If last night was any indication, it explains why my expectations were realistic going into the season. It was a season opener dud for the Rangers, who were shut out 3-0 by the Penguins at the World’s Most Expensive Arena. From reading one post on Twitter, a fan shelled out $350 for seats and spent over twice more on a Centennial jersey and fancy drinks. No word on if those drinks came with a magic elixir to fix the team.

Facing his former team who he coached for a decade, new Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan quickly discovered what life could be like on Broadway. Madison Square Garden is very different from PPG Paints Arena. It didn’t take long for boos to rain down as some disgruntled fans jeered the team as they left the ice after failing to score on a goal on household name Arthur Silovs. He hardly broke a sweat in posting the first regular season shutout of his career. After helping the Canucks to the second round in 2024, he lost his confidence and rebuilt it by leading Abbotsford to the Calder Cup last spring.

Regardless, it was a bad way for the Rangers to usher in the centennial season. At least the traditional jerseys that date back to the franchise’s inception looked good. I really like the white for the both the team name on the front and jersey numbers on the back. Whatever they did, it looks sharp. Hopefully, the team can put in better performances on other nights when they wear the old fashioned blue and white sweaters.

As expected, the lineup was what I gathered. Here’s how they lined up on Tuesday night:

50-8-93

10-16-13

43-42-14

84-39-73

44-23

24-17

18-4

If you were optimistic coming in, your concern level had to be raised early on. None other than Sidney Crosby went around Vladislav Gavrikov with ease to get a dangerous scoring chance that Igor Shesterkin stopped. It wasn’t the only time the ageless Pens legendary captain turned Gavrikov inside out. It wasn’t a good Rangers debut for the former Kings defenseman. But he was far from alone. Adam Fox was caught out of position several times. The more we see Fox, the further away he gets from his Norris season in 2020-21. He continues to look slower. Ever since the injury that occurred due to a knee on knee collision with Sebastian Aho, he hasn’t been the same player.

Maybe the worst part of the game was how few of the top players showed up. If you went based off analytics, Gavrikov and Fox were pinned in their end for most of the night. New captain J.T. Miller looked out of sorts returning from the injury that kept him out most of the preseason. Will Cuylle didn’t fare any better. It was a rough night for the third-year forward who will shoulder a lot of responsibility without Chris Kreider. Cuylle still paced the Blueshirts with eight hits.

If you were looking for a positive, Mika Zibanejad had a lot of jump. He finished with a game-high seven shots in a dozen attempts. Unlike last season, he wasn’t shy about shooting the puck. In fact, with the Rangers behind 1-0 in the second period, Zibanejad created the best scoring chance. He intercepted an errant Erik Karlsson pass, broke in on Silovs, and had his forehand shot stopped. Silovs was able to get his glove up in time to deny the bid.

Alexis Lafreniere also had some opportunities, finishing with six shots. If they are to be successful, a lot will hinge on how the former 2020 number one pick performs. He needs to be much better than last year. Following an encouraging start that earned a big contract extension that pays him a cap hit of $7.45 million through 2032, it’s up to the 23-year-old forward to deliver. He must move on from the disappointing 17-goal 45-point season in which defensive lapses and inconsistency really hurt the Rangers. He’s still playing with Vincent Trocheck and most notably Artemi Panarin, who was kept to the perimeter by the stingy Penguins defense under former Rangers assistant Dan Muse, who picked up his first career win as the Pens bench boss.

If there was a play that was a flashback to 2024-25, it came with 32 seconds remaining in the first period. Following a pair of Shesterkin saves on Brazeau due to Fox leaving the front of the net to help Gavrikov, the Pens struck on a faceoff win from Evgeni Malkin. Instead of winning it back, he went forward with the puck and made a nice pass for an unmarked Brazeau, who had enough time to go forehand, backhand top shelf for a 1-0 lead. The coverage breakdown was due to Lafreniere, who vacated the area too soon. With Urho Vaakanainen leaving to go after Malkin, it was the responsibility of Lafreniere to stay home. That led to Brazeau notching his first goal.

Although the Rangers were better in the second period by outshooting the Pens 13-8, they couldn’t solve Silovs. He was equal to the task stopping all 13 shots, including the critical save on the Zibanejad solo effort. Had he been able to tie the score, who knows what would’ve happened.

Aside from the pair of Zibanejad and Lafreniere combining for over half their shot total, Panarin had the next most with two shots. Neither of which seriously threatened Silovs, who closed everything up on one attempt to get a stoppage.

It was the more locked in Pens who closed it out by playing a more aggressive final period. They easily could’ve scored more on Shesterkin, but the league’s highest paid goalie prevented it. He made 13 of his 28 saves to keep the Blueshirts in it. They never generated much due to Pittsburgh using their team speed and discipline to make life easier on Silovs, who only had to make five saves in the third.

With over two minutes left, Sullivan made an iffy pull of Shesterkin for a six-on-five. Even though the Rangers got the puck in, they never had clean puck possession. The move backfired with Anthony Mantha and Malkin combining to clear the puck out for Brazeau to get his second into an empty net with 2:12 left. Blake Lizotte added another one 20 seconds later for the final margin.

On a night when Crosby didn’t hit the score sheet despite his line with Rickard Rakell and promising rookie Ville Koivunen generating quality chances, the Pens got strong performances from Malkin and Brazeau. Young rookies Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke had good NHL debuts.

The Pens were the better team from start to finish. The Rangers will see them again following a visit at the Sabres on Thursday night. When asked to assess the first loss of the season, Sullivan was diplomatic. He spoke about wanting to move forward. The one big quote was, “I think my first observation is we’ve got a long way to go to become the team we want to become.”

Sullivan doesn’t like to dwell. He’s a straight shooter. There won’t be any bull in his postgame following losses. If you’re looking for a lineup change at Buffalo, it isn’t happening. Even if neither the third or fourth line have much skill, aside from rookie Noah Laba, who didn’t look out of place in his first game. He won five of seven faceoffs while having a positive effect on line mates Conor Sheary and Taylor Raddysh. The fourth line will also remain intact with Adam Edstrom, Sam Carrick, and power play specialist Matt Rempe looking to make an offensive contribution. We’ll see how long the Rempe experiment on the second unit lasts.

The Rangers will need a stronger effort when they face the Sabres. They’re one of the fastest skating teams in the league. That means both Fox and Gavrikov better get into gear. They can’t be at the bottom of a chart. Neither can Miller, who admitted that he struggled. He’s clearly not 100 percent yet. Of course, he’ll play through it. Is it worth dressing him if he isn’t effective? That’s for the Rangers 29th captain to answer over the next three days with games on Thursday and Saturday night.