Rangers vs. Penguins: Lineups, storylines, how to watch season opener

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Rangers vs. Penguins: Lineups, storylines, how to watch season opener

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers — Danny Wild-Imagn Images Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Jim Cerny · Forever Blueshirts

Tue, Oct 7, 2025 ·

6 min read

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Nearly six months after completing one of the most disappointing campaigns in franchise history, the New York Rangers drop the puck on their centennial season Tuesday, opening up at Madison Square Garden against the Pittsburgh Penguins .

It's a fresh start for the Rangers , one that includes a new coaching staff led by Mike Sullivan, and a new captain in J.T. Miller . This marks the first season opener since 1978 that the Rangers have both a new coach and captain.

Ironically, Sullivan's first game behind the Rangers bench is against his former team. Sullivan coached the Penguins for 10 seasons, including consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.

On the other side, Dan Muse, the former Rangers assistant, is behind the Penguins bench in his NHL head coaching debut.

The Rangers missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four years in 2024-25, finishing 11th in the Eastern Conference, six points out of the final wild-card berth. They were 2-3-1 in the just-completed preseason, a disjointed set of six games due, in part, to injuries and several youngsters receiving long looks.

Only one of the kids made his way on to the opening-night roster, though. Noah Laba will make his NHL debut, centering the third line Tuesday, after leading the Rangers with six points (two goals, four assists) in the preseason.

After missing the entire preseason with a pair of injuries, Artemi Panarin is good to go against the Penguins. Miller will play, as well, after he was limited to one preseason game because of a lower-body injury.

Veteran forward Conor Sheary , who helped the Penguins win the Cup in 2016 and 2017, makes his Rangers debut, joining Laba on the third line. Sheary had three points (one goal, two assists) in the preseason and earned a standard NHL contract after attending training camp on a PTO.

The Penguins were 5-1-1 in the preseason and allowed only 17 goals in seven games. However, Sullivan's former team missed the playoffs each of the past three seasons and projects to be near the basement of the Metropolitan Division in 2025-26.

A year ago, the Rangers shut out the Penguins on opening night in Pittsburgh, 6-0. They won two of three in the season series and are 10-4-1 in their past 15 games against the Penguins dating to the 2021-22 season.

3 storylines when Rangers open season against Penguins

NHL: Preseason-Boston Bruins at New York Rangers — Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

1. Sully switches sides

Sullivan admitted to having "mixed emotions" about facing the Penguins in his Rangers coaching debut. But you know that the 57-year-old bench boss will be all-business Tuesday. It's a first impression in front of the MSG Faithful, and a division game against a long-standing rival.

"When I went home last night, I was thinking about today and how we can put the best version of the New York Rangers on the ice. That's where my focus was," Sullivan said after the morning skate .

Still, that's a fairly massive legacy Sullivan left behind in Pittsburgh. There's no escaping the significance of him switching sides in this rivalry. Sully is the Penguins all-time coaching wins leader (409-255-89) and just the 14th coach in NHL history win 400 games with one team.

It's also a homecoming for Sully. He was a Rangers assistant under John Tortorella from 2009-13, that included a run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2012. And let's not forget that former Rangers coach David Quinn is back, as well, serving as an assistant to Sullivan.

2. Familiar and new looks for Rangers power play

One of Quinn's charges this season is to resurrect the Rangers power play, which stagnated a year ago and finished 28th in the NHL (17.6 percent), after ranking third the season prior. Simply, the power play looked stale and opponents seemed to figure out how to diffuse it.

Yet, even with a new coaching staff, the Rangers will go with familiar PP1 personnel (minus the traded Chris Kreider ) of Adam Fox , Mika Zibanejad , Vincent Trocheck , Panarin, and Miller. That grouping practiced together some during training camp but sisn't play in a single preseason together. So, let's see if some rust needs to be knocked off Tuesday, and if Quinn's made some tweaks to the power-play strategy.

The second unit is intriguing, largely due to the fact that Matt Rempe is tasked with the responsibility of setting up in front of the goalie to set up screens. The 6-foot-9 forward's been working tirelessly on deflections. But even his mere presence outside the blue paint should benefit PP2 getting shots through.

Braden Schneider will quarterback the second unit. Will Cuylle , Alexis Lafreniere , and Sheary round out the grouping — with Lafreniere slated for some extra looks on PP1, per Sullivan.

3. Penguins trio of Hall-of-Famers open 20th season together

NHL: New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins — Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Sidney Crosby begins his 21st NHL season Tuesday, and 20th consecutive season with Penguins teammates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang . Together, they are the highest-scoring trio of teammates in NHL history, combining for 3,703 regular-season points. They also won the Stanley Cup three times together, including twice under Sullivan.

Crosby is the leading scorer among all active NHL players (1,687 points), and needs 37 points to pass Mario Lemieux (1,723) to become the Penguins all-time leading scorer, and move into eighth place in League history. With two assists, Crosby will pass pass Steve Yzerman (1,063) for ninth most all-time.

In 88 regular-season games against the Rangers, Crosby has 40 goals, 69 assists, and 109 points. Malkin has 32 goals and 72 points in 77 games vs. the Rangers; and Letang has 46 points (12 goals, 34 assists) in 70 games against them.