NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ben Kindel hospitalized after medical emergency

SALT LAKE CITY -- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Ben Kindel was being evaluated at a Salt Lake City hospital on Tuesday after having a medical emergency on the team's flight home from a four-game trip.

The club said the 19-year-old Kindel had an unspecified issue shortly after the team's plane took off from the Salt Lake City airport on Tuesday.

The plane returned to the airport while Kindel was tended to on the flight by the team's medical staff. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Utah hospital.

The team said Kindel was conscious, alert and stable.

Kindel, in his second season with the Penguins after being selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2025 draft, has two goals and two assists in nine games. He played 18 minutes, 53 seconds in a loss to Utah on Monday night.

Monday's game

Clayton Keller, Kevin Stenlund, Nate Schmidt and Nick Schmaltz all tallied a goal and an assist to help the Utah Mammoth beat the Penguins 5-4 on Monday night.

Kailer Yamamoto added a goal, and Sebastian Cossa had 15 stops for Utah.

Erik Karlsson, Richard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov, and Declan Carlile each scored for Pittsburgh. Bryan Rust assisted on two goals. Arturs Silovs tallied 24 saves.

Karlsson's deflected power-play goal put the Penguins on the board just 71 seconds into the game.

Keller leveled the score with a backhand at 6:00 of the first with his third goal in three games. Lawson Crouse snagged the puck near the boards and redirected it around Karlsson's leg to Keller between the circles.

Stenlund tapped in the puck from close range with 9:50 left in the first to give the Mammoth their first lead.

Rakell tied it up on another power play goal at 7:01 of the second, flicking in a wrist shot near the left post.

Utah surged back in front with a pair of goals late in the second. Schmidt reclaimed the lead with 8:16 to go, blasting a slapshot home from near the blue line. Yamamoto tipped in the puck from the low slot with 5:20 left to extend the lead.

Schmaltz's power play goal made it 5-2 for Utah at 1:36 of the third. Silovs denied his initial shot, but Schmaltz threaded a backhand around the goalie's left leg on second effort.

The Penguins cut the deficit to one late in the third period with goals from Chinakhov and Carlile. Chinakhov found the back of the net at 2:55 of the third. Carlile followed with a score off a wrist shot with 5:05 left.

Up next

The Penguins host Florida on Thursday.