PITTSBURGH — No, that was not another preseason game for the Penguins. It just felt like it.
Thursday’s season opener at PPG Paints Arena pitted the league’s oldest team, one hoping to squeeze one more Stanley Cup out of its generational core, against a mishmash squad of random veterans and a few barely legal NHL newbies.
Unsurprisingly, the outcome was never in doubt. Shortly after all the prerequisite pregame pomp and circumstance ushered in a new hockey season in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins pumped in three quick goals to put the Arizona Coyotes in their place. From there, they cruised to a low-stress 6-2 victory.