Penguins showcase balanced offense, shut out Flyers in season opener
Robertson scores twice, Hallander has goal, two assists for Pittsburgh
By Adam Kimelman
NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
PHILADELPHIA -- Nicholas Robertson scored two goals in his debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Arturs Silovs made 19 saves in a 7-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday.
It was the season opener for both teams.
Filip Hallander had a goal and two assists, Hendrix Lapierre had a goal and an assist, and Ville Koivunen, Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov scored for Pittsburgh.
"Just a good start on the road," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "I thought we just had the right mentality coming into the game. It's the first game, I don't think anyone expects it to be perfect, but I thought we just had a good work ethic and led with that, and then things just kind of took care of themselves."
Dan Vladar made 31 saves for Philadelphia, which eliminated Pittsburgh in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round last season.
"I think it was as ugly as it could have gotten," Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said.
Robertson made it 1-0 at 7:26 of the first period when he deflected Kris Letang's pass down the right slot past Vladar.
Robertson scored his second at 11:52 of the third period to make it 6-0. His shot on a short-handed rush missed the net but caromed off the end boards and was kicked in by Vladar.
The forward had been acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft on July 1.
"First game you're kind of nervous, and it's not preseason, you're playing in a tough building on the road," Robertson said. "Obviously, I was fortunate to get the one, and obviously that second one was kind of a gimme. I'll take it. It was a good start for the guys. It's good to feel comfortable."
Robertson played on a line with Crosby and Rickard Rakell, and in the short time they've been together Robertson has already impressed.
"I think he's got great speed and just works every shift," Crosby said. "He brings the same thing and he's got a great shot, so yeah, I think it's more his effort than anything."
Robertson wasn't the only newcomer to impact the score sheet. It was also the first game for the Penguins for Lapierre and defensemen Kaedan Korczak (two assists) and Declan Carlile (one assist).
"I think it just builds confidence," Crosby said. "I don't think it's ever easy for guys to start with new teams, but I think having the benefit of (training) camp and just trying to get on the same page there. There's a number of guys that are with us for their first game, so I think that helps. There's other guys in the same situation, so hopefully we're on the same page as much as we can."
Koivunen made it 2-0 at 15:44 of the first period. Samuel Girard's pass in transition caught the Flyers on a line change, allowing Koivunen to skate in alone and score between Vladar's pads.
Malkin extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:03 of the second period with a power-play goal. He finished a give-and-go with Lapierre with a one-timer from the left circle.
Lapierre then made it 4-0 at 7:26. Hallander won a puck battle in the neutral zone and passed ahead to Lapierre, who skated around Philadelphia forward Carl Grundstrom and beat Vladar to the short side from the left slot.
The Penguins had acquired Lapierre, then a pending restricted free agent, from the Washington Capitals for two NHL draft picks on June 25 and signed him to a two-year contract on July 3.
"It's great for multiple reasons," Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said of the impact of the newcomers. "The fact that we want to have contributions from throughout, but I also think for those guys personally, just being able to come into a new room, new situation, just being able to find a contribution and feel really good about it right away."
Hallander pushed it to 5-0 at 10:23 when he outmuscled Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale and knocked a loose puck in the crease under Vladar.
"I don't know if we won a battle tonight," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "And when you don't win battles they have the puck. ... We were down 4-0 and some plays we were making were just disturbing plays. Got to figure this out quickly. Our D-zone, since I've been here, was the worst D-zone I've seen."
After Robertson's second goal, Chinakhov closed the scoring with a redirection of Erik Karlsson's shot on the power play at 16:37 of the third.
NOTES: The Penguins tied their record for the biggest shutout win against the Flyers. They also won 7-0 on March 19, 1988. ... Robertson's short-handed goal was his first in seven NHL seasons. ... With his goal, Malkin became the sixth player with 100 career points against the Flyers. The others: Crosby (140), Mario Lemieux (124), Jaromir Jagr (120), Bryan Trottier (117), and Wayne Gretzky (100). It also was his 534th goal, passing Frank Mahovlich for 36th all-time. ... Flyers captain Sean Couturier began his 15th season with Philadelphia, tying Bobby Clarke and Claude Giroux for the most with the Flyers. ... Crosby began his NHL-record 20th season as captain. ... Crosby, Malkin and Letang won their 494th game together, passing Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic for the most regular-season wins by a trio of teammates. ... Silovs is the fifth goalie with a season-opening shutout in consecutive seasons. He made 25 saves in a 3-0 victory against the New York Rangers to open last season.
