The New York Rangers are set to do battle against the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time in this very early going of the 2025-26 season. After the opening night disaster, I am sure there are a few Blueshirts who are looking to exact a little revenge.
When: 7:00 p.m.
Where: PPG Paints Arena
TV: MSG
Radio: ESPN New York, 98.7 FM
Projected Lineups
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin -- Mika Zibanejad -- Alexis Lafrenière
Will Cuylle -- J.T. Miller -- Connor Sheary
Juuso Parssinen -- Noah Laba -- Taylor Raddysh
Adam Edstrom -- Sam Carrick -- Matt Rempe
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Adam Fox
Carson Soucy -- Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen -- Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Pittsburgh Penguins
Ville Koivunen -- Sidney Crosby -- Rickard Rakell
Anthony Mantha -- Evgeni Malkin -- Justin Brazeau
Tommy Novak -- Ville Koivunen -- Harrison Brunicke
Noel Acciari -- Connor Dewar -- Blake Lizotte
Filip Hallander -- Benjamin Kindel -- Blake Lizotte
Parker Wotherspoon -- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea -- Kris Letang
Caleb Jones -- Harrison Brunicke
Arturs Silovs
Now let's get to the three Rangers that will be a must watch in Pittsburgh.
Igor Shesterkin
Undoubtedly, the best player to suit up for the Blueshirts this season has been goaltender Igor Shesterkin. He was solid in the first matchup against Pittsburgh, only allowing one goal before the Pens netted two more in an empty net. And then he shut out the Sabres in dominating fashion.
This season has all the makings of a Vezina campaign for "The Prince", which would transcend him to "The King" status. This next game against Pittsburgh will be another example of that.
J.T. Miller
With each passing game, it seems like captain J.T. Miller is getting back to health. The Rangers are going to need him to do exactly what he did against Buffalo, and as the games pass, he will get better and better. He will be leaned upon more, as will Mika Zibanejad, now that Vincent Trocheck is week-to-week.
There is a case to be made that after the first showdown with Pittsburgh, and before the dismantling of Buffalo, Miller used his leadership to rally the troops. Expect this to be a trend throughout the season, and a victory against Pittsburgh on Saturday will help this team's morale tremendously.
Noah Laba
After beating out every other prospect in the Rangers pipeline, Noah Laba has yet to make too big a splash in the 2025-26 season. In the first game against Pittsburgh, he was excellent from the faceoff dot, winning five out of seven draws. That was maintained in the away contest in Buffalo, winning seven out of nine faceoffs.
Laba has the potential to get his offense going in the Pittsburgh rematch. With so many prospects waiting in line, Laba is going to have to show more than impressive faceoff ability.