Penguins spoil old coach Sullivan's Rangers debut with shutout win

NEW YORK -- Arturs Silovs made 25 saves for his first NHL shutout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled Mike Sullivan's coaching debut with the New York Rangers with a 3-0 win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in the season-opening game for each team.

Silovs, who was acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on July 13, was playing in his 20th regular-season game. He had a shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Canucks in 2023-24.

"It felt great to be on a new team," Silovs said. "I think we have pretty good chemistry with the guys already and it's so nice to play and it's even better to win on the road. … Work pays off, I felt confident, I felt like my game was solid and just keep going."

Justin Brazeau scored twice, and Evgeni Malkin had two assists for the Penguins (1-0-0). Dan Muse got the victory in his first game as an NHL coach. Muse was an assistant with the Rangers the past two seasons and was hired on June 4 to replace Sullivan, who coached the Penguins for 10 seasons before parting ways with the team on April 28. Sullivan was hired by the Rangers on May 2.

"It's a huge honor, it really is," Muse said. "I've said it before and I'll keep saying it again when the questions asked of me. It's an honor to just be in this league in any way, shape or form and so to be a head coach especially in this organization with the history here, words couldn't properly describe how much of an honor it is.

"You always want to start things off on the right foot and I thought we got contributions from everybody today. ... It's a good start. Enjoy it tonight, turn the page and back to work here tomorrow."

Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves for the Rangers (0-1-0), who were shut out in their season opener for the first time since the 2020-21 season (4-0 against the New York Islanders).

"I think my first observation is, we got a long way to go to become the team we want to become," Sullivan said. "I thought we had moments in the game where we were playing the game that we envisioned ... but it's not nearly consistently enough."

Brazeau gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 19:28 of the first period. He took a pass from Malkin, who won a face-off and got the puck before passing to Brazeau, who scored with a backhander up high.

"I thought we worked hard on both sides of the puck and had our looks as well, but 'Artie' was really good," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "I just thought we were good when we made mistakes covering for each other, we were helping ... we didn't force it and I thought we were there to support each other through all three zones."

Brazeau scored an empty-net goal with 2:12 remaining in the third period for a 2-0 lead, and Blake Lizotte added an empty-netter with 1:52 left for the 3-0 final.

"They played hard, but I think we are looking at ourselves," said Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad, who had 12 shot attempts including a game-high seven on goal. "Maybe the desperation at the end but not much of a push."

The Rangers were 0-for-2 on the power play and were outshot 15-5 in the third period.

"I don't think it was our best," Rangers captain J.T. Miller said. "They outplayed us for majority of the game. We had some good moments in the third, but I think where we're trying to get to is better than what we showed today. On the other side of that is it's the first game. I know we are going to be better."

NOTES: Silovs became the second goalie to have a shutout in his Penguins debut (Maxime Legace; May 8, 2021). He also became the second Pittsburgh goalie with a shutout in the team's opening game of the season, joining Marc-Andre Fleury who did it twice (Oct. 3, 2013; Oct. 5, 2006). … Penguins forwards Malkin and Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang became the first trio of teammates in the history of North American pro sports to reach 20 seasons. Crosby began his 21st NHL season with Letang and Malkin each entering their 20th. … Rangers forward Noah Laba (no shots on goal, 13:40 of ice time), and Penguins forward Ben Kindel (one shot on goal, 15:11 of ice time) and defenseman Harrison Brunicke (one shot on goal, 15:21 of ice time) each made his NHL debut. Brunicke, a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, became the first South African-born skater in NHL history and second player born there (goalie Olie Kolzig).