The Pittsburgh Penguins have played a lot of home openers over the years, but this one was pretty special.
After shutting out the New York Rangers 3-0 at Madison Square Garden in their season opener on Tuesday, the Penguins returned to Pittsburgh for their home opener against the New York Islanders on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
Fittingly, several of the team’s longest-tenured players shined, providing more great memories for the home fans.
This is the 20th season together for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang — the only trio of teammates to play 20 seasons together for the same franchise in NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB history. While they’re all in their late 30s now, they managed to turn back the clock on Thursday, propelling Pittsburgh to a 4-3 victory over the Islanders.
Crosby and Malkin combined for five points, with Crosby netting his first goal of the season and adding an assist. It was the 626th goal of his illustrious career, second behind Alex Ovechkin among active players and breaking a three-way tie for 16th overall.
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Malkin assisted Crosby’s second-period goal on the power play — one of his three assists on the evening.
Justin Brazeau, who scored two goals on Tuesday, delivered the game-winning goal in the third period. Rickard Rakell and Harrison Brunicke also scored for the Penguins.
Meanwhile, Tristan Jarry was sold in net in his season debut, stopping 34 of 37 shots.
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Now 2-0, Pittsburgh will look to stay undefeated in a rematch with the Rangers on Saturday, this time at home.
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Featured image via Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images