PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang started their 17th season together with a bang, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins race by the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Thursday night.
The longtime franchise cornerstones combined for two goals and four assists as they joined former New York Yankee stars Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured trio of teammates in major North American professional sports history.
Crosby began his 18th season by scoring his 518th career goal 1:22 into the first period. The Pittsburgh captain also had two assists, including one on Malkin’s goal in the waning seconds of the second period that finished a sequence where the puck made its way from Letang to Crosby before eventually ending up on Malkin’s stick.
Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker, Bryan Rust and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for Pittsburgh. Letang finished with two assists. Tristan Jarry, who was limited to just one appearance during the Penguins’ first-round playoff loss to the New York Rangers last spring, made 26 saves.
Nick Ritchie scored twice for the rebuilding Coyotes. Karel Vejmelka struggled early but improved as the game wore on to stop 47 shots.
Pittsburgh’s pregame ceremony was cathartic for the sellout crowd following a few tense days in early summer in which Letang and Malkin’s futures with the club were both unclear as free agency loomed. Letang ultimately opted to stick around on a six-year deal and Malkin followed suit shortly thereafter by agreeing to a four-year pact just hours before hitting the open market.
The signings sent a very clear message that new owners Fenway Sports Group — which purchased the club from Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle last fall — believes the Stanley Cup window for the 35-year-old Crosby and company remains wide open.
It will take months if not years to know whether it was the right move, but the early returns had a familiar feel.
Crosby needed all of 82 seconds to give the Penguins the lead, taking a pretty cross-ice backhand feed from Guentzel then ripping a shot over Vejmelka’s glove. It marked the first time in Crosby’s career he’s scored Pittsburgh’s first goal of the season.
Zucker, who dealt with various injuries last season, made it 2-0 less than 3 minutes later with by firing a one-timer from just above the right circle. Guentzel pushed the lead to three 5:12 into the first by flipping a shot into an empty net on the power play.
Arizona coach Andre Tourigny believes his team is in a better place than it was a year ago, when the Coyotes finished with the NHL’s worst record. Maybe, but the Coyotes are likely facing another difficult year that includes playing 20 of their first 24 games on the road.
Arizona didn’t win a game during the preseason and looked overmatched for the first 25 minutes or so before briefly giving the Penguins a scare.
Ritchie’s first goal 16:10 into the second briefly quieted the sellout crowd but Malkin re-ignited it just before the end of the period when he pounded home a rebound off a Crosby shot to restore a three-goal lead.
Ritchie’s second goal 4:46 into the third brought the Coyotes back within two. Jarry then withstood a serious push from Arizona before Rust — who like Malkin and Letang signed a lengthy new deal to stay in Pittsburgh — put it away with a goal from just outside the crease with 4:59 to play.
NOTES: Arizona rookie F Dylan Guenther, the club’s 2021 first-round pick, was a healthy scratch after making the team as a 19-year-old. The Coyotes also scratched Ds Patrik Nemeth and Juuso Valimaki. … Pittsburgh scratched D Chad Ruhwedel and C Teddy Blueger, who is recovering from an upper-body injury. … Pittsburgh went 2 for 6 on the power play. The Coyotes were 2 for 5 with the man advantage.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Continue a season-opening six-game trip in Boston on Saturday.
Penguins: Welcome Tampa Bay on Saturday night. Pittsburgh took two of the three meetings with the Lightning last season.
