Top-Six Juggled Around as Penguins Fall To Rangers 6-0 In Home Opener

Chris Kreider scored twice for the Rangers, and Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry struggles in season opener

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, this was one of those nights you want to flush down the toilet and forget about.

The Penguins were routed by the New York Rangers, 6-0, in their home opener. Chris Kreider scored twice for New York - one of those tallies being a shorthanded breakaway goal in the second period - the the Rangers peppered goaltender Tristan Jarry with 47 shots.

There isn't much to write home about in this one, but here are some notes and observations from the opener.

- Head coach Mike Sullivan did not hesitate to juggle around the top-six pretty much right away. 

At the start of the evening, the same top-six that was deployed for much of training camp was used again. Sidney Crosby had Drew O'Connor on his left and Anthony Beauvillier on his right, while Evgeni Malkin was flanking Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell on his left and right, respectively.

But after the Rangers scored three goals in the first period, and the Penguins weren't showing too many signs of offensive life, Sullivan swapped Rakell and O'Connor, and the lines remained that way for the remainder of the game.

Rakell has been known to have success with Crosby, and Bunting has seen success with Malkin. O'Connor and Beauvillier both play a speed game, so I'm interested to see if these line combinations stick tomorrow night in Detroit.

The top-six will likely be a total carousel, at least until Bryan Rust returns. It was a mess tonight.

- We saw some of this last season, but Sullivan also wasn't afraid to put Crosby and Malkin out there together five-on-five. They saw some shifts with Bunting and Rakell as the third guy.

Especially with a guy like Rust out of the lineup, this is something he might default to quite a lot in the earlygoing to ignite an offensive spark.

"I thought early in the game, they had a couple of good shifts," Sullivan said. "They almost scored. As the game went on, once again, it just became more symptomatic of our overall team game. That was some of the logic in why we did it, so we'll see where it goes moving forward. But that's certainly something that we've done in the past, and we may try to do it again. It's all going to depend on what the group looks like."

- It is game one, but the power play looked to be reverting to some of its old habits that weren't present in the pre-season.

There were cross-ice passes that didn't hit. Missed shooting opportunities. A lot of perimeter passing. And, of course, several shorthanded chances against, Kreider's goal being the result of a misdirected cross-ice pass by Malkin.

When the team is down bad, it's hard to find much energy. But crisp, clean, short passes are what made the power play click in the pre-season, so hopefully, this is something that will show itself again against Detroit.

- Again, it's game one. Tristan Jarry was not good in this game. Not a great start for a guy who will, largely, vbe under the microscope this season.

However, the team defense didn't help him out at all. Marcus Pettersson had an unusually messy game defensively and was actually bailed out by Karlsson a few times (not something you see every day), and the top pairing of Kris Letang and Matt Grzelcyk was a mess.

I think the defensive schemes looked very similar to last season, so I don't expect the Penguins to become a stalwart defensive team anytime soon. But much of the defense corps is the same as it was last season, so this is somewhat concerning.

Even the one newbie, Grzelcyk, told me the other day that Boston's system isn't much different than Pittsburgh's, so the adjustment should be too hefty. 

I'll give it some time, but there were some red flags for sure.

- On the bright side, there were a few positives to pull from this game.

The third line of Lars Eller, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Rutger McGroarty - who made his NHL debut and had his honorary "rookie lap" before warm-ups - was definitely the strongest line. They generated some chances and seem to be developing some chemistry. Despite the mess in the top-six, this is a combination I wouldn't tamper with yet.

Anthony Beauvillier also had a pretty decent Penguins debut. He remained on Crosby's line throughout the night and had several chances, and his wall play and defensive zone play were both pretty strong. He made a few nice stick plays in the defensive zone.

But if I had to single out one player tonight, I think Cody Glass had a particularly strong game. He was noticeable in all three zones, he looked great on the penalty kill and had a few big shot blocks, and his skating looked great.

This is a guy I would consider sliding up next to Crosby if they can't find the right fit on his left side goinng forward. I definitely see the offensive upside there, and he is a responsible player on both sides of the puck. He's a pretty dynamic player.

- The Penguins won another offside challenge in the first period. It didn't end up mattering, but their record on these challenges is impeccable.

- The Rangers block a lot of shots. A lot of shots. And - I hate to say it, but - this is a very, very good team.

In the defensive zone, they block a ton of shots and clog up passing and shooting lanes like crazy, keeping play to the perimeter. They excel off the rush, which was evident in half their goals tonight. And they are hard to keep up with once they establish possession in the offensive zone.

There's a reason these guys won the President's Trophy last season. They're a good hockey team, and they're going to be a problem for the East this season.