looks, they’re going to put them in. So we got behind and chased the game.
“This has nothing to do with last year. It’s a matter of, early on in the season, a little bit of adversity, and we didn’t find a way to stick with our game. We tried to get it all back at once and we found out the hard way.”
With a quick turnaround — the Penguins will fly straight to Detroit to take on the Red Wings — there won't be too much time to dwell on the defeat.
Pittsburgh will look to turn the page and spoil Detroit's home opener at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.
