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Key Takeaways after Rangers win 6-1 in Mike Sullivan’s return to Pittsburgh
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- Key Takeaways after Rangers win 6-1 in Mike Sullivan’s return to Pittsburgh
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The New York Rangers made sure new coach Mike Sullivan had a happy homecoming in his return to Pittsburgh .
Adam Fox scored two goals and assisted on another, Igor Shesterkin continued his fast start by making 18 saves and the Rangers avenged their opening-night loss to the Penguins with a 6-1 victory at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night.
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It was Sullivan's first game in the arena he called home for the past 10 seasons. He got a warm reception from the crowd of 16,716 in recognition for his team-record 409 regular-season wins and leading the Penguins to Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.
The Penguins spoiled his first game behind the Rangers' bench on Tuesday with a 3-0 win at Madison Square Garden, but the Blueshirts made sure the return match would be different.
Shesterkin was the main reason the Rangers ended the first period up 1-0 despite being outshot 9-4. Just as he was in the 4-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, No. 31 was flawless. He had to be, because the Rangers generated almost no offense.
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The only goal came after Juuso Parssinen took a holding penalty at 7:17. Fox broke up a pass by Sidney Crosby and sent Sam Carrick up the left side on a 2-on-1 break. Carrick made a perfect pass to Zibanejad , who zipped a shot past Arturs Silovs at 7:40 to put the Rangers ahead. The goal was his 251st as a Ranger, passing Mark Messier for eighth on the team's all-time list.
"Sam made a great play," Zibanejad told MSG between periods.
Rangers rout Penguins in Mike Sullivan's return to Pittsburgh
The goal came on the Rangers' third shot of the period. They had just one more in the final 12:40, but Shesterkin kept Pittsburgh off the board.
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The Penguins briefly got even when Ben Kindel, the 11th player taken in the 2025 NHL Draft, scored his first NHL goal at 3:04 of the second period. It wasn't very complicated; the 18-year-old carried the puck into the right circle and ripped a high wrist shot that beat Shesterkin on the short side. It was the first goal allowed by Shesterkin in more than six periods of play.
But the 1-1 tie didn't last long. Fox put the Rangers ahead to stay at 6:06 with a shot through traffic from above the left circle after a pass from Adam Edstrom . Carrick didn't get a point, but he screened Silovs to cap a terrific effort by the fourth line.
"It was a great shift by that line. They created havoc," Fox told MSG. "Eddy found me."
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The power play, which was MIA for large parts of the season, then connected twice to turn a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 advantage after two periods.
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Rookie center Noah Laba got his first NHL point with a perfect pass from the right circle that Will Cuylle converted at 9:25. Fox used a screen by J.T. Miller to beat Silovs at 16:38 for his second of the night and third of the season.
In all, the Rangers outshot the Penguins 14-3, a total that reflected the play as they capitalized on Silovs' struggles to deal with screens.
The fourth line continued its big night in the third period. Silovs stopped Matt Rempe in close, but Edstrom banged the rebound off his body and into the net at 5:40 for a 5-1 lead. Laba got his second assist of the game with a terrific individual effort that resulted in the first Rangers goal by newcomer Taylor Raddysh at 14:12.
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The Rangers won't have long to enjoy the win. They conclude a season-opening stretch of four games in six nights when the Washington Capitals come to the Garden on Sunday night. The Caps got their first win of the season on Saturday by beating the Islanders 4-2 at UBS Arena.
Here are some other key takeaways from New York's 6-1 win in Pittsburgh.
1. Sullivan gets Standing O – and a W
Give credit to the fans in Pittsburgh, who gave their team's former coach a standing ovation after the Penguins gave him a video tribute during the first media timeout. Sullivan did his best in the media scrum that followed the morning skate to play down the homecoming angle, saying that this was "just another game."
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He tried not to show any emotion as the video celebrated his accomplishments with the Penguins, but did wave to the fans as they saluted him.
Fox said the Rangers had added motivation for this game after the dud in Sullivan's debut on Tuesday.
"We let him down definitely that first game," he said. "It's obviously emotional for him to be back at a place he's been for so long and had so much success. We didn't give him the best start, but I thought we responded really well and definitely happy to get the win for him."
2. Fox looks like his old self
The 2021 Norris Trophy winner has three goals in three games after scoring twice on Saturday. For comparison, he needed 48 games to score his third goal last season.
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He got plenty of help from his teammates against the Penguins. Both of his goals came because a teammate took away Silovs' ability to track the puck.
Sullivan is pleased with Fox's offense — and his play in his own zone.
"I think his offense speaks for itself, he sees the game really well," the coach said. "He has the ability to slow the game down offensively, and a lot of players don't do that in today's game.
"What I like about his game right now is just his physicality down low. He's defending. He's defending hard. … I've been really impressed with his commitment to play defense."
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Fox has helped fuel a power play that was 2-for-4 and played 2:34 on a penalty-killing unit that went 4-for-4 and has killed off all nine opposition PPs in the first three games.
3. Big night for fourth line
Like most teams, the Rangers are always looking for depth scoring. On this night, they got all they could ask for from the unit of Carrick, Rempe and Edstrom.
The threesome combined for five points – Rempe's goal and two assists each by Edstrom and Carrick. Rempe and Edstrom, who don't kill penalties, were each plus-2; Carrick, who does, finished plus-3 thanks to his play on Zibanejad's short-handed goal.
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The Rangers will need more nights like this from the towering threesome.
4. Soucy joins injury parade
The one drawback to the big win was that defenseman Carson Soucy wasn't around to enjoy the end of it.
The big defenseman left the game early in the second period after crashing awkwardly into the boards following a collision with Pens forward Rickard Rakell . He was able to skate off — but didn't return because of an upper-body injury, meaning that the Rangers played the final 36-plus minutes with just five defensemen.
There was no word after the game about Soucy's condition or whether he'll be able to play Sunday. If he can't, Matthew Robertson , a healthy scratch for the third straight game, could see his first action of the season against Washington.
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The Rangers are already without center Vincent Trocheck , who's week-to-week with an upper-body injury sustained in a 4-0 win at Buffalo on Thursday.
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