Mike Sullivan’s debut spoiled by former team — led by ex-Rangers assistant

The Rangers and Penguins, two teams who swapped coaches in the offseason, earned the prime time slot on the NHL’s Opening Night slate on Tuesday.

New Blueshirts head coach Mike Sullivan made his official return to the bench at Madison Square Garden in the 3-0 defeat, with his former team of 10 years, the Penguins, on the other side of the ice.

“Obviously, it’s different,” Sullivan said. “I knew that was going to be the case, but I’m excited about the group we have here with the Rangers, and I’m looking forward to working with this group.”

The previous time Sullivan stood behind the Rangers bench was on May 25, 2013, in Boston. It was the second round of the 2013 playoffs and Sullivan was in his fourth season as an assistant on John Tortorella’s staff.

The Rangers lost 3-1, which led to the coaching staff’s dismissal four days later.

Coincidentally, the Penguins hired ex-Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse to replace Sullivan.

Muse worked under former Blueshirts coach Peter Laviolette the previous two seasons in New York. The two also worked together for three seasons in Nashville.

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During the offseason, and through the interview process in Pittsburgh, Muse said he spoke to Laviolette a lot and will continue to lean on him.

“I think every place you go, you learn some new things,” Muse said when asked to reflect on his time with the Rangers after the Penguins optional skate Tuesday morning. “I’m very grateful to have had an opportunity to coach here those two years. Got to work with some amazing people. Got to work with some great players, some great relationships that I’m going to carry with me for a long, long time. Enjoyed the experience, and it’s a little ironic that we’re back here for the first game for us.”

The 43-year-old Muse added of Laviolette: “He’s a great mentor to me. He’s a great friend. … I’ll continue to always lean on him whenever I can. Once he is back in the league, which I’m sure will happen, maybe he won’t be giving me as much advice.”

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Sullivan on rookie Noah Laba, who logged 13:40 of ice time: “I thought Labs brought some real good energy. You can see his skating ability. He played with conviction. There’s some areas where we’d like him to manage the puck, be a little bit more digital in some of the critical areas of the rink. But that’s a learning process. For his first NHL game, I thought he played very well for us.”

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This was the fourth time in franchise history that the Rangers opened a regular season against the Penguins (2024-25 at MSG, 2009-10 at Mellon Arena, 1987-88 at MSG).

— With Zach Braziller