Ben Kindel among Penguins legends for goal-scoring prowess at 18

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The Pittsburgh Penguins quickly rebounded from a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday, as they demolished the Vegas Golden Knights in a 5-0 victory at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Pens have rookie center Ben Kindel to thank for a lot of their success against the Golden Knights. The 18-year-old Kindel is not wasting time showing just how immense his potential is in the NHL, having already netted 15 goals to go with 14 assists in the 2025-26 NHL campaign.

With his goal in the first period against the Golden Knights, Kindel became just the fourth player in Penguins franchise history to find the back of the net at least 15 times as an 18-year-old. The others are Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Jaromir Jagr, per NHL Muse.

Here’s a look at that goal by Kindel off an assist from Anthony Mantha.

Kindel can add more to his total with plenty of hockey left to play before the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. It is fair to expect that he’ll surpass Jagr on the list, as he needs only to score three goals in the next 23 games to tie him.

Selected by the Penguins 11th overall in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, Kindel has always been a steady contributor on offense. Before he was taken by the Pens, he had 35 goals and 64 assists for 99 points through 65 games with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL during the 2024-25 campaign.

As for the Penguins, they are still trying to catch the Carolina Panthers atop the Metropolitan Division standings in the Eastern Conference, while trying to avoid falling into the wild-card picture.

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