The season is here.
According to the geniuses at NHL.com the Birdies are a slight favorite to three-peat. That is a long way off though.

Looks like McKegg is the third line center and Rowney brings up the fourth. Three new faces on the team now.

Game is on NBCSN and the start time is 8PM so I'm hoping they have a little segment on NHL live to show the cup being brought onto the ice by Crosby and the raising of the banner.


On a side note, Eichel signed an extension. On average he is making more a season then Crosby and Malkin.

Yea but in a couple years Eichel's deal will look like a bargain. Actually fairly decent deal for Buffalo as he might have been able to ask for $12

This roster isn't anywhere close to being what it'll be like to start the playoffs

Also no Horny tonight

Flipping over to the other side of the ice: The Blues are the walking wounded right now. Fabbri re-injured his knee and is done for the year. Berglund and Bouwmeester are both out for a few months. Steen has been hurt all preseason - not sure if he'll suit up.

The Blues have some nice pieces, but I don't think the overall team is that great. The top line is Sobotka-Stasny-Tarasenko. Tarasenko is a stud, but the other two are meh. The second line of Schwartz-Schenn-Jaskin looks good. I like Schenn, Schwartz is OK, and Jaskin is young & green. The bottom 6 is pretty bad - Oskar Sundqvist is projected to be the 3rd line center to start the year.

Defense is much of the same - Pietrangelo is good. Parayko is a good, young, puck-moving defenseman. Beyond that, there's nothing special.

Jake Allen and Tarasenko are going to have to carry this team (tonight, and for the rest of the year). The Pens match up really well on paper - here's hoping we start the year off right.

Can’t believe the season is here. Watching the Pens win last year was as good as it gets.

Sure beat the heck out of watching the way the season ended for our other two illustrious sports franchises in da Burgh. Though when it comes to hockey I'm still a definite bandwagon-jumper. BTW, dang that's a long season, stretching from now all the way to June for those guys to be grinding it out on the ice!

Hoping again for a Pens/Ducks Cup final series (just missed last year) so my son & I can go catch a live game here at the Pond . . .

Go Pens!

Going for the Threepeat!!

Pens score first; Blues score next two. Down 2-1 after one.

What a shot!

Puck control = puck movement = goals.

Great work by Malkin there.

Some of the new guys have some fight in them. I like it.

Have a lot of chemistry issues to iron out, but to be expected.

I predict the Leafs will have no issues scoring goals this season. Christ almighty.

Need some work in the defensive end...

Forwards keep getting lost.

Sloppy hockey there.

Good to get a point the night they raised the banner but Murray played like a donkey.

Not the result we wanted, got a lot to work on, but definitely loves seeing the same old fight to come back from 4-2 and force OT.

Going to be a fun season!

Nothing Murray could do on those goals, unless he has a spidey sense he's hiding. Glad we got the point.

I thought 71 looked lazy AF most of the game.

Van, two of the goals went through Murray. May have been a little bit of a screen but I’ve seen him make those saves left and right the last two seasons.

Glad we got the point though. NHL OT is still a total crap shoot.

He did what he was supposed to do, get big. The reaction time is impossible to make a save.

The interference & kick we're the difference. Lazy back checking didn't help.

Kind of hard to save the one Schenn scored with his foot, but are you saying none of the FIVE goals Murray let in were goals that should have been saved? That’s fine; I just don’t agree.

Not at all, I'm saying he wasn't bad, & definitely not the reason we lost. If they consistently don't pick up a late shooter in prime scoring position, that's a goal more times than not.

damn..buzz kill after the comeback to tie..i really thought we were winning late in a flurry.. murray wasn't at his best tonight.. cant believe how long the season is.. now till june 18? I hope!

That wasn't the normal Murray last night. He played small like he did in the preseason. Not worried, he is too much of a competitor.
Malkin was easily the best 200 foot player the first half of the game. He got tired of having to lug a worthless Kessel around and the line went to shit.
I liked the PK and again the Pens were shorted on the PP, like last year.

Like last year, the Pens are going to see the best from each team almost every night.

Not going to worry...probably got a point out of a game we didn't deserve to take to OT

Nothing concerning- definitely some chemistry issues and I expect MM to be waves better than he was last night. He looked horribly average

What I saw was something that this defense has done for several years and that is giving too much room inside their blue line. When a skater enters our zone, our D continues to retreat giving them room. They need to close the distance and force the man to make a decision quickly, not give them all the time in the world to make a move and pick a spot!