Inside the Emotional Night as Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke Made Their NHL Debuts

Penguins head coach Dan Muse looked on as three franchise legends stood alongside two players just starting their NHL careers.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, the most veteran trio in professional sports, stood side by side on the blue line at Madison Square Garden for the national anthem.

To their left were teenagers Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke, who were getting set to play their very first NHL games. When the "Big Three" first played together on the ice, Brunicke was an infant, and Kindel had not been born yet.

For Muse, it was a night for history and rejuvenation: two eras of the Penguins side by side. He wished for Crosby, Malkin, and Letang to get their 20th season together underway, while subjecting the young ones to NHL physicality right away.

Both Kindel and Brunicke acknowledged nervousness as the crowd erupted. Kindel considered his parents in the stands, thinking about the path that had brought him to this point.

Seconds later, the puck was dropped, and the future of the Penguins had its first test.

Brunicke had a tough start, taking a penalty and a turnover, but settled down with steady defensive work and ended with two blocks and put in more than 15 minutes of ice time. His even-strength statistics were some of the best on the team.

Kindel, on the other hand, played creative and poised hockey, coming close to setting up a goal with a slick behind-the-back pass.

Neither newcomer registered a point in the shutout victory, but both left good impressions, enough for fans to expect them to play again in Thursday's home opener.

It was a debut night they'll never forget, one in which the Penguins' past and future occupied the same ice.