The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to get back to hockey tonight, but their week has already been hijacked by something far bigger than a game.
Pittsburgh’s focus shifted sharply Tuesday morning, when the club’s charter flight home had to turn around and head back to Salt Lake City after 19-year-old forward Ben Kindel suffered a medical emergency on board. The team cancelled practice Wednesday and is expected to provide an update on Kindel’s condition today.
Coach Dan Muse said on a radio show Wednesday that the hope was Kindel would be on his way back to Pittsburgh. The Penguins said Kindel was treated on the plane by team physician Dr.
Dharmesh Vyas and the medical staff, then taken by ambulance to the University of Utah Hospital for testing. Members of the front office, along with medical and coaching staff, stayed in Salt Lake City with him.
The team’s latest statement said Kindel was “conscious, alert and in stable condition.”
The flight finally left Salt Lake City at 5:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Kindel is in his second season with Pittsburgh and has two goals and two assists in nine games. He skated 18:53 in Utah and there were no apparent issues. As a rookie last season, he put up 17 goals and 35 points and finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting.
Now the Penguins turn to the ice against the Florida Panthers, and that’s where things have been messy too.
Pittsburgh has dropped four straight and won just once in its last eight. The offense came out blazing with 13 goals in the first two games, both victories, but that early surge has vanished. The defense has been shaky as well, leaving the Penguins 27th in the NHL with a 3.70 goals-against average.
Goaltending remains the stubborn problem it has been for several seasons. Arturs Silovs and rookie Sergei Murashov both have goals-against averages above 3 and save percentages well below .900. Last year’s midseason move brought Stu Skinner in from Edmonton for longtime Penguin Tristan Jarry, but that swap didn’t solve much; neither Jarry nor Skinner had a strong season after the trade, and Skinner has since signed with Winnipeg.
Silovs looks like the No. 1 option for now. He’s had flashes of real talent, but he still hasn’t shown he can be the answer to get Pittsburgh back to its halcyon years. Murashov, a fourth-round pick in 2022, has just nine games of NHL experience.
There are still a few dependable names driving the attack. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are no longer the superstars they once were, but they keep producing.
Malkin, now 40, leads the team with five goals. Bryan Rust continues to score in the 30-goal range, while 39-year-old Kris Letang has seen his offense dip hard in recent seasons.
Richard Rackell has also been slow out of the gate, with one goal in his first 10 games after back-to-back seasons of 24 and 35 goals.
Erik Karlsson, meanwhile, is still steering the whole operation from the back end. At 36, he remains the quarterback of the power play and has one goal and 10 assists in 10 games to lead the Penguins in scoring. The goal and four of those assists have come on the man advantage, and he’s averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time per night.
Pittsburgh’s power play sits in the NHL’s top ten at 23.3 percent, and the penalty kill has been solid at 80.8 percent.
Muse guided the Penguins back to the playoffs last season after three straight years out, only for Philadelphia to knock them out in the first round. Tonight, though, the bigger concern in Pittsburgh is still Kindel, not standings or stats.
The game is Game No. 11.
In Other News...
Panthers Just Saw A Costly Senators Concern Emerge
The Panthers picked up another bit of late-game information to monitor when Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark left Sundays matchup after an apparent lower-body injury. He had been sharp before exiting, turning aside 16 of 17 shots, and his departure came early in the third period after he needed assistance from the Senators training staff and Claude Giroux.
For Florida, the immediate concern is less about the one night than what it could mean down the road if Ottawa is forced to navigate more games without its starting goalie. No severity update has been reported, and Ullmarks availability has already been a storyline this season after he previously missed time following an earlier injury against Boston, along with a personal leave of absence. [Read more 🡒]
Brady Tkachuks Ottawa Return Turned Ugly In A Game Jets Fans Noticed
Brady Tkachuks first return to Ottawa in a Panthers sweater had all the edge you would expect, and then some. The Senators were in control for most of the night in a 5-1 win, with Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Warren Foegele and Stephen Halliday all finding the net while Florida could only answer once, on Tkachuks goal against his former team.
The atmosphere around Tkachuk never softened, and the game took another troubling turn for Florida when Linus Ullmark was forced out early in the third period. After making a pad save, he needed assistance to leave the ice, adding another layer of concern to a night that already felt heavy for the Panthers. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Loss Put One Frustrating Question On Floridas Defense
The Panthers latest loss left the familiar concern hanging over the blue line, because the game turned into a test of depth, discipline and poise more than anything else. Jordan Spence logged nearly 19 minutes, chipped in two shots and two hits, and helped create a scoring chance, while Nikolas Matinpalo mixed in some useful work despite taking a high-sticking penalty and absorbing plenty of contact.
Carter Yakemchuk had a rougher night in his own end, even if he managed four blocks, and the kind of miscues that can tilt a tight game were impossible to ignore. In goal, Linus Ullmark was steady enough with his positioning and came up with key saves, while Samuel Ersson saw little action late, leaving Florida with one more reminder that the defense still has to tighten up when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]