Penguins tame Wild as rookie forward Ben Kindel scores in 10th game
Even if they have a handful of 30-somethings close to becoming 40-somethings, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in the midst of a youth movement.
That pursuit was calcified a bit Thursday as 18-year-old forward Ben Kindel appeared in his 10th NHL contest of the season.
Surpassing that threshold formally activated the first year of his three-year entry-level contract and boosts — but doesn’t guarantee — the likelihood he will remain on the Penguins roster for the remainder of the season instead of returning to his junior club, the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League.
On Thursday, youth was served well as the Penguins defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-1, at the venue now titled Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
Kindel, a first-round draft pick (No. 11 overall) in June, aided the endeavor by scoring a power-play goal in the third period.
“Every game is a little bit different,” Kindel said Sunday in Cranberry. “Sometimes, it might not be pretty but just doing whatever you can to get the two points. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
Goaltender Tristan Jarry made 26 saves on 27 shots as his record improved to 5-1-0.
The Penguins’ penalty killers were busy but successful, turning away all four power-play opportunities the Wild had.
“They didn’t have too many looks,” Jarry said to reporters in St. Paul via audio provided by the Penguins’ media relations department. “We kept them to the outside.”
Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov opened the scoring with his seventh goal this season, 10:16 into regulation.
Off a feed by linemate Marco Rossi, Wild forward Marcus Johansson surged the puck up the right wing of the offensive zone. From the outer rim of the right circle, Johansson snapped a centering pass to the far side of the crease. Despite sound positioning by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang in defending the sequence, Kaprizov was able to tap in a forehand redirection by Jarry’s left skate. Johansson and Rossi had assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) October 31, 2025
The visitors appeared to tie the game with a would-be goal by forward Evgeni Malkin at 13:06 of the first period, but officials ruled there was goaltender interference on the sequence. The Penguins issued an unsuccessful coach’s challenge and were assessed a delay of game penalty.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) October 31, 2025
Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea scored a valid goal, his second of the season, at 2:18 of the second period.
Chasing down a dump-in behind Minnesota’s net, Penguins forward Tommy Novak attempted to jam in a wraparound forehand shot from the right of the cage but was rejected by former Penguins goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson. Corralling the rebound near the end boards, Novak backhanded a pass, seemingly intended for Kindel in the slot, but that connection did not materialize. The puck wound up sliding to the top of the left circle, where Shea stepped up and chopped a one-timer to the near side past a few bodies in the crease, as well as Gustavsson’s blocker. Novak and Letang logged assists.
Ryan Shea - Pittsburgh Penguins (2) pic.twitter.com/aiOK1NHNJk
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 31, 2025
The Penguins took their first lead of the contest at 6:29 of the third period via forward Bryan Rust’s fourth goal.
After Crosby won a faceoff against Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek in Minnesota’s right circle, Letang settled the puck at the near point and sent it across the ice to Shea on the left point. Considering his options for a moment, Shea slipped the puck to the backside of the crease where Rust was able to wrestle free of Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and tap in a forehand redirection past Gustavsson’s left skate. Assists went to Shea and Letang.
Bryan Rust - Pittsburgh Penguins (4) pic.twitter.com/guA2eyq01w
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 31, 2025
Kindel’s third goal came 61 seconds later during a power-play sequence.
Off some perimeter passing in the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson whacked a one-timer from above the left circle. The puck missed wide on the near side and caromed off the end boards to the right of the cage. Malkin leaned down to tap in the rebound but missed a wide open net, sending the puck to the opposite side of the crease. Rust settled the hot potato with his left skate and tried to shuffle in a forehand shot but was denied by Gustavsson’s stick. The rebound slid to the top of the crease where Kindel, facing almost no resistance, pushed in a forehand shot by Gustavsson’s left skate. Rust and Malkin had assists.
Ben Kindel - Pittsburgh Penguins (3)
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/KgMRIIDQBx— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 31, 2025
“Nothing seems to faze him,” Rust said of Kindel. “There is no moment that seems to be too big for him.”
Penguins forward Anthony Mantha capped the scoring with his sixth goal on an empty net at 17:18 of the final frame. There were no assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) October 31, 2025
Notes:
• Shea, in his third NHL season, set a new career high with seven points (two goals, five assists) in 12 games. His previous high came last season with five points (two goals, three assists) in 39 games.
• The last junior-eligible player the Penguins kept beyond the nine-game limit that activates an entry-level contract was forward Daniel Sprong during the 2015-16 season. Sprong appeared in 18 NHL games that season and scored two goals before he was returned to the Charlottetown Islanders of the former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Sept. 19.
• Rust has a five-game scoring streak (four goals, four assists).
• Mantha has pieced together a four-game scoring streak (three goals, two assists).
• Penguins rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke was a healthy scratch for the fourth time in five games. Also eligible to return to his junior club without tolling the first year of his entry-level contract, Brunicke has played in seven games this season.
• Veteran defenseman Connor Clifton and forward Philip Tomasino were also healthy scratches for the Penguins.
• The Wild remain one of two active NHL franchises the Penguins have never shut out. The other is the Utah Mammoth.
While the Mammoth franchise — which came into existence last season as the Utah Hockey Club — was largely composed of assets from the defunct Arizona Coyotes franchise, the NHL does not consider the Mammoth as a continuation of the Coyotes’ history (which includes the first incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets).
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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