Goals from Bryan Rust, Ben Kindel help Penguins win after sluggish start in Minnesota

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Oct 30, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The last three years, the Penguins often found ways to lose games that they should have won, sometimes in spectacular fashion. That’s why they missed the playoffs.

This season is young, but the opposite has been true under new coach Dan Muse.

The Penguins got off to another sluggish start Thursday against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul, Minn. And if not for a couple of critical saves from Tristan Jarry and solid work from their penalty kill, this game likely would have gotten away from them.

But the Penguins again found a way when they were not at their best. They rallied to beat the Wild, 4-1, at Grand Casino Arena and improve to 1-0-1 on this road trip.

Minnesota’s stud winger, Kirill Kaprizov, gave the home team the first lead midway through the opening period. He sneaked behind Kris Letang for a tap-in off the rush.

After the Wild dominated puck possession in the first period and Jarry made two point-blank saves on Kaprizov early in the second, Ryan Shea tied it up, 1-1. Tommy Novak and the third line made it happen with a hardworking shift in Wild territory.

The teams traded chances the rest of the period. Novak got a step on the defense but couldn’t beat Filip Gustavsson. Connor Dewar got stuffed by him on a breakaway, too. Jarry turned aside Marcus Foligno when the Penguins left him alone in front.

The third period was all Penguins. Bryan Rust gave them their first lead 6:29 in. After Sidney Crosby won an offensive-zone draw, Rust scored on a sweet setup from Shea.

Ben Kindel got a power-play goal 61 seconds later to push Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-1. Anthony Mantha tacked on another insurance goal after the Wild pulled its goalie.

Jarry made 27 saves, including 12 in the first period, to earn his fourth straight win.

It was over when ...

Kindel scored his third career goal on that third-period power play, making it 3-1. After Erik Karlsson’s shot from the point went wide, the puck pinballed from Evgeni Malkin to Rust to Kindel. The 18-year-old settled it and beat Gustavsson from the slot.

Stat of the game

4 — goals in the past four games for Rust, who has snapped out of his early slump in a big way. The veteran winger has now tallied a point in five consecutive games.

Around the boards

— Kindel played his 10th career game Thursday, which signals that the Penguins plan to keep the rookie on their NHL roster for the foreseeable future. Once a player such as Kindel hits the 10-game mark, it burns the first year of his entry-level contract.

— Harrison Brunicke, another rookie, was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. The defenseman remains three games away from that 10-game threshold.

— Muse looked perplexed after Malkin’s first-period goal, which would have made the score 1-1, was taken off the board due to goalie interference. The rookie coach called his timeout so the video coaches could get a longer look at the replay, then he challenged the call on the ice. It was a quick review. The goal did not count.

— In the first period, the Penguins did not record a shot on goal for a span of 12:38.

— Novak, who was born in St. Paul and played college hockey down the road at the University of Minnesota, played one of his best games in black and gold. Novak was buzzing in the second period especially, creating two quality chances off the rush.

— The Pittsburgh penalty kill went a perfect 4 for 4 in Thursday’s win. That unit got two important kills when the Wild were shooting for a 2-0 lead in the first period.

— Philip Tomasino was scratched for the third game in a row. He has played in only one of the Penguins’ seven games. Connor Clifton was their other healthy scratch.

— Kevin Hayes was a full participant at the morning skate and is nearing his return.

Coming up next

The Penguins are scheduled to practice Friday in St. Paul before flying north of the border to Winnipeg, Manitoba. They will face the Jets there at 3 p.m. Saturday.