Hornqvist, Rust, Schultz out for Game 3 vs. Senators

Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rust along with defenceman Justin Schultz are nursing various injuries and will miss Wednesday's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final at Ottawa (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET), according to head coach Mike Sullivan.

Rust, in his third season with the team, left Game 2 after absorbing a controversial hit from Senators assistant captain Dion Phaneuf.

Hip Check: Phaneuf lays devastating check on Rust, sparks debate over clean hits

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4 years ago

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Pittsburgh Penguins' Bryan Rust was forced out of Game 2 early after a huge open ice hit by Ottawa Senators' Dion Phaneuf in the first period. 0:25

Schultz exited the game clutching his arm following a crash into the boards, while Hornqvist missed the game with an upper-body injury.

Fellow blue-liners Trevor Daley and Mark Streit will be game-time decisions, Sullivan said.

Daley has missed the last four games with a lower body injury and could return to a familiar spot alongside Olli Maatta.

Streit would be getting his first playoff action with Pittsburgh. The 39-year-old took reps on the club's first power play unit on Wednesday morning.

"It's a big challenge obviously, I haven't played in a while," Streit said. "But I'm just thrilled and excited if I get to play."

Pittsburgh has been decimated by injuries all year-long, most notably with No. 1 defenceman Kris Letang out for the playoffs and No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray yet to play in the post-season.

"Every team goes through it," Sullivan said after a morning skate at the University of Ottawa. "We've had share of it, maybe a little bit more than most. But what I love about this group of players is no one's looking for excuses, everybody's looking for answers.

"Our expectation is that we can win games," he added. "We're fortunate to have the depth that we have and we've relied on it all year-long so this is no different."

The Penguins, who have managed just two goals in two games this series, now must rely more on their depth forwards for offensive production.

Phil Kessel's goal at 13:05 of the third period on Monday night to break up a goaltending duel between Ottawa`s Craig Anderson and Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury stood as the winner as the Penguins evened the best-of-seven series at one game apiece.

Kessel had gone three games with no points and had just one point, a goal, in his previous five games.

Fleury made 23 saves to earn his second shutout of playoffs, and second in three games, as well as the 10th of his career in the post-season.

For the Senators, forward Viktor Stalberg will be a game-time decision Wednesday after missing the first two games of the series with an undisclosed injury.

He is one of the team's most valuable penalty killers, but Ottawa is 0-for-7 on the power play in the series.