Penguins stun Rangers in opener as Crosby, Malking, Letang celebrate 20 years together
AP Photo/Adam Hunger
NEW YORK (AP) — Dan Muse was very intentional when he chose the Pittsburgh Penguins’ starting lineup on opening night.
Their new coach made sure to get Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke out there for their NHL debuts. With them, he chose Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, who have been teammates for the past two decades and were making some history.
“We had three guys that have been playing together for 20 years, and I thought it was important that they get to start that game together,” Muse said. “It kind of worked out well to be able to do that.”
Just about everything worked out at the beginning of a new era for the Penguins, who got Muse a victory in his first game behind their bench by beating old coach Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Justin Brazeau scored twice and Arturs Silovs stopped all 25 shots he faced for his first regular-season NHL shutout.
Brazeau and Silovs were also playing for the Penguins for the first time. Brazeau signed as a free agent, while Silovs joined in a trade from Vancouver.
Malkin set up Brazeau’s first goal when he beat Vincent Trocheck on an offensive zone faceoff to get the puck to Brazeau, who was alone in front and roofed a backhander past Igor Shesterkin.
Brazeau’s first goal with 32 seconds remaining in the first came near the end of a period that Pittsburgh controlled the play for much of the time. Silovs blockered away a shot from Alexis Lafrenière in the final seconds of an early Rangers power play but did not have to make too many other spectacular saves to get the win.
With Shesterkin pulled for an extra attacker, Brazeau had an empty-netter with 2:12 left, and Blake Lizotte sealed it with another 20 seconds later.
Crosby, Malkin and Letang became the first trio in the four major North American men’s professional sports leagues to play 20 seasons together with the same team. During that time, they’ve won the Stanley Cup three times.
On the ice during the national anthem, a lot of different thoughts about that tenure went through Crosby’s mind.
“To be sharing 20 years with Geno and Tanger and having played this long together, it’s so rare,” Crosby said. “Just grateful that we can be in this situation, and we’re still competing and still doing it.”
Kindel and Brunicke at 18 and 19, respectively, hadn’t even been born yet when Crosby, Malkin and Letang started their journey together. Crosby marveled at the age gap between him and his longtime running mates and a couple of fresh-faced players not even old enough to legally drink alcohol in the U.S.
His message to them was to enjoy the moment.
“It’s been a while, but I still remember my first game and the emotions and it’s always fun to see that and to be a part of that with other guys,” Crosby said. “It was fun to be out there with them to start there. It makes you realize how long you’ve been around when you’re standing next to some of these guys.”
Muse was standing not far from what used to be his usual spot. He spent the previous two seasons as a Rangers assistant under Peter Laviolette, before taking over the Penguins when they parted ways with Sullivan.
Crosby felt Muse prepared the team well to get off to a good start. With a long season ahead, that’s all they’re considering this first win.
“We’ve got to enjoy it tonight, turn the page and back to work,” Muse said. “I’m really happy for the guys. … You always want to start things off on the right foot.”
Sullivan guided Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and ’17 as part of a nearly decade-long run there before parting ways in April.