Penguins’ Injury Update: Patric Hornqvist day-to-day, Alex Galchenyuk to IR

The Penguins lines today at practice were pretty ugly. Could this have been the first ever 10 forward, 9 defenseman practice in NHL history today?

Two forwards got hurt last night and were missing in the form of Patric Hornqvist and Alex Galchenyuk.

This is tough to take, Hornqvist scored two goals on Saturday but then caught a shot on the leg and left the game. With Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad all likely out for at least 3-4 weeks, the Penguins can not afford to lose more forwards.

Galchenyuk missed the last week of practice/training camp and aggravated the same ailment, according to reports. This is fitting with the reputation following him from Arizona where he’s a player prone to pick up dings and suffer minor injuries that keep him off the ice. Galchenyuk has two assists and six shots on goal through his first three games with the Pens.

We’ll have to see if anymore players are called up from Wilkes-Barre. Beyond that, though, either Chad Ruhwedel would have to be waived or Hornqvist and/or Galchenyuk would need to be placed on the IR (which would last seven days) to fit under the 23-man roster.

Given the “day to day” designation, one would think both Hornqvist and Galchenyuk still could be in the lineup tomorrow night vs. the Ducks. Even how banged up the Pens are at forward, it will be interesting to see if coach Mike Sullivan goes with 11 forwards and seven defensemen like he did on Tuesday night. Will the Pens be ready to take the training wheels off John Marino and dress him as one of six normal defensemen? His strong play during his first NHL game last night indicates that they probably should be more concerned with making sure their forward situation is alright.