The Pittsburgh Penguins may be in the middle of a rebuild, but they are having a strong start to the 2025-26 season. Like the Boston Bruins, the Penguins have won each of their first two games of the season, defeating the New York Rangers and then the New York Islanders.
A former Bruins forward has played a significant role in the Penguins' early season success, as Justin Brazeau is continuing to impress with his new team.
As The Hockey News' Russell Macias discussed in a recent piece, Brazeau scored two goals against the Rangers in his Penguins debut on Oct. 7, including the game-winner. Now, in his second game as a Penguin on Oct. 9 against the Islanders, he once again made a big impact.
At the 14:21 mark of the third period against the Islanders, Brazeau scored the Penguins' game-winning goal. It was a nice goal, too, as the former Bruin showed off his good hands on the breakaway before beating Islanders star goalie Ilya Sorokin.
With his latest strong performance, Brazeau now has three goals and a plus-2 rating in two games for the Penguins so far. It is clear that the former Bruin is forming strong chemistry with new linemates Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Mantha, and it will be fascinating to see how he builds on his hot start from here.
In 76 games over two seasons with the Bruins, Brazeau recorded 15 goals, 12 assists, 27 points, and 132 hits.