Penguins forward Ben Kindel has been downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week after a Monday preseason injury, assistant GM Amanda Kessel said. Pittsburgh opens its season in Philadelphia in six days; center Blake Lizotte is also out week-to-week.
Kindel played only the first period Monday. Cameras showed him block a shot toward his foot late in the period; he also drove into the net twice, but the report does not identify a confirmed cause for the injury.
Pittsburgh is testing a possible fourth line of Filip Hallander, Connor Dewar at center and Elmer Soderblom in tonight’s game. Hendrix Lapierre could skate in Kindel’s place in Saturday’s final preseason game; Kindel had been on a line with Andrei Kuzmenko and Bryan Rust. Kuzmenko is in Russia after his father’s death, with no return date known.
