The New York Rangers opened the 2025-26 season with a disastrous outing. The Blue Shirts dropped a frustrating 3-0 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins was hardly the way the club wanted to start the new season.
The shutout loss spoiled the Rangers’ Home Opener, while also spoiling Mike Sullivan’s regular-season debut as coach and J.T. Miller’s first game as team captain.
All told, the game was much closer than the score suggested. The Penguins scored once late in the first period. That was it for the scoring as the game remained 1-0 until the final minutes of the third.
The Penguins added two empty-netters to ice the game. The win secured Arturs Silovs’ first shutout as a Penguin. Pittsburgh acquired Silovs in an offseason trade with the Vancouver Canucks. Thus far, it seems the trade has paid off.
For the Rangers, the loss wasn’t precisely a bad game. However, the club was unable to capitalize on the few scoring chances it got. That allowed the Penguins to control the pace for much of the game.
In the end, the Rangers could not break through the Penguins’ strong defensive structure. While the Penguins hardly dominated the game, the Rangers didn’t really push, either. The final two minutes, with the net empty, highlighted how the Rangers failed to press in their effort to tie the game.
Shesterkin Solid for Rangers against Penguins
Igor Shesterkin played a solid game against the Penguins. He stopped 27 of 28 shots on the night. While the Penguins didn’t have numerous high-danger chances, Shesterkin made the saves he had to.
Except for the Penguins’ lone goal, scored by Justin Brazeau, Shesterkin did his best to keep the Rangers in the game. His strong performance earned him the game’s third star.
For Shesterkin, getting off to a strong start is a must. He had a down year by his standards last season. So, bouncing back is something the Rangers would like to see from their franchise goaltender. While the loss stung, his overall performance was a step in the right direction.
Moving forward, the Blue Shirts will need to get strong performances from Shesterkin as they look to get back to the playoffs.
Mike Sullivan’s Debut Spoiled in Loss
The biggest offseason move by the Rangers was signing Mike Sullivan to coach the team. He left the Penguins to join the Blue Shirts following the dismissal of Peter Laviolette.
Sullivan’s home debut came with much anticipation as his Stanley Cup pedigree was something the club wanted to bring into the mix.
Unfortunately, Sullivan’s former team spoiled his debut. The Penguins’ strong effort negated the Rangers’ chances of pulling out a victory in their first game of this season.
Sullivan and the club expect that this game was just a case of a jittery start. Hopefully, it was an outlier in what will be a successful season. Sullivan’s influence has been evident thus far. So, it could be a matter of time before the team finds its identity and plays to the maximum of its potential this season.
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