Attention everyone, Penguins hockey is back.

The team ended their 21-22 campaign in heartbreaking fashion, a 4-3 overtime game 7 loss to the New York Rangers. But that was on May 15th, which was 151 days ago. Pens fans waited patiently for October, the start of the regular season, to come, and it is finally here.

This season, the Penguins feature quite the roster, including Pittsburgh’s favorite trio: captain Sidney Crosby, and assistant captains Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. They’re celebrating their 18th season together, tied for the longest in U.S. sports history. The roster also features Jake Guentzel, an 84-point scorer, who returns for his 7th season. Many other stars complete the lineup, including Bryan Rust, Brian Dumolin, and Rikard Rackell, not to mention goalie Tristan Jarry, who had an outstanding season last year, with 2.42 average goals against and a .919 save percentage.

Of course, coach Mike Sullivan is back for his 8th season, looking to continue the Pens’ 16-year playoff streak and win their sixth Stanley Cup.

October 13th featured the season opener against the Arizona Coyotes. The Penguins were the clear favorite to win this game. PPG Paints had over 100% capacity, with an attendance of 18,355. At 7:00 PM, the puck dropped. The season had begun.

The Penguins got off to a hot start, when captain Crosby scored just 1:22 into the game. Guentzel and Letang were credited with the assists. Two minutes into the game, Arizona got a bench minor penalty for two minutes. This would be a perfect opportunity for the Pittsburgh power play. Unfortunately, they didn’t score, but just 6 seconds after the penalty ended, Jason Zucker scored. Assists were credited to Danton Heinen and Jeff Petry, and the Pens took a 2-0.

Five minutes into the game, Zach Kassian got a holding penalty, so the Pens went back on the power play. This time, they made it count. Just second seconds after the penalty, Guentzel’s wrist shot went into the net, with assists from Rust and Crosby. At 13:33, Pierre-Oliver Joseph got a penalty for interference. The Pens went on their first penalty kill of the season, in an attempt to keep the 3-0 lead. Thankfully they killed it, though just 6 minutes later, Evgeni Malkin and Nick Ritchie got  2 minute roughing penalties. The period would end on a 4 on 4, with the Pens leading 3-0.

Nothing happened for the first 12 minutes of the second period, until Jeff Carter got a two-minute hooking penalty. Thankfully the Pens killed this penalty, when just three minutes later, Marcus Pettersson had a tripping call against him. The Pens had to kill another penalty, their third of the night. Unfortunately, they were not able to kill this one. At 16:10, Nick Ritchie scored a power play goal, with assists from Shayne Gostisbehere and Janis Moser. The score was now 3-1. With less than a minute left in the second period, Christian Fischer got a hooking call. The Pens were looking to score on this power play. Just seven seconds later, Malkin scored on the backhand, with assists from Crosby and Letang. The second period ended with a score of 4-1.

Fans were pumped for the third period. At 3:46, Petterson got another penalty called against him, this time for interference. The Coyotes were able to capitalize on this, and a minute later Nick Ritchie scored for the 2nd time. Gostisbehere and Moser assisted it again. With the score now 4-2, the Pens didn’t want to allow another goal. Though Crosby got a slashing penalty at eight minutes, they were able to kill it. Then at 15:01, Rust struck gold, with assists from Zucker and Petterson.

With just five  minutes left in the game, things looked bright for the Pens. To secure the win, at 17:37, Kasperi Kapanen scored on a wrist shot. Assists from Heinen and Carter, the Pens now led 6-2. No one scored for the rest of the night, and the Pens opened the season with a win. They were obviously the dominant team, outsourcing the Coyotes 53 to 28, and winning 58.5% of the faceoffs. However they did struggle with takeaways and giveaways, giving the puck away 6 times and taking it away just 4. A very solid performance from Jarry, as he allowed only 2 goals on 28 shots. Their next game was Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

PPG was sold out again against this cup contender, as 18,416 fans packed the stands. The first period started off somewhat slowly until Jeff Petry had a tripping call three minutes into the game. Just 14 seconds later, Steven Stamkos scored, with assists from Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov. The first time trailing this season, Pittsburgh didn’t want it to last for long. It might have taken 13 minutes, but the Penguins responded with a goal from Crosby. Rust and Brian Dumolin assisted, tying the game as the first period then came to an end.

Shortly into the second period, Stamkos got a tripping penalty. The Pens were ready to strike, and they did. As the power play was coming to an end, Heinen scored, with assists from Carter and Zucker. They took their first lead of the night. The rest of the second period went scoreless.

Things got going quickly for the Pens in the 3rd, as Guentzel scored early. Letang and Crosby assisted once again. Just over a minute later, Carter scored with assists from Kapanen and Joseph. They were now leading 4-1. After Brandon Hagel’s penalty 13 minutes in, Rust scored again, with assists from Crosby and Malkin. The Pens were now leading 5-1. Just 30 seconds later, Brayden Point scored for the Lightning, assisted by Kucherov and Stamkos. The score was now 5-2, until Rikard Rakell scored an empty netter at 15:55.

Though the team faced its first defeat on Monday night against the Montreal Canadiens, they put up a good fight, losing by one goal, 3-2. The Pens are looking to get back to their winning ways against Los Angeles tonight, and by all indications, they have the talent to do so.