It was a hockey night in Pittsburgh! “And a homework night in this house,” as my dad used to say to me. Yes, it’s finally here… no more worthless preseason games with weird no-name players on the rosters. The NHL regular season is here for the Pittsburgh Penguins, opening it up against the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals (Ugh, that hurts to say).

But it would not be in the Cap’s favor Thursday night, as the Pens pulled out a 7-6 overtime win. Goals scored by Pittsburgh: Jamie Oleksiak, Derrick Brassard, 2 by Jake Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin, and the OT winner by Kris Letang. Goals by Wash(ed-up)ington: 2 by T.J. Oshie, Alex Ovechkin (#609 for him to pass Dino Ciccarelli for 18^thall-time), Brooks Orpik, Jakub Vrana, and John Carlson.

Goaltending was spotty between both net-minders, most likely due to the new NHL regulations on goalie-pad sizing (we’ll talk about that next week). Penguin Matt Murray made 30 saves on 36 shots with an .833 save percentage, which isn’t good enough if the Pens hope to stay at the top of the standings this year. Murray again proved that his high-glove side save skills are lacking and other teams now seem to know to key in on it. Braden Holtby made 34 saves on 41 shots for a save percentage of .878, which isn’t anything great either.

As electric as usual, these two juggernauts of the league were neck and neck throughout play with a few lead changes, tide-changing saves, and penalties to keep us on the edge of our seats. Ovechkin and Crosby still are proving they are the faces of the league, as the respected captains were both a major part of each team’s offense. Crosby had 2 assists, and Ovi had 1 goal.

Washington was coming off a 7-0 whitewash of the Boston Bruins after their Cup-championship banner raising ceremony (yuck, again), weirdly enough because usually the penguins are the ones that have those events to open their season. With the Caps losing Barry Trotz, their head coach, to the New York Islanders this off-season, it will be interesting to see if their new Helmsman, Todd Reirden, does taking over. Reirden is the former defensive coach for the Penguins actually, so it’s a bummer to see him go to the dark side.

Also, a noteworthy situation for the Caps, Forward Tom Wilson just received a 20-game suspension for continued engagement of illegal checks to the head. Wilson was one of the Capitals 1^st line wingers and a key tool in their offense. 20 games or basically one fourth of the season may seem harsh, but this comes after Wilson has laid down multiple injury-causing dirty hits, and he had not faced much if any consequence to this point. The Caps offense will surely have to adjust without him.

For the Pens, it was their first game and home opener. One win and 81 more to go, plus playoffs, is all I got to say (there are 82 games in the NHL season)! No but for real, with the continuation of their offensive superpower and repairs on the defensive side of the puck by acquiring Jack Johnson, they are again real contenders for the Stanley Cup final. As long as Matt Murray steps up his game in net, and injuries don’t plague the team during the season.