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[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: New York Rangers @ Pittsburgh Penguins 10/11/2025

Who: New York Rangers (1-1-0) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-0)

When: 7:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and MSG, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: Pens fans should get ready for some late nights ahead. The next few puck drops are set for 10 p.m. ET or later as the Penguins head West to take on the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks on the road.

Opponent Track: The Rangers lost their season opener to the Pens in a 3-0 shutout on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, but ended up the other side of the blank sheet in a 4-0 win over the host Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

Season Series: One more win will allow the Pens to best last season’s series with the Rangers, which the good guys lost 1-3 while getting outscored 17-8.

Hidden Stat: If the Penguins beat the Rangers again tonight, it will mark the team’s first 3-0-0 start to a season since the 2013-14 campaign.

Getting to know the Rangers​

Projected lines (from Thursday’s game)

FORWARDS

Will Cuylle – JT Miller – Mika Zibanejad

Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck (?) – Alexis Lafreniére

Conor Sheary – Noah Laba – Taylor Raddysh

Adam Edstrom – Sam Carrick – Matt Rempe

DEFENSEMEN

Vladislav Gavrikov – Adam Fox

Carson Soucy – Will Borgen

Urho Vaakanainen – Braden Schneider

Goalies: Igor Shesterkin, Jonathan Quick

Scratches: Matthew Robertson, Juuso Parssinen, Brett Berard

• Vincent Trocheck’s status is uncertain after the forward suffering an upper-body injury on Thursday against the Sabres. The Rangers responded to him leaving the game by bumping down Mika Zibanejad to play alongside Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere on the second line, per The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano.
• That resulted in two-time Stanley Cup champion Conor Sheary— who signed a one-year minimum deal with the Rangers one day before the season started— being elevated to skate on the top line. Here’s a look at some of the line shuffling Mike Sullivan did Thursday after Trocheck’s absence:

Lines without Trocheck look like:

Cuylle – Miller – Sheary
Panarin – Zibanejad – Lafrenière
Edström – Laba – Raddysh #NYR

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 10, 2025

• Shesterkin looked strong during his 37-save shutout against the Sabres on Thursday. He could be called on for another big performance tonight, especially if the Rangers’ relatively thin forward depth gets exposed by Trocheck’s absence.
• The Rangers goaltender has stopped 15 of 16 high-danger shots he’s faced through the first two games of the season, per NHL Stats. (Parallel stat: Pens forward Justin Brazeau leads the NHL with seven high-danger shots through two games).

Mike Sullivan on having Igor Shesterkin on his side as a goaltender:

"It sure is nice, I tell ya" pic.twitter.com/r7nlbaCdFt

— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) October 10, 2025

And now for the Pens​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Ville Koivunen – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell

Anthony Mantha – Evgeni Malkin – Justin Brazeau

Tommy Novak – Ben Kindel – Filip Hallander

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Shea / Kris Letang

Caleb Jones / Harrison Brunicke

Goalies: Arturs Silovs, Tristan Jarry

Potential Scratches: Philip Tomasino, Connor Clifton, Mathew Dumba

IR: Bryan Rust (week-to-week, lower body), Kevin Hayes (upper body, week-to-week), Jack St. Ivany (week-to-week, lower body), Rutger McGroarty (indefinite, upper body), Joel Blomqvist (week-to-week, lower body)

How we sleep at night knowing the @penguins are 2-0 and Evgeni Malkin leads the NHL in points. pic.twitter.com/Q1iptTBFrs

— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) October 10, 2025

• Bryan Rust, who rejoined the team for Wednesday’s practice in a regular jersey, seems like he’s approaching his season debut but has yet to commit to a return date.
• The clock is ticking as to when Dan Muse and Kyle Dubas will need to decide whether Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke will active their contracts by staying with the Pens past nine games. So far they’ve both made a convincing effort to prove they’re ready for the full-time NHL gig, but the eventual return of forwards like Rust, Kevin Hayes and Rutger McGroarty could lead the Pens to decide to hold off on burning the first year of Kindel’s ELC for another year.
• The Penguins announced Friday the team will recognize David Blackburn, who has spent 64 years working at Civic Arena and PPG Paints Arena, during Saturday’s game on his 90th birthday.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/67826/game-preview-new-york-rangers-pittsburgh-penguins-10-11-2025