Replacing Hornqvist not simple matter

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Nowwhat? Although coach Mike Sullivan said Saturday the Penguins don’t view this as a long-term issue, playing without their exuberant right wing undoubtedly will have an effect. So let’s take a look at what that means.

In the simplest terms, jobs and increased roles are available, especially with Conor Sheary on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

“When players go down, it’s never an easy thing,” Sullivan said after practice Monday at PPG Paints Arena. “It’s hard to replace some of these guys. They’re good players. Every team goes through it. It always provides opportunity.

“There’s opportunity right now. Some of these guys are going to play a more significant role and get a chance to play in maybe more significant situations.”

Some key names to focus on include Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Dominik Simon, Tom Kuhnhackl, Zach Aston-Reese and Daniel Sprong.

With three goals and six points in his past six games, Rust is a lock to keep getting top-nine minutes. He currently is the right winger on Sidney Crosby’s line, and that likely won’t change.

Simon has been on Crosby’s left wing a bunch. He mostly has been solid there, although Sullivan gave Aston-Reese a look there Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils. Expect Simon to regain that spot Tuesday.

Guentzel serves as kind of an X-factor. The third line of him, Riley Sheahan and Phil Kessel has actually been pretty solid lately, so Sullivan might not want to screw with it. But Guentzel is versatile and could move to the right side, if need be.

Sprong is the interesting one. He’s in the minors, despite scoring his 20th goal over the weekend. The offensive potential is there. At the NHL level, Sprong still needs to produce consistently at both ends of the rink, although he also needs a legitimate chance to do.

Kuhnhackl was promoted to Evgeni Malkin’s right wing Saturday at New Jersey — he has had a couple of nice, skilled plays recently, including a backward/between-the-legs feed to Rust — but he’s probably not a long-term fit within the top six.

Nevertheless, without Hornqvist, somebody will have to step up and play a key role scoring goals.

“It’s an opportunity for guys to step up,” Kuhnhackl said. “There’s going to be more time on the power play. There’s going to be more time five-on-five. It’s an opportunity for guys to step up and maybe get a little more ice time.”

The bigger need to address is next to impossible: Hornqvist’s attitude and intensity. Forget the Penguins. The NHL doesn’t have many players who conduct themselves like Hornqvist during a game.

Such leadership must be handled collectively, although it will absolutely have a different tone than when it’s coming from the ultra-intense Swede.

“It’s hard to replace ‘Horny’s’ energy,” Sullivan said. “He brings so much energy to our dressing room, to the bench. It’s not quite as vocal when he’s not around.

“Our team plays at its best when it brings a level of emotion. I’ve always believed that this game is rooted in emotion. It’s about passion. It’s about a will to win. If you’re not emotionally invested, it’s hard to be at your best. I think ‘Horny’ might epitomize that.

“We’ve got to make sure that we bring the same level of emotion, even though he’s not in our lineup. We need that necessary emotion to be at our best. That gives us the best chance to win.”

Malkin honored

Malkin was named the NHL’s ‘First Star’ for the first week of February after producing six goals and eight points in three games.

Malkin has goals in four games in a row — including eight total during that stretch — 15 in his past 12 and 20 goals in his past 21 games.

The Penguins have three of the top eight in scoring league-wide: Kessel is second with 63 points, Malkin’s fourth with 60, and Crosby is tied for eighth with 58.

Malkin was also named the ‘First Star’ for January after producing 12 goals and 19 points in 12 games.

Kessel gets day off

Kessel was the only other absence (besides Hornqvist) from Penguins practice. Sullivan said it was a maintenance day for Kessel; he wasn’t feeling well.