The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t have key winger Patric Hornqvist for Game 4 of their first-round NHL playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The power forward and power-play specialist is sidelined on day-to-day basis with an “upper-body injury” according to Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.
“I’m not going to go into any more detail than that,” Sullivan told reporters.
But the Flyers might have to deal with an even bigger loss. No. 1 center Sean Couturier had to be helped off the ice with an apparent leg injury after colliding with teammate Radko Gudas during Tuesday’s practice in suburban Philadelphia.
“I didn’t see him. He didn’t see me,” Gudas told reporters afterward. “Tough break.”
HORNQVIST IS KEY PENGUINS PERFORMER
For Game 3 against the Flyers, Sullivan moved Hornqvist up to the Sidney Crosby line. Overall Hornqvist has scored a goal and earned two assists in this series.
He scored 29 goals during the regular season and he has 17 goals in 51 Penguins playoff games. His forte is parking in front of the net, absorbing abuse while positioning himself for deflections and rebound conversions.
“(Hornqvist) is not an easy guy to replace,” Sullivan said. “He’s a unique player for us. He brings lot. By committee; we have to pick up the pieces.”
For what it’s worth, rookie winger Dominik Simon practiced with Crosby and Jake Guentzel in Hornqvist’s place Tuesday. But there is no guarantee Sullivan will stick with that line in the game.
COUTURIER PLAYS HUGE ROLE FOR PHILLY
Although the Flyers offered no update on Couturier after practice, captain Claude Giroux expressed concern.
“You don’t like to see that. Coots is playing 20 minutes a night for us right now, is a big piece to our team,” Giroux said. “I don’t really know what’s going on, but I guess we’ll find out soon.”
In fact, Couturier has averaged 24:35 in ice time in this series while playing key roles in all game situations. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol moved playmaking winger Jakub Voracek back onto his line with Giroux in Tuesday’s practice, which signaled an even bigger role for Couturier — if that is humanly possible.
The Flyers would have an extremely difficult time replacing those minutes against the deep and talented Pittsburgh lineup.
