Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their season with a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena.
Crosby broke a franchise record by beginning his 18th season in Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, both re-signed in the offseason are in their 17th season with the club.
"Most of these guys have been together for a while now", Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "There's a lot of familiarity on the lines ... I just think the fact we have some stability and continuity in our group helps from a chemistry standpoint. There's a lot of familiarity."
Malkin had a goal and Letang added two assists as Pittsburgh has now won nine straight against Arizona. Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist while Tristan Jarry made 26 saves.
Nick Ritchie had both Coyotes goals and Karel Vejmelka stopped 47 shots.
"We weren't mentally engaged enough", said coach Andre Tourigny. "We got better during the game, never quit and worked hard. But need to find a way to get out of the gate with more urgency mentally.
"We need to be way more stingy defensively. [Vejmelka] was unbelievable tonight. So we need to work on our identity."
Penguins stars shine in opening night rout
Crosby put the Penguins in front just 82 seconds into the game. Guentzel beat J.J. Moser to a puck in the near corner before sending a no-look backhand pass to the slot for a wrist shot that Crosby beat Vejmelka on.
"I think we were just playing on our toes. First game of the year, at home", he said. "I think guys were excited to get going and you could tell we had a lot of jump."
Jason Zucker doubled Pittsburgh's lead as he scored on a one-timer from just above the left faceoff circle.
Seven seconds into a power play, Guentzel made it 3-0 as he scored off of a rebound after Rust had drove to the net.
The Penguins were the second team in the NHL's modern era (since 1943-44) to score three goals in the first 5:10 of a season opener. The Los Angeles Kings scored three in the first 4:18 on Oct. 5, 2005.
Ritchie cut it to 3-1 with 3:50 left, shooting off the left post and in from the slot. He knew Arizona was in trouble after falling behind quickly.
"They get the crowd going. The towels are flying. It's definitely not the right team to spot them three. But we came back and had a decent effort. It wasn't great, by any means, but we fought back a little bit. I guess we'll take something from it."
Malkin restored Pittsburgh's three-goal lead with 49 seconds remaining in the middle period, a backhand off of a rebound from the slot while on the power play.
Ritchie showed off his full array of skills going forehand to backhand to beat Jarry less than five minutes into the third period.
Rust made it 5-2 from a scrum and Kaspari Kapanen took a pass from Danton Heinen and completed the scoring with 2:23 left.