Mike Sullivan said that while the winger is being evaluated more today after leaving Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Vancouver, “I would categorize him as longer-term with an upper-body injury.”
In the first period, Smith took a hit along the boards and skated to the bench in some distress. He remained there for a while before trying to take the ice for a couple of shifts at the end of the frame. Smith did not return to game action after that.
Injuries are always a difficult situation for a player, especially when they’re trying to find their way with a new team. The Penguins were thrilled to acquire Smith, a five-time 20-goal scorer with a tremendous hockey IQ who plays on both sides of the puck, after he helped Vegas win the Stanley Cup.
Until this week, Smith had played on a line with Evgeni Malkin, as the two showed some immediate chemistry to start the season. After the first 10-12 games, “it's been a little bit of a mixed bag. He’s had some strong games in there, and others, not so much,” said Sullivan, who noted there was inconsistency on that line in general, which isn’t necessarily on Smith himself.
In an effort to find more consistency, along with competitive balance throughout their lineup, the coaching staff moved Drew O’Connor into the top-six with Malkin and Bryan Rust and put Smith next to Lars Eller and Valtteri Puustinen.
“I thought both lines gained some traction with that,” Sullivan said. “It's unfortunate that Reilly got hurt last night, because we would have liked to have seen that develop further. We liked the prospects of that and the balance that it provides for us.”
Regardless of how Smith’s season with the Penguins has gone to this point – with eight goals and 20 points in 40 games – as Sullivan said, he’s an important part of their team who helps them in so many ways. Hopefully, being sidelined can serve as a reset of sorts, just like it did for Rickard Rakell – who’s been terrific since returning from an upper-body injury of his own.
“Reilly’s not an easy guy to replace at this particular point,” Sullivan said. “I think there's just been some inconsistencies to his game in this first part of the season. We're looking forward to getting him back in the lineup.”
The Penguins had what appeared to be an optional practice of sorts before flying to Carolina, where they will face the Hurricanes on Saturday night. Smith, Rakell, Malkin, Eller, Noel Acciari, Jeff Carter, and Erik Karlsson did not skate, and the guys who did focused mainly on individual work, with the goalies using a third net in the neutral zone with goalie coach Andy Chiodo. We'll see what the lines look like without Smith when the puck drops tomorrow evening.
