Have the Pittsburgh Penguins turned a corner since capping a fruitless four-game road trip with a 5-4 setback to the Utah Mammoth on Oct. 19?
The Penguins can complete a sweep of their three-game homestand when they host the Mammoth on Thursday.
Pittsburgh improved to 4-1-0 at home this season by shutting out the Florida Panthers last Thursday and posting a 3-2 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
While the Penguins have been idle from game action since, they received good news on Tuesday with Ben Kindel’s return to practice. The 19-year-old forward was one week removed from enduring a vasovagal episode on the team flight following Pittsburgh’s loss in Utah.
“I feel pretty good,” Kindel said. “Nice to be back out there with the guys and preparing for this weekend. … Obviously, a couple weird days, but feels normal now, just being back with the guys. Just excited for the for the rest of the year.”
Penguins superstar captain Sidney Crosby was pleased by what he saw from Kindel.
“It’s a great sign,” Crosby said. “I’m pretty sure that things are progressing well if he’s back out with us, and we’ve seen him around the rink here prior to being on the ice. So it’s been awesome to have him around and good to see that things are going well.”
Although encouraged, Pittsburgh head coach Dan Muse wasn’t ready to declare whether Kindel will return to the lineup versus Utah.
“We’ll take it a day at a time right now,” Muse said Tuesday. “Today was a first step in terms of having him out there with us.”
The Mammoth hope to bring their offense with them on their six-game road trip after being limited to Logan Cooley’s goal (with 1:21 to play) in a 3-1 setback to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at home.
“This is obviously the best league in the world, and I feel like you have to have a short mindset; whether it’s good or bad, you can’t get too high or too low in this league because it’ll humble you,” Cooley said. “So, I think for us, it’s to learn from it, learn what we need to do better, watch film, and get ready to go. These games happen quickly and, as I said, you just have to have a short memory.”
Cooley has three goals in his last three games. He had an assist in Utah’s previous encounter versus the Penguins.
Mikhail Sergachev assisted on Cooley’s goal against Minnesota to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, five assists). He leads the team in assists (12) and shares top honors in points (15) with captain Clayton Keller.
Nick Schmaltz, who leads the Mammoth with seven goals, joined Keller, Kevin Stenlund and defenseman Nate Schmidt in collecting a goal and an assist against Pittsburgh.
Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, who leads the team in assists (11) and points (12), scored his lone goal on Oct. 19 versus the Mammoth.