{"id":475299,"date":"2025-10-07T08:09:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=475299"},"modified":"2025-10-06T23:37:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T03:37:50","slug":"nhl-predictions-pittsburgh-penguins-new-york-rangers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/10\/07\/nhl-predictions-pittsburgh-penguins-new-york-rangers\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: October 7th, Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Penguins and Rangers open their season in legendary Madison Square Garden. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here on Last Word on Hockey<\/em>! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. In tonight\u2019s matchup, the New York Rangers<\/a> host the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> to kick off the beginning of the 2025-26 NHL season.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/strong><\/p>\n

New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Head-to-Head:<\/strong>\u00a0Rangers 0-0 Penguins<\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong>\u00a0Sportsnet+; SN1, TVNS<\/p>\n

First-time NHL head coach Dan Muse makes his regular-season debut against the Penguins\u2019 former bench boss, Mike Sullivan<\/a>, in what should be an entertaining night of hockey. Expect some jump from both teams following disappointing results in 2024-25.<\/p>\n

The Penguins\u2019 Story<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s the start of a new season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the state of the team is still in question. The big three in Sidney Crosby<\/a>, Evgeni Malkin<\/a>, and Kris Letang<\/a> are all set to return for another year with the Penguins. The Penguins also possess veterans Rickard Rakell<\/a>, Bryan Rust<\/a> and Erik Karlsson<\/a>, all of whom were expected to be traded in the offseason. As this didn\u2019t transpire, the team is better on paper than they\u2019d expected to be, potentially threatening a tank for the projected first-overall pick Gavin McKenna<\/a> in next year’s draft.<\/p>\n

Even with a worse team on paper, there\u2019s a lot to be excited for in Pittsburgh. With a new head coach, comes a new philosophy, one where players, both old and young, must earn their place in the lineup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, notable veterans like Danton Heinen<\/a> and Ryan Graves<\/a> have been assigned to the AHL following rough training camps. In their place, the Penguins are set to dress rookies Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke<\/a> in their NHL debuts. Kindel is a centre drafted 11th<\/sup> overall just months ago in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The defenceman Brunicke, meanwhile, is a second-round pick from 2024. Kindel and Brunicke represent a continued youth movement that started last season with the arrivals of Rutger McGroarty<\/a> and Ville Koivunen<\/a> into the NHL.<\/p>\n

The Rangers\u2019 Story<\/h2>\n

The New York Rangers performed shockingly bad relative to expectations last season. From being a Presidents\u2019 Trophy winner just a few seasons ago, the organization finished 39-36-7 last season. This placed the Rangers 11th<\/sup> in the Eastern Conference, six points out of the playoffs. This disappointing result however, makes the Rangers a prime candidate for a bounce-back season in 2025-26. This will have to come mainly from the organization\u2019s strong defensive and goaltending groups. Superstar defenceman Adam Fox<\/a> leads a younger defensive group, including names like Braden Schneider<\/a> and Matthew Robertson<\/a>, both of whom are expected to get increased minutes following K’Andre Miller<\/a>‘s move to the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a>. To help shore up this group, the Rangers made the shrewd move of signing Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a> this past summer.<\/p>\n

In net, Igor Shesterkin<\/a> hopes to bounce back from a season that was seen as discouraging, relative to his skill level. Meanwhile, two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick<\/a> returns for his 20th<\/sup> NHL season, having rejuvenated his career in New York following a stint with the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>. Also, in need of a bounce-back season, is the entire forward group of the Rangers. Led by newly named captain J.T. Miller<\/a>, New York hopes for improvements from star forwards Mika Zibanejad<\/a>, Artemi Panarin<\/a>, Chris Kreider<\/a>, and Alexis Lafreniere<\/a>. The goal-scoring of the Rangers will largely rest on the performance of these players. Yet, it remains to be seen if they\u2019re able to rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Expect some jump from both teams to start the season. While the Penguins have many quality veterans in the lineup, the skill level of the Rangers is far higher. With an off-season\u2019s worth of rest and recovery for the Rangers\u2019 core group, expect them to start 2025-26 off with a bang.<\/p>\n

NHL Prediction:\u00a0Rangers win 5-3.<\/h3>\n

Prop Bet for the Night<\/h2>\n

The start of a new NHL season tends to come with a spike in goal-scoring. With everyone getting back into the flow of things, expect a high-scoring gane. Popular Sportsbooks have a\u00a0total goals over-7, with +230 odds, is a great pick, especially with struggling net-minder Tristan Jarry<\/a> likely to start against a high-octane Rangers offence.<\/p>\n

Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Penguins and Rangers open their season in legendary Madison Square Garden. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here on Last Word on Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. In tonight\u2019s matchup, the New York Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins to kick off the beginning of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":128620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4547,14,4548,4524],"tags":[2309,6122,6123,140],"class_list":["post-475299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penguins","category-hockey","category-rangers","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-adam-fox","tag-new-york-rangers-predictions","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-predictions","tag-sidney-crosby"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475299"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475348,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475299\/revisions\/475348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}