The Pittsburgh Penguins kicked off their 2025-26 season in impressive fashion on Tuesday, beating the New York Rangers 3-0 in a significant upset at Madison Square Garden.
The underdog Penguins blanked their Metropolitan Division rivals behind an outstanding debut from new goalie Arturs Silovs, who surprisingly got the start over two-time All-Star Tristan Jarry. Rookie head coach Dan Muse’s bold move paid off, as Silovs delivered his first career shutout in his first game for Pittsburgh after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks over the summer.
After three years of sporadic playing time as the Canucks’ backup, the young Silovs made a great first impression for the Penguins, saving all 25 Rangers shots — eleven of which were Grade A chances. He became just the second goalie in franchise history to pitch a shutout in his team debut.
“I felt confident. I felt like things are paying off, what I’m doing at practices. Just felt comfortable,” Silovs told SportsNet Pittsburgh’s Hailey Hunter after the game.
While he’s only been with Pittsburgh for a few months, Silovs is already enjoying his time there.
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“I think it’s been great. I think it’s a really good group here,” Silovs told Hunter. “Everyone competes every single day, and we’re trying to be better every single day, and we’re still building from this one.”
While Silovs was the star of the show in net, he got plenty of help from a defense that ranked 29th in goals allowed last year.
The game was tense and closer than the final score indicated. Penguins forward Justin Brazeau scored the first goal of the game with 32 seconds left in the first period, and that was the game’s only goal until Pittsburgh scored a pair of empty-netters via Brazeau and Blake Lizotte in the final two minutes of regulation.
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Igor Shesterkin was also phenomenal in goal for New York, stopping 27 of the Penguins’ 28 shot attempts while he was on the ice, but Silovs was just a hair better.
After notching its first season-opening win since 2022, Pittsburgh will try to stay undefeated in its home opener against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
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Featured image via Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images