Hornqvist has concussion, ZAR broken hand taken in El Segundo, Calif. (Courtesy of Point Park University)

Patric Hornqvist heads off with a concussion Tuesday night against the Panthers. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Patric Hornqvist didn't take the ice Thursday with the Penguins for practice here at the Kings' training facility, and he might not do so again for a while.

Hornqvist was diagnosed with a concussion, Mike Sullivan confirmed after practice, from being struck in the face by a puck Tuesday in the 5-1 victory over the Panthers at PPG Paints Arena. Immediately after the shot by Florida's Mark Pysyk in the first period, he skated off to the locker room while holding his mouth and did not return.

This was the sequence:

Asked about Hornqvist's concussion history -- it's his fourth documented concussion since the start of the 2016-17 season and second since Nov. 24 -- Sullivan replied, "We're always concerned when one of our players gets a concussion. We're concerned for the player. The nature of concussions, as we all know, are all very different. I don't think any of us knows enough about it -- I know I certainly don't -- to draw any conclusions. We're hopeful that Horny can recover as quickly as possible, and that he can come back in the lineup. We certainly miss him when he's not in the lineup."

Hornqvist, 31 and in the first of a five-year, $26.5 million contract, missed six games in early December with an undisclosed upper body injury. He also took a puck to the head in warmups Nov. 17 in Ottawa, requiring stitches. He also left practice Dec. 28 in Cranberry after taking a puck to the face.

Zach Aston-Reese, also injured Tuesday, was placed on the NHL's Injured Reserve list the next day, and he'll be out "longer-term with an upper-body injury," Sullivan said. Aston-Reese accompanied the team on the trip, and I saw his left hand bandaged, confirming it was, as suspected, broken in his fight with Florida's Colton Sceviour in the second period.

The video shows Aston-Reese's right hand delivering the big blow, so it's possible the left was hurt as he fell to the ice:

The Penguins, thus, practiced with the minimum dozen forwards, which is what they'll almost surely take into their games Friday night in Anaheim and Saturday night in Los Angeles, barring another addition from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. Garrett Wilson was the only recall after the injuries Tuesday.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Media notes

• Team statistics

• NHL scoreboard

• NHL standings

THE COMBINATIONS

• The Penguins' lines and pairings at practice:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust

Pearson-Malkin-Simon

Sheahan-Brassard-Kessel

Grant-Cullen-Wilson

Dumoulin-Letang

Maatta-Oleksiak

Pettersson-Johnson

(Riikola-Ruhwedel)

THE INJURIES

• Justin Schultz, defenseman, is out until February with a fractured leg, but he began skating on his own Monday in Pittsburgh and, for the first time, shared ice with his teammates here Thursday. It wasn't super-serious. He was wearing a jumpsuit, no pads and he waited until the session was nearly over, but he did engage in stops, starts, turns and other drills with the Penguins' skill coaches.

Patric Hornqvist, right winger, is out indefinitely with a concussion. He didn't accompany the team on the trip.

Zach Aston-Reese, right winger, is out indefinitely with a broken left hand.

THE SESSION

• All available players participated in an hourlong, somewhat unorthodox workout at the Toyota Sports Center. The first 20 minutes were invested in a drill none of the players could recall having tried in which four players move in a quadrant trying to pass through two players in the middle:

The clear focus is on performing in traffic for the passers, hand-eye for the defenders. Some seemed to get a kick out of it.

"That's a first-timer for me," Brian Dumoulin told me. "It was good."

• The bulk of the rest of it was special teams. And more special teams. And more special teams. But since there weren't any short-handed breakaways, maybe there should be concern it wasn't realistic enough.

• I got the feel, based on nothing more than workload, that Matt Murray will start in Anaheim, Casey DeSmith in L.A. But don't hold me to that.

THE OTHER SIDE

The Ducks have lost nine in a row heading into this meeting, not having won since ... their last meeting, a thorough 4-2 victory Dec. 17 in Pittsburgh. The latest came in overtime Wednesday night in Anaheim, 2-1 in overtime to the Senators. Overall, they're 19-17-8 and clinging to the last Western wild card.

The lone bright spot of late has been the return to health over the past week of first-line left winger Rickard Rakell after missing 12 games to a sprained ankle and defenseman Cam Fowler after missing 23 games to a facial fracture. Both were sorely missed, but neither anywhere close to Corey Perry, who's out five months with a knee injury.

"You do your best to turn the page," Randy Carlyle told reporters in Anaheim. "It's difficult, but you've got to flush everything that just happened. We've got a real good hockey club coming in here in Pittsburgh, and everyone knows what they can do."

As for Daniel Sprong, he was bumped up to the top line Wednesday and has five goals and an assist in the 15 games since the trade. Three of those goals came on the power play.

THE SCHEDULE

Faceoff is at 10:08 p.m. tomorrow at the Honda Center. The Penguins will skate at 2:30 p.m., the Ducks an hour earlier. The Saturday game is at 10:38 p.m. at Staples Center. The team will be off Sunday.

THE COVERAGE

Visit our Penguins team page for everything.

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