On second thought, maybe the New York Rangers could’ve benefitted from another week or so of training camp. At least that’s how it looked, when the Rangers opened their centennial season Tuesday with a 3-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden.
Though the final score was padded by a pair of empty-net goals scored by the Penguins late in the third period, the Rangers weren’t sharp nor were they the better team.
“They outplayed us for the majority of the game, I think,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller stated postgame.
Igor Shesterkin was New York’s best player, stopping 27 of 28 shots, including all 12 he faced in the third period before the Penguins netted a pair with him on the bench for a sixth attacker.