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Defending Stanley Cup champion Florida opened its season with a 3-2 win over Chicago on a third-period goal by Jesper Boqvist.
The Penguins lead the Rangers 1-0 in the second period, with Avalanche–Kings coming later. Follow live as The Athletic’s NHL writers cover all the action tonight.
Schedule (Times ET):
Streaming: Fubo (Stream Free Now). Get in touch with us: live@theathletic.com
Q2 12:36 – Penguins 1, Rangers 0
Noel Acciari's wrist shot from the middle of the ice is saved by Igor Shesterkin.
New York turned it over in a dangerous spot but Acciari could not capitalize on the chance.
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Q2 14:47 – Penguins 1, Rangers 0
The Rangers nearly scored there as the puck ricocheted off the boards and directly to Mika Zibanejad but his wrister zoomed wide.
That was one of New York's better opportunities tonight.
Q2 20:00 – Penguins 1, Rangers 0
Sidney Crosby wins the faceoff as the second period gets underway.
Stuart P.: Another “end of the period Rangers brainfart.” Seen this before …
Eric D.: So far this team looks a lot like last season. Also, Brazeau is 6'5. No idea how Drury missed him.
Steve D.: Great work by Malkin.
Alex R.: I know New York's personnel isn’t great but this feels like a pre-season game where they are just throwing people into different spots.
Below is Justin Brazeau's first goal tonight, giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 1-0 lead over the New York Rangers through 20 minutes.
The Penguins struck first. Evgeni Malkin won an offensive-zone faceoff against Vincent Trocheck, then fed the loose puck to Justin Brazeau in front of the net. Brazeau finished past Igor Shesterkin to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.
In good news for the Rangers, their new-look third line looked serviceable early. Noah Laba, making his NHL debut, didn't look out of place, and Conor Sheary made a nice play to break up a Benjamin Kindel look. The line also had a dangerous rush chance but couldn't convert it into a strong shot on Arturs Silovs.
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Good period for the Penguins. Badly outworked the Rangers. Silovs looks shaky with the glove — couple of bad rebounds — but still stopped every shot he faced. Karlsson really good that period. Kindel as well.
End P1 – Penguins 1, Rangers 0
That's 20 minutes in the books at Madison Square Garden.
Brazeau's goal gave Pittsburgh the lead late in a relatively even first period.
Vincent Trocheck lost a faceoff, and Justin Brazeau was all alone in front of the net. Evgeni Malkin found him, and he finished past Igor Shesterkin.
1-0 Pittsburgh.
P1 32.:0 – Penguins 1, Rangers 0
The Penguins strike late in the first period.
Evgeni Malkin pokes the puck through the legs of Vincent Trocheck on the faceoff, retrieves it and dishes a pass to Justin Brazeau.
He dekes from his forehand onto the backhand and flicks it past Igor Shesterkin for the Penguins' first goal of the season.
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P1 2:26 – Penguins 0, Rangers 0
A decent opportunity for the Rangers there but it would have required a lot from Taylor Raddyshl.
He chases down the puck in an awkward spot and flips on backhand on target weakly, saved and covered up by Arturs Silovs.
Ben Kindel … impressive hockey player.
P1 4:24 – Penguins 0, Rangers 0
Vincent Trocheck rips a slapshot on target but Arturs Silovs in unamused, pushing the shot away with ease.
Moments later, Philip Tomasino is denied by Igor Shesterkin. The puck drifted to a dangerous spot on the ice but Tomasino did not have much force behind that shot, floating right into the chest of Shesterkin for an easy save.
Credit to the Rangers on that PK. Suffocating on zone entries. Power kill type stuff.
The Rangers first penalty kill went much better than their opening power play. They didn't allow any shots. Sam Carrick, Vincent Trocheck, Will Cuylle, Mika Zibanejad, Taylor Raddysh and rookie Noah Laba handled the killing responsibility among forwards.
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The Penguins might be in a rebuilding mode, but Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — playing together to start the game — remain dangerous. They hemmed in the Rangers' Will Cuylle–J.T. Miller–Mika Zibanejad line and put multiple shots on Igor Shesterkin. The Rangers' goaltender stood firm, and Adam Fox drew a penalty on rookie Harrison Brunicke shortly after leaving the zone. Unfortunately for New York, the top power play unit struggled to generate much of anything. Alexis Lafrenière, playing on the second unit, got the team's first shot on goal with 13 seconds left on the power play.
P1 9:09 – Penguins 0, Rangers 0
New York does not allow a shot on target, stifling the Pittsburgh power play.
Both teams have rallied to the puck, taking away passing and shooting angles thus far.
What a play by Rickard Rakell. Skated right into the D to handcuff them and then cut directly into a shooting lane and got one off from a fresh angle while falling to the ice. He finds that middle of the ice so well. Great example there.