Hornqvist benched? Can this be real life?

WASHINGTON -- Let's presume that Mike Sullivan hasn't had a lobotomy.

Because here's guessing that the Penguins' coach, his brain and cranium properly attached, would never bench Patric Hornqvist for any reason beyond Hornqvist being hurt. Least of all in the third period of a potential series-clinching Stanley Cup playoff game that would eventually be lost, as this Game 5 was Saturday night to the Capitals by a 3-1 count.

Sullivan isn't perfect. He also isn't stupid.

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Hornqvist spent only 10:38 on Verizon Center ice, including two shifts in the third period, both on the fourth line. It was conspicuous, to say the least, and it might easily lead to a thought that Sullivan benched his best forward and top goal-scorer of this postseason.

Oh, wait, Sullivan actually confirmed that, didn't he?



“We just shortened the bench," he replied when asked afterward. "We’re trying to climb back into it. We went with the guys we thought were going and had some energy. And so we tweaked the lines a little bit.”

Hm. Kept a straight face for that, too.

Well, there's lying and then there's coach-speak to protect injuries in the playoffs, and this could generously be assigned to the latter. No, no one on the Penguins' side would confirm Hornqvist was hurt. Nor had anyone anywhere produced footage of any particular play that shows him getting hurt. But again, it's the playoffs. The number of injuries is roughly equivalent to the number of participants, only some are more severe. No one yet knows why Eric Fehr missed Game 4, whether it was upper body, lower body or out-of-body.

What is known is this: After Hornqvist produced Game 4's overtime goal, he was praised from here to Stockholm and back as everything that the Penguins aspire to be. Sullivan went on so long about him that night that one could have mistaken it for a Nobel introduction.

“We love him," the coach said Thursday night in Pittsburgh. "We love what he brings to this team. He makes everyone on every line better. And to see him get rewarded in overtime, for us, that’s a thrill.”

Yeah, that guy benched Hornqvist. Small wonder that even some on the Capitals' side were privately skeptical of Sullivan's claim.

It's unlikely more will be learned this weekend. Hornqvist wasn't visible after the game, and the Penguins have Sunday off. Sullivan is set to do a conference call with reporters at 11:30 a.m., but the chance of his being more forthcoming on this matter is about the same as that of his having benched a healthy Hornqvist in the first place.