With all due respect to Justin Brazeau, I do not think many of us had him as the first goal scorer for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2025-26. And I am absolutely certain that no one had him scoring the first two goals of the season for the Penguins.
After all, Brazeau went into the game with just 95 NHL games to his name, and 16 total goals in the show. Last year, he scored ten in 57 games with Boston, but after a trade to Minnesota at the deadline, his goal-scoring fell off a cliff. He tallied just one in 19 games for the Wild.
Yet, on Tuesday night, as the Penguins spoiled Mike Sullivan’s debut as head coach of the New York Rangers, Brazeau potted a pair in Pittsburgh’s eventual 3-0 win.
His first eas heavily aided by Evgeni Malkin, who pulled off a beautiful move off the faceoff to get it over to Brazeau. The forward then pulled it to the backhand and lifted it past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
Brazeau would add the first of Pittsburgh’s two empty netters as well, with Blake Lizotte tallying the second.
For Brazeau, it’s a terrific start to a new season with a new team, and it makes him forever a fun, niche trivia answer.
But it also puts him among the weirder, more random Penguins to have opened the season scoring for the club. Who are some of those others? I’m so glad you (certainly) asked!
Get ready for some recent blasts from the past.
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Fifth Avenue Sports 