PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He’s the reigning NHL Third Star of the Week and has points in 13 straight games, 16 of the last 17 and in every road game this year. Now Pens top-line winger Jake Guentzel is out with an injury.
Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said the forward is ‘week-to-week with an upper body injury’. Guentzel had his fourth career hat trick on Saturday in a win against Vancouver and seven goals in his last four games.
The 27-year-old forward joins Bryan Rust (who has yet to resume skating and is rehabbing off the ice) and Evgeni Malkin (who is skating, but did not with the team on Wednesday) as key players on the sideline.
During practice in Cranberry on Wednesday, struggling Kaspari Kapanen moved up to the top line with Sidney Crosby and Evan Rodrigues. Jason Zucker missed practice, but it was just a day off or ‘maintenance day’.
“Those are pretty big shoes to fill obviously,” Kapanen said. “Jake has been one of our best players if not our best player for a long period now. Just use my speed, try to get open, try to get Sid and Rod (Rodrigues) the puck, ‘cause they have been playing some good hockey lately.”
"It's next man up, as we have had for a few years now,” said defenseman Marcus Pettersson. “It's going to be no different. New guys got to step up, and new opportunities for guys.”
Pens practice again on Thursday before playing at Washington Friday and home to Anaheim on Saturday.