Four days later, it was the New York Rangers who returned the favor against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In a rematch of the season opener, the Rangers took it to the Penguins in a dominant 6-1 win at PPG Paints Arena.

Adam Fox led the way with a standout performance. He had two goals and an assist for a three-point night to highlight the Rangers’ second straight victory. It was an inspired effort from the 27-year-old defenseman who didn’t have many big games last season. If he can get back to the level that made him an elite player on the blue line, it would be huge for the Rangers’ chances this season. He finished the game with an even strength goal, a power-play goal, and a plus-3 rating in 23:41 of ice time.

Following a sluggish start that required Igor Shesterkin to make some crucial saves, Fox made a great play in the defensive zone. While killing a Juuso Parssinen minor penalty, Fox made a good lead pass to Sam Carrick in the neutral that created a two-on-one with Mika Zibanejad. Carrick made no mistake by passing the puck across for a Zibanejad shorthanded goal.

A good penalty killing forward, Zibanejad is up to a dozen shorthanded goals as a Ranger, which is tied with Bill Fairbairn for fifth on the franchise list. Ironically, if he gets another shorthanded tally, he’ll draw even with former teammate and close friend Chris Kreider. On the same night that Kreider scored his first two goals for the Anaheim Ducks, Zibanejad picked up his first of the season.

With the Blueshirts playing without injured center Vincent Trocheck for a while, it falls on Zibanejad to pick it up while centering Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere on the top line. He’s skated with more purpose and continued to look for his shot. That trend must continue. Maybe he can rediscover the form that made him a 30-goal scorer three times, with the last coming in 2022-23 when he had 39.

Despite getting outplayed and outshot (9-4) by the Pens, it was the Rangers who took a one-goal lead to the locker room. They needed Shesterkin to be at his best in a first that saw them kill off two penalties, including a Vladislav Gavrikov one late in the period.

In his first three games thus far, Gavrikov has yet to establish himself. With the Rangers still ahead early in the second period, he forced a stretch pass at the Pens blue line that led to a turnover. After receiving a feed from Caleb Jones, Pens rookie Ben Kindel gained the Rangers zone and beat Shesterkin high glove to tie the score. Despite that mistake, Gavrikov and Fox finished with a 57.14 Corsi according to Natural Stat Trick.

Following Kindel’s first career NHL goal, it was the Rangers that responded well. A strong shift from the fourth line led to Fox getting his first of the season. On some good work from Matt Rempe down low, Adam Edstrom retrieved a loose puck and set up a Fox shot from the point that beat Arthur Silovs with Carrick providing a screen in front.

The Blueshirts took control following the Fox go-ahead tally. It was the second power play unit that made a difference to convert on a five-on-four advantage. With Kindel in the box for holding Urho Vaakainen, the second unit put in some work. After taking a Rempe pass up top, Noah Laba moved the puck down low for Conor Sheary, who came out and made a nice backdoor feed for Will Cuylle in front for his first of the season. With an assist on the play, it was Laba’s first career NHL point.

After killing off another Gavrikov minor, the Rangers went back on the power play due to the Pens getting caught with too many men on the ice. This time, the number one unit came through. On a clean Miller faceoff win, Panarin moved the puck across to Fox, who waited before firing a high shot past Silovs for his second of the game to make it 4-1. Miller drove to the net and created enough of a distraction for Silovs, who couldn’t track the shot. The power-play goal matched Fox’s 2024-25 season total. If he thinks shot more, that could bode well.

Before the period concluded, Laba caught Blake Lizotte with a clean hit. He didn’t take too kindly to it. Pens rookie Harrison Brunsicke responded by punching Laba to pick up a roughing minor.

In the third, it was the supporting cast that put the game away. On some sustained pressure, Carrick set up a shot from Edstrom, who thought he had his first. However, the replay showed that Edstrom’s shot banked off a Penguin and touched Rempe before going in. Rempe was credited with his first instead, making it 5-1.

With the game out of reach, Laba made a nice backhand pass in front that Taylor Raddysh put away for his first as a Ranger. Laba made it possible by outskating the Pens to create the goal. In his third game, he recorded two assists for the first two points of his career. He continues to grow in confidence.

Unlike his last win, Shesterkin didn’t face a lot of rubber, finishing with 18 saves on 19 shots. In three games this season, he’s 2-1-0 with a 0.67 goals-against-average and .976 save percentage. It’s exactly the quick start he needed. With the Rangers getting ready for the second game of a back-to-back on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, he’ll get a breather.

Jonathan Quick will make his first start of the season against the Washington Capitals. They should present more of a challenge. A strong defensive team who have good skaters, the Caps beat the Islanders 4-2 last night to even up their record. They don’t allow a ton of shots or scoring chances. We’ll see if the Rangers are up to the challenge. They had problems with the Capitals last season, losing all three meetings to them. The two old Patrick Division rivals will play four times, including two in late December before Christmas and on New Year’s Eve. The final meeting isn’t until April 5, 2026.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd Star Noah Laba 2 assists for the first 2 points of his NHL career

2nd Star Edstrom-Carrick-Rempe goal, 4 assists, +7 combined

1st Star Adam Fox 2 goals, assist, 4 SOG, +3 in 23:41