British Columbia native Ben Kindel scored two goals in the second period to propel the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
Kindel, who is from Coquitlam, gave his parents and reported 180 supporters in attendance reason to cheer by snapping a 19-game goal drought. The 18-year-old rookie redirected defenseman Ryan Shea’s centering feed past Kevin Lankinen to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead at 8:41 of the second period.
Kindel wasn’t done, however, as he unleashed a blast from the slot that beat Lankinen and shattered the camera inside the goal with 2:38 remaining in the second. Kindel has 10 goals since being selected by the Penguins with the 11th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Evgeni Malkin scored a goal in his third consecutive contest and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for the Penguins, who completed a four-game sweep of their road trip.
Vancouver’s Jake DeBrusk cleaned up a rebound at 6:29 of the third and former Penguin Teddy Blueger tipped home Filip Hronek’s blast with six minutes remaining in the period.
Lankinen turned aside 22 shots for the reeling Canucks, who fell for the 13th time in the last 14 games (1-11-2).
Pittsburgh opened the scoring at 5:24 of the second period after catching Vancouver rookie defenseman Zeev Buium pinching in at the offensive end. Tommy Novak feathered a cross-ice saucer pass that Malkin deflected home for his 13th goal of the season.
Pittsburgh appeared to open the scoring after Egor Chinakhov pivoted past defenseman Tyler Myers and jammed home a cross-ice feed at 7:47 of the first period. However, Vancouver successfully challenged for an offside call.
The Canucks’ apparent game-opening goal in the first period also was negated. Blueger was deemed to be in the blue paint on Conor Garland’s shot from the point, causing goaltender interference.
–Field Level Media
