Game preview: 9/10/24 vs. New York Rangers

Game notes

Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, Kevin Hayes and Rutger McGroarty, Matt Grzelcyk and Joel Blomqvist look to make their Penguins debuts tonight. Blomqvist and McGroarty want to make their NHL debuts.

Pittsburgh is 30-16-10 all-time in home openers (first home game of the season), including a record of 7-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Head coach Mike Sullivan (since 2015) begins his tenth season behind the bench in Pittsburgh. The only NHL coach who has been with his team for a long time is Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper, whose first season with the Lightning was 2012-13.

In 30 regular season games against the Rangers, forward Anthony Beauvillier has more goals (13), assists (12) and points (25) against the Rangers than any other team in his career.

The Penguins have an overall record of 387-89-47 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.

In all of Pittsburgh sports history, only Willie Stargell of Crosby and the Pirates has spent two decades with a team in this city. When the puck drops tonight, Crosby will become just the 11th player in NHL history to spend his entire career with one team in at least 20 seasons, joining Alex Delvecchio (24), Stan Mikita (22), Steve Yzerman (22), Dit Clapper (20), Jean Beliveau (20), Patrik Elias (20), Henri Richard (20), Ken Daneyko (20) and Nicklas Lidstrom (20). Alex Ovechkin, also entering his 20th season with Washington, will become the 12th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat Saturday night when the Capitals face New Jersey.

Crosby enters the season ranked seventh among active skaters in regular-season games played (1,272), but is first in points (1,596) and assists (1,004) and second in goals (592). His 1,596 points are the 10th most in NHL history. The 2024–25 season marks the 18th season that Crosby has captained the Penguins, making him the longest-serving active captain in the NHL and the second longest in NHL history.

Evgeni Malkin enters tonight's game just two goals away from becoming the 48th player in NHL history to score 500 career goals. If he reaches this milestone, Malkin will join teammate Sidney Crosby (592), as well as Washington's Alex Ovechkin (853) and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos (555) as the only active players with more than 500 goals. Malkin, who has the third-most goals in Penguins history with 498 in 1,145 games, will become the 20th player in NHL history to score 500 goals with one team.

Pittsburgh (Mario Lemieux & Crosby) will join the Montreal Canadiens (Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau & Maurice Richard) in becoming the second team in NHL history with three 500-goal goals.

Malkin is aiming to join Ovechkin as the only Russian-born players in NHL history to reach the 500-goal mark.

Evgeni Malkin is not only two goals shy of .500, but also two assists from 800 and four points from 1,300.

If Malkin records his next two assists, he will become the 34th player in NHL history to reach the 800 assist plateau. He wants to join Sidney Crosby (1,004) and Patrick Kane (813) as the only active players with 800 assists. He will also become the first Russian-born player in NHL history to reach this milestone.

Malkin is four points away from becoming the 37th player in NHL history to reach 1,300 points and would tie with Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla for 36th most points in league history. Among Russian-born players, only Alex Ovechkin (1,550) has more points than Malkin.

Kris Letang begins his 19th season tonight, all with the Penguins. When the puck drops, Letang will be one of only three defensemen in NHL history to play their entire career for one team in at least 19 seasons. The Pittsburgh blueliner has amassed 742 points (166G-576A) in 1,087 games. With his next point, he tied Mathieu Schneider for 24th place on the all-time NHL points list among defensemen.

Erik Karlsson is entering his second season with Pittsburgh after coming off a 56-point season (11G-45A) in 2023.24. Karlsson's 56 points last season were the fourth-most points among defensemen in their first season with the Penguins.

Rutger McGroarty and Joel Blomqvist are both on Pittsburgh's debut squad and want to make their NHL debut.

McGroarty, who was drafted by the Jets in the first round (14th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, has spent the last two seasons at the University of Michigan (NCAA). Last season, the forward ranked second at Michigan with an NCAA career-high 52 points (16G-36A) in 36 games, and his plus-point total of 17 led the club (tied). McGroarty represented Team USA as captain at the 2024 World Junior Championships, recording nine points (5G-4A) in seven games.

If McGroarty makes the roster tonight, he would be the ninth-youngest player in the Sidney Crosby era (since 2005-06) to make his NHL debut with Pittsburgh.

Blomqvist, 22, recently completed his first full season in North America with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 2024 AHL All-Star posted a 25-12-6 record with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. He was also named to the 2024 AHL All-Rookie Team for his efforts.

Sidney Crosby enters tonight with two even-strength goals to tie Luc Robitaille, who is 13th for the most even-strength goals in NHL history.

Crosby has had success against the New York Rangers in the past. In 85 career games against the Rangers, Crosby has 40 goals, 68 assists and 108 points. Crosby's points per game average (1.27) against the Rangers is 10th in NHL history (min. 25 GP), and no active player has more points against New York than him.

Crosby is currently the only active player in the NHL with more than 100 points against at least three franchises (New York Islanders, 134; Philadelphia, 129; NY Rangers, 108).