GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Coyotes general manager Don Maloney and coach Dave Tippett have tried to temper expectations for the young players the team has added to the lineup in the last two seasons.

"The last thing we want to do is put all the pressure on (them) to carry us and score all these goals," Maloney said. "Naturally, we want them to come in and play well, work hard and make an impact, but we're really focusing on them growing as players as the season progresses."

The growth is off to a very good start. Second-year left winger Tobias Rieder and rookie left winger Jordan Martinook scored second-period goals and goalie Mike Smith made 27 saves as the Coyotes improved to 2-0 with a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at Gila River Arena.

The Coyotes started the season with two wins for the first time since the 2009-10 season when they also opened against Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

"It was a great game," Tippett said. "There was a streak there in the third period that I think we went six or seven minutes without a whistle. It was very entertaining."

The loss dropped the Penguins to 0-2 after a flurry of offseason moves ramped up Stanley Cup expectations. Penguins coach Mike Johnston chalked it up to a slow start.

"We talked about it before the game. We talked about how this team starts, especially in their home opener," Johnston said. "We lost too many loose puck battles. The competitive work ethic -- they edged us in that category."

Rieder opened the scoring five minutes into the second period when he won a puck battle deep in the Arizona zone and started the breakout. The puck eventually ended up behind the Penguins net, where right winger Anthony Duclair centered it to Rieder, who was trailing the play in the slot. Rieder somehow slipped a shot under goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with traffic in front for his second goal in as many games.

"It's fun playing against the Penguins," Rieder said. "You always want to show them how good you are, but you can't get too focused on that. You have to play your own game."

Penguins right winger Phil Kessel tied the score 17 seconds later on a laser just inside the far post. The play materialized after Coyotes right winger Shane Doan turned the puck over in the neutral zone. It was Pittsburgh's first goal of the season after getting shut out in its opener by Dallas.

Arizona restored the lead when Martinook found a loose puck during a goal-mouth scramble and backhanded it off the post and in for a 2-1 lead at 7:29. It was Martinook's first career NHL goal after making the roster in a bit of a surprise last week.

Pittsburgh started to push in the third period and produced a flurry of quality chances, but Smith was there to close the door every time, including a post-to-post stop on center Nick Bonino that had the crowd gasping.

"We generated some good chances later on, but I would say that it just took way too long to generate those chances," said Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby, who does not have a point this season. "I haven't had a ton of opportunities this year. You really have to work hard to get in those positions. I have to do a better job of getting there and getting pucks to the net."

NOTES: Coyotes D Zbynek Michalek missed the game and is day to day with an upper body injury. ... Coyotes coach Dave Tippett wasn't happy with the NHL's decision to schedule a road-and-home, back-to-back set for Arizona's first two games of the season, calling it a "unique" situation he'd never experienced. Tippett wanted to start G Mike Smith in both games and eventually decided to do just that but was worried about fatigue. "We'll make sense of nonsense," he said. ... Coyotes RW Shane Doan turned 39 on Saturday. He also passed Roman Hamrlik for 34th on the NHL's games played list at 1,396. ... Penguins coach Mike Johnston replaced LW Bobby Farnham with LW Kevin Porter on the fourth line and the penalty-killing unit against Arizona. ... Penguins D Olli Maatta appeared in his 100th career game. ... Arizona's roster includes three former Penguins: C Joe Vitale, RW Steve Downie and Michalek. ... Coyotes C Antoine Vermette played in his 477th consecutive game, the second-longest active streak (Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano, 623) in the NHL.