PITTSBURGH — If there were any lingering distractions for Igor Shesterkin as he entered the new season Wednesday without a contract extension, you sure couldn’t tell. Shesterkin was strong early and his teammates took over from there in an across-the-board performance. The 6-0 win over the Penguins was as complete a performance as the Rangers could have mustered, with even-strength goals from all four forward lines and solid nights up and down the lineup.
Sam Carrick scored on the Rangers’ second shot on Tristan Jarry, and the Rangers went to work after the Penguins held a 10-3 shot advantage into the back half of the opening period. Alexis Lafrenière and Chris Kreider scored in the final 2:37 of the first to send the teams to the intermission under a chorus of boos for the home side.
Filip Chytil’s first regular-season goal since March 28, 2023, extended the lead to four in the second and Kreider added a short-handed goal, streaking past a supremely uninterested Kris Letang for the final tally in the third. Vincent Trocheck capped the romp late in the third.
Kreids turns on the jets + goes five-hole for the SHG. pic.twitter.com/zJp2HBvHif
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 10, 2024
Jacob Trouba, who endured a brief bout of trade rumors this past summer, also turned aside any distractions and had two first-period assists.
Shesterkin shuts ’em down
The Monday leak of Shesterkin turning down $11 million per year from the Rangers was perplexing — if it came from the team side, that’s a strange way to motivate your most important player on the eve of the season — but apparently Shesterkin isn’t attuned to hockey on social media, because he was fully engaged from the drop of the puck Wednesday.
The Penguins tried to generate offense from below the hash marks, which really isn’t the way to beat Shesterkin — he was tight to his posts on a couple of wrap tries and then at the top of the blue paint to turn aside any low-to-high plays the Penguins tried. His 10 saves in the opening half of the first kept the Penguins at bay and his Rangers teammates took over. Shesterkin finished with 29 saves in the shutout.
This was Shesterkin’s second career shutout in October and the first by a Rangers goalie in a season opener since Gump Worsley in the 1956-57 season. Couldn’t have been a better start to such an important season for him.
Bottom-six contributions
Peter Laviolette searched fruitlessly all last regular season for a fourth-line center who could contribute on offense, with Nick Bonino and Barclay Goodrow combining for five total goals from that spot. Carrick needed 16 seconds in his Rangers debut.
He deftly tipped a Jacob Trouba shot over Jarry at 2:24 of the first to get the Rangers going. Carrick’s line, with Adam Edström and Jonny Brodzinski, was very effective. Matt Rempe sat as the extra for the opener but will certainly get his shot at some point.
Chytil’s goal was part of a very strong night for his third line. Will Cuylle had one waved off on an offside challenge in the first, but that didn’t deter the Cuylle-Chytil-Kaapo Kakko line, with Chytil converting after Cuylle whiffed on a shot off the rush.
Kakko, who was on the trade block most of the summer, was one of the best Rangers forwards on opening night, grinding around the Pittsburgh net and nearly converting on a few opportunities. A healthy Chytil makes that line dangerous and more of a threat than the Rangers had on the third line last season.
Mancini makes well-earned NHL debut
After a strong training camp, Victor Mancini met Chris Drury on Monday. The general manager told him he’d made the Rangers’ opening-night roster.
“I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face,” Mancini said. “This is something you’ve been working for since you’re a little kid, so super pumped to be here. But you know this is only the beginning. You want this just to be the beginning.“
Mancini had a solid first NHL game, playing 17:27 and getting a bit of penalty-kill time when Trouba was in the box in the second. That short PK shift brought Mancini’s welcome-to-the-league moment.
Sidney Crosby fell onto Shesterkin after missing a centering feed and took his time disentangling himself from the Rangers goalie. So Mancini gave Crosby an extra shove as the Penguins’ captain skated to his bench; Crosby turned and gave Mancini a couple of well-placed stick whacks, plus a couple of words for the rookie.
Mancini’s parents, as well as friends and other family, drove to the game from Michigan. “He had a great body of work,” Laviolette said. “It started in the rookie games, rookie camp and the rookie games. It just goes to show that those tournaments and those games and that camp can really make an impression.”
Quotes of the game
• Igor Shesterkin on the contract: “I don’t want to talk about my contract. If you want we can talk about our team. We played a really good game today. … We can talk about (Victor) Mancini, (Alexis Lafrenière’s) goal, anything you want.”
• Laviolette: “A lot of guys chip in, a lot of lines chipping in. I thought everybody did a good job.”
(Photo: Jeanine Leech / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
