Things on the Kris Letang injury front aren't very clear at this point. Letang hasn't played since February 21st when he played a full 28 minutes against the Carolina Hurricanes. Since then he has been labeled as having an upper body injury. No other details have come out about the injury until yesterday when Mike Sullivan said the following:
"It's a little more complicated than day-to-day. We're just hoping it's not a long-term injury."
That's not good news. This situation started as day to day and has now shifted toward ambiguity. Most injuries suffered in sports have a clear return window. The body takes a certain amount of time to repair the muscle, ligament, tendon, or bone.
Letang has a history of concussions and has also suffered from heart conditions which led to a stroke. Given the track record it is hard not to be worried with Mike Sullivan's comment about his situation. We'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.
For now the Penguins will continue to move forward without the services of Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, and Trevor Daley. This means Justin Schultz is going to have to take on a much bigger role while being paired with Brian Dumoulin.
Today's opponent will be missing an impact player as well
Okposo is now week to week with a rib injury. Will be reevaluated in 7-to-10 days
— Paul Hamilton (@pham1717) March 4, 2017
Pittsburgh was tied to rumors surrounding Dmitri Kulikov at the trade deadline. Today they might get an up close look at the defender they ultimately did not pursue. I say might because Sabres Head Coach Dan Bylsma has recently threatened Kulikov with being a healthy scratch. Last night Kulikov only played five minutes at even-strength.
Sidney Crosby trails Connor McDavid by five points in the scoring race. Crosby has 15 goals and 50 points against Buffalo in 32 career games so he might close the gap a little bit on McDavid today. Having Conor Sheary back in the lineup will be helpful.
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