Hornqvist returns quickly after painful injury

It certainly was scary Saturday when a deflected puck caught Patric Hornqvist in the temple. Painful, too. Not terribly costly, however.

Hornqvist returned to the lineup Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche at PPG Paints Arena after he left the ice 48 hours earlierin some serious pain.

“That was just bad luck,” Hornqvist said. “[Kris Letang] tried to find me on the stretch pass. I think [Toronto’s Leo] Komarov got a stick on it.

“Lucky I could turn, so I didn’t get it in the face. I was lucky. I’m glad I’m here and feeling better.” So are the Penguins. Hornqvist, who manned his normal, net-front spot on the top power play, went into the game Saturday carrying four- and six-game goal and point streaks, respectively.

After returning to the dressing room, Hornqvist said he passed through concussion protocol, but the injury was simply too painful to return that night.

“The pain was a little too much to go back out there,” Hornqvist said.

“I think it was a smart move.”

Had Hornqvist reacted a millisecond later, the outcome might have been different. As it was, he was able to brace himself a little bit for impact and duck just a little bit.

“I think you tighten up all your muscles to prepare to get hit by a puck, instead of getting hit,” Hornqvist said. “I think that’s way worse.”

Jarry starts

Tristan Jarry started in goal Monday, with Casey DeSmith serving as his backup.

It won’t be long before Matt Murray reclaims his starting role, however, likely Thursday in Vegas.

Murray took the starter’s work in morning skate and said essentially that he’s making sure is exactly perfect before coming back.

“You have to make sure you’re 100 percent and can go out there with no hesitation and no sense of worry about re-injuring yourself or whatever it may be,” Murray said Monday.

“That’s what I’m trying to do right now. Just get that final push here, make sure it’s 100 percent and be ready to go.”

Bother him, Matt

Going to Vegas will afford Murray the opportunity to see and talk to MarcAndre Fleury, who’s expected to return Tuesday from a lengthy, concussionrelated absence .

Murray is understandably excited. He also knows he won’t be alone when trying to seek out Fleury.

“Hearing he’s healthy is a real boost, for sure,” Murray said. “That’s a scary thing. I know with a concussion, every day you feel a little bit different. You never know if it’s going to get worse or better.

“For him to feel healthy enough to where he’s back at practice — I think he’s cleared to play — obviously he’s feeling back to 100 percent, so that’s really encouraging.

“It will super nice to see him, hopefully get to talk to him for a quick minute. I know everybody is going to be bombarding him. I don’t want to bother him too much. Just say hello and wish him all the best.”

Kuhnhackl remains out

While Hornqvist was able to play, Tom Kuhnhackl — another game-time decision — was not. Kuhnhackl was hurt Thursday in a collision with Ryan Reaves.

Kuhnhackl missed the game Saturday and returned to practice Monday.

“I feel all right,” Kuhnhackl said after skating with teammates for the first time since his injury. “Obviously, it was a big guy I ran into.”

Kuhnhackl said the puck changed directions on a dump-in. He tried to turn and track it but wound up plowing into the Penguins’ biggest player, bearing the brunt of the collision.

“It happens,” Kuhnhackl said. “It’s a fast game, an intense game. The puck changes direction a lot of times. It’s one of those collisions that’s unfortunate, but it happened.”

Sid and Kids reunite

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan kept the same defense pairings but shuffled his forward lines quite a bit.

One of the byproducts there was the reunion of Sidney Crosby with Conor Sheary and Jake Guentzel — Sid and the Kids.

Starting in March last season, they were basically the Penguins’ HBK line 2.0.

Even at the beginning of this season, they played well together. But that stagnated, in part because of some down games production-wise from Crosby and Guentzel,and Sullivan went away from it.

It has been different lately, though. Crosby began Monday leading all NHL players in goals (7, tied) and points (15) since Thanksgiving.

Guentzel had nine goals in his past 16 games, although none in his past four.

“We’d like them to play and be the dynamic line that we’ve seen in the past, and they’re capable,” Sullivan said.

“They’re three guys who have high hockey IQs. They all have good offensive instincts. They can all skate. They play a similar game, that give-and-go game. They’re all good players.

“It’s a matter of playing with the same level of urgency. It’s execution. There’s a lot that goes into it.”