When the Penguins host Vancouver on Tuesday night, the Canucks will look very, very different.
For one, for the first time since the turn of the new century, they'll be without long-time fixtures Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
"It'll be strange," Carl Hagelin was saying. "I'll miss them. Two of my favorite players growing up too. It'll be different."
Though the twins might be in retirement, the Canucks don't lack for Swedes. There's still Loui Eriksson, Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson. But the one Swede who Pittsburgh ticket-buyers might have wanted to see won't be on the ice.
Elias Pettersson, the rookie who had been tearing up the NHL with five goals and three assists in his first five games, was officially ruled out Monday with a concussion following the Canucks' practice at PPG Paints Arena. He is still traveling with the team, but there's no timetable for his return, although coach Travis Green said, "He's improving."
Not that the Penguins will complain about missing him. They are dealing with their own issues after it was announced that Justin Schultz will be lost for four months after undergoing surgery to repair a broken left leg.
Still, as a fellow Swede, Patric Hornqvist could appreciate what Petterson has been able to accomplish so far.
"He reminds me a lot of Jake Guentzel on this team," Hornqvist was saying of the No. 5 overall pick in last year's NHL Draft. "He's a smaller-sized guy but really high hockey sense and always seems to find those loose pucks around the net and can score when he's got a chance. He could be a good player in this league, for sure."
Down the hall at PPG Paints Arena, there was plenty of talk about Petterson and, more specifically, about how he was injured.
During the third period of Saturday night's game in South Florida, Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson rag-dolled the 19-year-old, slamming the 6-foot-2, 176-pound Pettersson to the ice:
Florida’s Mike Matheson suspended two games for interference/unsportsmanlike conduct on Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson. https://t.co/Dw2BZfVIvL
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 15, 2018
Green called it "a dirty play" and the NHL's Department of Player Safety agreed. On Monday, the league announced a two-game suspension for Matheson.
Obviously, there would be outrage among the Penguins' fan base if something similar happened to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Guentzel, who is similarly built to Pettersson. But Jamie Oleksiak, for one, didn't sound so sure it was a suspension-worthy play. As a large defenseman who plays a physical brand of hockey, he said it's tough to determine intent at game speed.
"Obviously, the way he fell is rough," Oleksiak of Pettersson. "I don't know what happened. If he braced for it and saw it coming, I don't know. It's one of those hockey plays that happens so fast. That guy is trying to make a hit there. Pettersson was kind of off his feet. I don't know."
What is known is that Pettersson is now out and Pittsburgh fans won't get a chance to see him put on a show. It's nothing new to a league that has earned a reputation for eating its young and failing to protect its stars over the years.
Exactly how the NHL could prevent that is debatable.
One of the criteria the NHL's Department of Player Safety uses in doling out punishment is the severity of injury, not who is injured or what position he plays. A hit that injures, say, Crosby is treated no different than a hit that injures, say, Dominik Simon. In the NFL, the league has developed a star system, making it a point of emphasis to shield quarterbacks -- the league's moneymakers -- from physical abuse. The result has been a deluge of roughing the passer calls.
Oleksiak, who watches a lot of NFL games, says he hopes the NHL doesn't draw a similar line.
"You see the NFL now, they're throwing flags left and right and it's kind of ruining the game," he said. "Like, how many guys have a sack available to them and have to hold back. I think it's part of the (hockey). Guys make a living. Not everyone's a skill guy, a top guy. Guys have to hit. And when you take that away, it's kind of tough."
Oleksiak wasn't speaking specifically about the Matheson hit on Pettersson, but he says players must have more awareness and realize that they can leave themselves in vulnerable positions.
"I think you can find a fine line and long as you're not intending to hurt a guy, you can still play hard," he said. "At the same time, guys have to know how to protect themselves, right? You have to know if a hit is coming. You can't turn your back, or jump in the air or shy away from it. You have to embrace it and take a hit. It's tough, but it's part of the game."
Crosby, who was tested plenty with rough play in his rookie season, said that Pettersson will learn from this painful experience.
“I don’t think you learn it all in one year, either,” Crosby said. “It takes some time to figure it out and know the guys you’re playing against and just who to be aware of and that kind of thing. That’s just time. It’s just experience. Everyone goes through that.”
• Pettersson isn't the only Canuck who will miss his first game Tuesday. They will also be without fourth-line center Jay Beagle. The faceoff specialist suffered a broken forearm while blocking a shot Saturday. Beagle, who helped the Capitals to the Stanley Cup last spring, is in the first year of a four-year, $12 million contract signed on the first day of free agency.
• These were the Canucks lines and pairs in practice on Monday:
Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser
Goldobin-Gaudette-Eriksson
Roussel-Sutter-Virtanen
Schaller-Granlund-Motte
Edler-Tanev
Hutton-Gudbranson
Pouliot-Stecher