Penguins look to end a long skid against Florida
Pittsburgh opens a three-game homestand against the Panthers still waiting on word about Ben Kindel and searching for its first consecutive wins in weeks.
PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins host the Florida Panthers tonight at PPG Paints Arena, puck drop 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+, in the opener of a three-game homestand that could not come at a better time. Read more: Penguins look to end a long skid against Florida
Pittsburgh is 3-6-1 and has lost six of its last eight games, a stretch that ended with an 0-4-0 finish to a four-game trip through the Western Conference, capped by a 5-4 loss at Utah on Monday after the Penguins trailed 5-2. Before Monday, they had scored three goals or fewer in seven straight games.
Florida arrives off a loss of its own. The Panthers fell 5-1 at Ottawa on Wednesday, a result that snapped a three-game winning streak. Florida is 5-3-2 overall and 3-2-2 on the road, with Brady Tkachuk scoring in his return to Ottawa, the city that traded him to Florida in June.
Latest on Kindel and Rust
Forward Ben Kindel, 19, had a medical episode Tuesday shortly after the team's charter took off from Salt Lake City International Airport. The plane returned to the airport, where an ambulance took him to University of Utah Hospital. The team said Kindel was conscious, alert and in stable condition.
Pittsburgh canceled Wednesday's mandatory practice, and general manager Kyle Dubas stayed behind in Utah with Kindel while the rest of the team flew home. "He's doing better," Dan Muse, the coach, said Wednesday when asked about Kindel. Dubas was scheduled to brief reporters Thursday morning ahead of the morning skate, but Pittsburgh had not issued anything beyond Muse's comment.
Bryan Rust's night is also unresolved. The winger left Monday's game at Utah in the second period with a lower-body injury after an awkward hit into the boards and did not return. Pittsburgh has not said whether he will play tonight.
Related: Don't panic: Penguins have overcome slow starts before
Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and forward Justin Brazeau remain on injured reserve for Pittsburgh with lower-body injuries, and defenseman Samuel Girard is day-to-day. Florida is missing more firepower. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom is out with an upper-body injury. Forward Brad Marchand is also out, and forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonah Gadjovich, who had surgery, are on long-term injured reserve.
Goalie situations remain unsettled
Neither team has formally named a starter. Pittsburgh has split time between Arturs Silovs (3-3, 3.51 GAA, .866 save percentage) and Sergei Murashov (0-3, 3.50 GAA, .883 save percentage), a tandem still searching for consistency through ten appearances this season.
With Markstrom expected to miss 10 to 14 days, Florida has recalled Cooper Black from AHL Charlotte. "He'll get some games," Paul Maurice, the coach, said. At 6-foot-8, Black would be the tallest goaltender to start an NHL game in league history if he gets the call tonight.
ESPN's game page lists DraftKings with Pittsburgh at -115 and Florida at -105 on the moneyline, a puck line of Pittsburgh -1.5 (+205) and Florida +1.5 (-250), and a total of 6.5 goals, with the over priced at -135 and the under at +114.
Pittsburgh has not won back-to-back games since the season's first week. Tonight is the start of a chance to change that, not a guarantee it will.
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