Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced on Monday that winger Patric Hornqvist will be out for at least a couple of weeks with lower-body injury. Hornqvist will officially be listed as week-to-week.
Coach Sullivan on players absent from practice: “Hornqvist is week-to-week with a lower body injury. Kessel was a maintenance day – he didn’t feel well.”
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 5, 2018
Patric Hornqvist out with a Lower-Body Injury
Hornqvist was injured in Friday’s win over the Washington Capitals and did not play in Saturday’s loss to the New Jersey Devils. It appears that the injury occured in the third period of Friday’s game. Hornqvist took a hard hit from former Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik. He left the game and did not return.
Brooks Orpik sends Patric Hornqvist down the tunnel with this big hit pic.twitter.com/QSkZSZCWWG
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) February 3, 2018
So far this season, Hornqvist scored 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 49 games. He also added 34 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers are 54.2 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of +2.2.
Over his ten-year NHL career Hornqvist has played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators. He has put up 190 goals and 203 assists for 393 career points in 686 career games. He was originally drafted in the seventh round, 230th overall of the 2005 NHL draft by the Predators. He was the hero, scoring the winning goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators.
Speaking about the injury, Sullivan said, “We’re going to miss Hornqvist’s energy. This game is rooted in emotion and passion. Hornqvist epitomizes that. We need to bring that up in order to be successful.”
Main Photo: BOSTON, MA – JANUARY 26: Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist (72) skates during warm up before a regular season NHL game between the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 26, 2017 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Penguins 4-3. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
