Patric Hornqvist will miss Game 5 of the Penguins' first-round series against the Flyers on Friday because of an upper-body injury, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday.
It will be the second consecutive game Hornqvist has missed, as he sat out the Penguins' 5-0 win in Game 4 Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Sullivan said Hornqvist skated on his own Thursday morning but was not yet ready to return to the lineup.
Dominik Simon took Hornqvist's place on Sidney Crosby's right wing in Game 4, logging 11:24 of ice time and picking up an assist on Crosby's second-period goal.
On the power play, Jake Guentzel assumed Hornqvist's spot as the first unit's net-front presence.
"Jake brings a different dimension than Horny does on that power play," Sullivan said. "Jake has real good hockey sense. For a guy that maybe is undersized, he’s brave, he’s willing to go to the battle areas. He’s willing to go to the net, he’s willing to take a cross-check in tight to try and create a scoring chance."
The power play had struggled without Hornqvist when he missed time in the regular season but converted on its first chance Wednesday night, with Evgeni Malkin giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
"We thought the power play was good," Sullivan said. "Obviously, Horny’s not an easy guy to replace, he brings a unique dimension to our team. But we also believe that we have some depth, even though the players are a little bit different. We still think we have capable guys that can fill in and make sure that we continue to have success."
Penalty kill success
Hearing boos rain down from the crowd during a Penguins game in Philadelphia isn’t necessarily new. But on Wednesday night, they weren’t always directed at Crosby or another Penguins player.
On several instances in Game 4, the jeers were toward the Flyers’ power play.
The Penguins’ penalty kill held the Flyers to just three shots on four scoreless power-play attempts Wednesday, including a four-minute double-minor on Evgeni Malkin late in the second period.
“We don’t really worry about what the crowd’s doing,” Carl Hagelin said. “We’re focused on what we can do, clearing pucks as much as possible. We did a good job of that [Wednesday] and it’s going to be important next game, too.”
The Penguins have killed 15 of the Flyers’ 17 power plays this series, a success rate of 88.2 percent. That’s a pretty drastic improvement from the last month of the season, when the Penguins were killing only 71.7 percent of penalties, but Tom Kuhnhackl said they’re not necessarily doing much differently.
“At the end of the regular season, it almost seemed like we got scored on every game,” Kuhnhackl said. “We didn’t give up a whole lot, it was just that one shot that found its way in. Now it seems like we’re just doing the right things. We’re blocking shots, defensemen, forwards, everyone’s doing a great job helping out Murr. We’re getting pucks all the way down the ice and now it’s just working for us.”
No ill will from Brassard
Derick Brassard said he was fine after taking a slash to the back of the leg from Flyers winger Matt Read late in the third period Wednesday night.
Brassard said he didn’t see it coming but wasn’t holding anything against Read, who received a minor penalty for the play.
“It’s just one of those things,” Brassard said. “There was probably some frustration on their side, obviously. It’s going to happen. There’s whacks, there’s cross-checks. It’s part of the playoffs. I just took it.”
Murray ‘good’ after practice scare
The Penguins may have averted a potential disaster in practice Thursday, as Matt Murray appeared to get hurt a few minutes into the session. Murray came up awkwardly after a drill, and Penguins trainer Patrick Steidle came onto the ice to speak with him.
Murray appeared to be uncomfortable for several minutes following the incident but finished out the practice. He didn’t elaborate on what happened but did say “I’m good” when asked about a potential injury.
Couturier possible for Game 5
Sean Couturier, the Flyers’ No. 1 center, missed Game 4 because of an unspecified injury sustained during practice Tuesday but has not been ruled out of Game 5.
Although Couturier did not participate in Philadelphia’s workout Thursday, he skated Wednesday and Thursday and was scheduled to accompany his teammates when they traveled here.
It’s unclear how Flyers coach Dave Hakstol will replace Couturier if he’s not available Friday night; Valtteri Filppula worked in his spot between Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek during Philadelphia’s practice Thursday.
Rookie Nolan Patrick had assumed Couturier’s first-line duties during the Penguins’ 5-0 victory in Game 4.
And although Patrick, the second player chosen in the 2017 NHL draft, showed considerable promise during his first professional season, he seemed to be a bit overmatched at times that night.
He accounted for six of the Flyers’ 26 shots – no teammate managed more than three – but was on the ice for the Penguins’ final three goals, finishing the evening with a plus-minus rating of minus-3.
“I didn’t try to change anything,” Patrick said. “Just play the way I usually do and try to compete as hard as I can.”
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Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG; Dave Molinari: dmolinari@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG
First Published: April 19, 2018, 5:49 p.m.
Updated: April 19, 2018, 6:17 p.m.