"We're very fortunate to have been able to get tickets," said Weigman, in her third year as a season ticket holder. "We really are."
The Penguins beat the Flyers by a score of 5-2 in that first game, and Wiegman was blown away by how loud the building sounded when Kasperi Kapanen scored the first Penguins goal despite being at 15 percent capacity.
"That place just sounded so loud when he scored," Wiegman said. "It was great. It was such an awesome feeling."
While there's nothing like going to a Penguins game at full capacity, this experience is special in its own way - especially with such a long wait between home games. Prior to Tuesday, the last time fans were permitted in the building was March 8, 2020, when the Penguins hosted Carolina.
"Penguins fans are so great; everybody was standing up and cheering because they were just so happy just to be back," Wiegman said. "It was so special."
The team was happy to have the fans back as well, and were sure to let the crowd know how grateful they were.
"After the first game, when the team went out to the center of the ice and raised their sticks and saluted the fans - it was absolutely awesome that they did that," she said.
Wiegman also went with her father to Thursday night's game against the Flyers. Watching the Penguins has been a family-bonding experience for as long as she can remember.
"I was just born into it," she said. "My mom and dad actually had season tickets to the local hockey team in Johnstown, and they had me at my first hockey game when I was a week old with the local team. So, I've been going to hockey games since I was a week old. We're a big Penguins family."
Of course, their game-day routine this week was altered with several new policies the Penguins have put in place for safety and efficiency at games, such as scheduled staggered arrival times, mobile ticketing, mandatory face masks, cashless transactions for food, beverages and merchandise and more.
Wiegman commended the job that arena staff did to enforce the protocols to ensure everybody's health and safety.
"I felt very safe," she said. "I said to my mom, 'I think it's safer going to a Pens game than it is going to Walmart right now (laughs).' There were definitely more ushers at the second game keeping up with the mask protocol, which was nice. They were just making sure everybody kept them on. There's also hand sanitizer everywhere. Nobody is really touching. You're getting your own drinks, everything's no cash, so you're not exchanging hand germs, which was nice."
