Penguins Open With a Seven-Goal Warning Shot in Philadelphia

Pittsburgh started the 2026–27 season by turning a rivalry game into a statement. The Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7–0 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday night, scoring twice in the first period, three times in the second and twice more in the third.

Nicholas Robertson scored twice in his Pittsburgh debut. Filip Hallander added a goal and two assists, while fellow newcomers Hendrix Lapierre and Kaedan Korczak combined for four points. Ville Koivunen, Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov also scored.

Depth drove the blowout

The familiar names still mattered: Sidney Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson all reached the scoresheet. The more important development, though, was how much production came from the rest of the roster. Four players recorded points in their first game as Penguins, giving Pittsburgh the kind of support its veteran core will need over a full season.

The Penguins finished with 38 shots and scored on both the power play and the penalty kill. Arturs Silovs stopped all 19 Philadelphia shots for his second consecutive season-opening shutout.

A historic margin against a rival

The seven-goal gap tied Pittsburgh’s largest shutout victory over Philadelphia, matching a 7–0 result from March 19, 1988. It also carried an extra edge: the Flyers eliminated the Penguins from last season’s playoffs in six games.

One opening night cannot settle the balance of power in the Metropolitan Division, but Pittsburgh could hardly have drawn a cleaner blueprint. Its stars contributed, its new arrivals immediately produced, and its goaltender erased every mistake that reached him.

Kris’s Take

The score is loud, but the depth is the real story. Pittsburgh already knows Crosby and Malkin can still create offense; the season will turn on whether the younger and newly acquired players can carry meaningful shifts instead of waiting for the stars to rescue them. Robertson, Hallander, Lapierre and Koivunen gave the Penguins exactly that on opening night. My take: if even three of those players make this level of involvement normal, Pittsburgh will be much harder to dismiss as an aging team living on reputation. The Flyers were poor, so this is not proof yet—but it is the most convincing first answer the Penguins could give.

Sources

This original Kris Rally report is based on the NHL game recap, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ official report, and Reuters’ NHL roundup.