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Pittsburgh Penguins 3 Keys to the Game (The Hockey Writers)

3 Keys to a Penguins Win Over the Islanders

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Zach Alvarado | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 9:15 AM ET

After an all-around solid effort, the Pittsburgh Penguins kicked off the 2025-26 season with a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Justin Brazeau and Arturs Silovs shone, with Brazeau scoring two goals and Silovs picking up the 25-save shutout.

Though it was a very good win, the Penguins now have to turn their attention to their home opener as they welcome the New York Islanders to PPG Paints Arena.

Penguins Key One: Carry Over the Momentum, But Don’t Get Too High

As mentioned before, the Penguins are coming off a big win to start their season. The team, as well as fans, should feel good about the way they won. Despite many doubting them to get started the right way, they managed to ignore the noise and deliver a strong performance against the Rangers. Now they need to do something they struggled to do last season: carry the momentum and not let it be a one-off.

Carrying momentum and gaining points early in the season is a fragile thing to do. It can vanish just as quickly as it’s earned. Head coach Dan Muse did a phenomenal job giving the kids a chance in Game 1, and it was something I wrote about over the offseason. The energy from the youngsters, such as Ben Kindel, Harrison Brunicke, and Ville Koivunen, gives a breath of fresh air to a lineup full of veterans and more energy throughout the lineup. If the Penguins can play with the high-tempo they showed in Tuesday’s game, along with being more consistent with passes and decision-making, they’ll give themselves the best possible chance of moving to 2-0-0.

Penguins Key Two: Get to the Net for Second and Third Chance Opportunities

The Islanders boast solid goaltending with Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin. Both are capable of stealing games, so beating them clean on the first shot won’t come easy. While generating offense and shots, the Penguins will need to be prepared to get second and third opportunities while providing screens in front.

Players like Anthony Mantha can use their size to establish a net-front presence, making life difficult for whoever is between the pipes. Not only does it make the goaltenders’ lives difficult, but it also forces defenders to collapse, creating even more traffic in front.

Penguins Key Two: Make Easy Plays and Capitalize on Power-Play Opportunities

While we did get a glance at the Penguins’ power play in their win over the Rangers, it wasn’t that great of a look as they earned just one chance. Despite that, there were quite a few mistakes made by both units. Whether that was from rust, nerves, or a combination of both is unknown. What we do know, however, is that they need to find the killer instinct that they had last season on the man advantage.

Through the first minute of the power play on Tuesday night, the Penguins had three mishandled pucks, which were easily controlled by the Rangers and cleared down the ice. This made it difficult for the Penguins to find a groove, get set up in the offensive zone, and create chances. Instead, they were essentially bag skating, going up and down to retrieve the puck. Credit has to be given where credit is due, though. The Rangers made it difficult with the pressure they put on the puck carriers.

Nonetheless, if the Penguins draw more opportunities against the Islanders, they have to make them count. Even with it being a new season, areas where teams struggled in seasons past still come to light. With the Islanders, one area they were awful in was their penalty kill, which was second-worst in the league with a 72.2% kill rate.

The key for the Penguins will be crisp puck movement, quick decisions, and getting a ton of traffic around the net for rebound chances. With the offensive talent they have, keeping things simple and executing cleanly is a strong foundation for having a deadly power play.

The Penguins have built a decent foundation for how they want their season to go. They opened it up with an impressive, mostly structured win. Like every team, however, they have to show they can be consistent. Playing their next game on home ice should give them a massive boost of energy. The difficult part will be channeling that energy so they don’t get too high.