The Pittsburgh Penguins opened their season with a 7-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last night. Nick Robertson scored twice for the Penguins in his debut. Five other Penguins scored, including Evgeni Malkin. Arturs Silovs stopped all 19 shots in net for the Penguins. The Pens went 2-for-4 on power play opportunities and killed all three Philadelphia power plays.
The Pens host the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night for their home opener. Face-off is 7pm.
The Kyle Dubas (general manager) magic was apparent in the Penguins opener last night. Nick Robertson, who scored twice in his Penguins debut last night, was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in July for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick. He was a restricted free agent at the time of the trade, but the Pens signed him to a two-year contract worth $3.25 million annually.
Other Penguins goal-scorers last night were Filip Hallander, who missed all of last season after a blood-clot disorder.
Ville Koivunen also scored. The Penguins had signed him to an eight-year, $32 million contract extension during the off-season. Hendrix Lapierre was acquired from Washington in June in exchange for a third-round draft pick next year, and a 2028 fifth-round pick. He set up Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal in the second period, and netted one of his own less than three minutes later.
Egor Chinakhov scored the other Penguins goal on a power-play in the third period. Chinakhov was acquired from Columbus last December for Danton Heinen and two draft picks that were acquired by Dubas from two other teams.