Streit hurt, hospitalized, injury total at eight

CALGARY, Alberta -- About a half-hour before the Penguins and Flames faced off Monday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the visitors were able, for the first time on this four-game Western Canada trip, to avoid announcing a late, surprising injury just before warmups.

That broken streak didn't survive a period.



Mark Streit, acquired at the NHL trade deadline to help shore up a badly bruised blue line, joined the latter ranks when he was felled by a Sean Monahan shot in the first period of the 4-3 shootout loss, then hospitalized for what Mike Sullivan would later term 'a lower-body injury.'

"I really don't know the details of it," Sullivan said. "We'll probably have more information in the morning."

Here's the only available televised angle of the sequence:



The Penguins' charter flew back to Pittsburgh shortly after the game, and it's believed Streit was on board the plane.

Add Streit to a list of injured defensemen that already included Kris Letang, Trevor Daley and Olli Maatta, all left behind on this trip. That forced Sullivan and Jacques Martin, yet again, to rotate five defensemen over two periods and an overtime. Justin Schultz logged a season-high 27:14 of ice time, Brian Dumoulin 25:55 and Ian Cole, the only defenseman to avoid injury this season, 22:50.

"It's crazy," Cole said. "Just crazy."

Cameron Gaunce, a healthy scratch for this game, likely is in line to replace Streit for the trip's finale Wednesday in Philadelphia. But another will almost certainly be recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Obviously, there can never be enough.