The injury bug is in mid-season form. One day after announcing Blake Lizotte is out on a week-to-week basis, the Penguins have a trio of new forward injuries. All of Ville Koivunen, Justin Brazeau and Ben Kindel are off the ice today and considered day-to-day.
Koivunen suffered his injury yesterday in practice, getting struck by a puck in the face. Koivunen will miss tonight’s preseason game as a result, which opens the door for 2025 sixth round pick Carter Sanderson to jump into his first NHL preseason action.
Kindel left last night’s win over Buffalo in the first period after blocking a shot with his foot and did not return to the rest of the game.
Brazeau suffered his injury getting tripped into the boards, going down in a heap legs first into the wall. He stayed down for a minute but was able to leave under his own power. After a brief spell, Brazeau returned to his normal shift and finished out the game.
Luckily, unmentioned in the reporting was defenseman Owen Pickering who also went legs akimbo into the boards after being tripped. Pickering was in pain but able to continue and seemingly has avoided missing any further time due to that indicient.
The Pens have a game tonight and then another on Thursday. It’s a tough blow for players like Koivunen and Brazeau that are fighting for roster spots and placement within the opening night lineup.
