Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz out 'week to week'
Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz will be sidelined indefinitely on a “week-to-week” basis according to coach Mike Sullivan.
Schultz left Tuesday’s 4-1 road win against the Calgary Flames during the first period after recording a mere 40 seconds of ice time.
In 27 games this season, Schultz has eight points (two goals, six assists) and averaged 20:17 of ice time per game.
Earlier this season, Schultz missed seven games due to a suspected groin injury.
With Schultz absent, defenseman Juuso Riikola is all but guaranteed to return to the lineup. He has been scratched for the past six games.
“We want to see (Riikola) use his skating,” Sullivan said to reporters in Edmonton, Alberta on Thursday. “We want to see him to be assertive, we want him defend hard, we want him to be active in the rush, we want him to be active on the offensive blue line. He’s going to be part of the second power-play unit. Juuso’s strengths are his skating ability, his ability to pass the puck, he’s got an offensive dimension to his game. But he’s also going to be called up on to defend and he’s going to have use his skill set to defend. When Jusso is at his best, his best defense is when he gets back to pucks quickly and he helps us get our of our end efficiently. That’s the one thing we think Juuso can do a real good job for us.”
Following the loss of forward Stefan Noesen through waivers on Thursday, the Penguins currently have 18 healthy skaters (12 forwards, six defensemen) at their disposal with road games in Edmonton and Vancouver pending. Sullivan suggested a call-up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton could be pending. The NHL’s roster freeze for the holidays goes into effect at midnight and last through Dec. 27. It prohibits recalls or assignments with an affiliate outside of emergency situations.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are currently dealing with injuries of their own on the blue line as veteran defensemen Zach Trotman (head) and David Warsofsky (groin) are each on the mend. Defenseman Kevin Czuczman is the only defenseman on the roster with NHL experience having played 13 games with the New York Islanders in 2013-14.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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