Broken Wrist To Sideline Gonchar 4-6 Weeks
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
Oct 21, 02:21 PM | Hype this story!
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar will be sidelined four to six weeks with what is being described as a broken bone in his left wrist.
The injury was sustained during last night’s 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Mellon Arena.
In his absence, veteran Martin Skoula will step into the lineup, while Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski are expected to log the majority of Gonchar’s minutes on the power play.
Through nine games, Gonchar has tallied two goals and six assists for eight points in the team’s first nine games.
If his recovery follows the scheduled timeline, he should be ready sometime in early to mid December, roughly when injured forward Max Talbot is slated to return from shoulder surgery.
Comments
TheOneAndOnlySurge
Oct 21, 02:55 PM
This is a rough blow but will at least get Skoula some playing time. It should be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks.
Dabich
Oct 21, 03:14 PM
Surge, I’m not too worried. Sure, we’ll miss Sarge, but I think Letang and Gogo can cover the special teams stuff, and I WOULD love to see what Skoula has. Now is his chance!
Matt, are you finally off the road and back in the office?
Matt Bodenschatz
Oct 21, 03:19 PM
@Surge, check out the new results by team feature! It’s improved, just for you..haha.
@Dabich, I have another week of travel, but should be back in the swing of things soon after!
Moq
Oct 21, 03:28 PM
Well, I think we can cope without Gonchar for 4-6 weeks. After all, it could have been a lot worse. The replacement, which is probably Skoula, should focus on providing good defence.
Offensively, the powerplay (with Gonchar) haven’t been fantastic, so we might not lose a lot of projected points on that account. It’s a question of Crosby and Malkin contributing a bit extra. And also a good opportunity to see what Goligoski and Letang can do on their own.
Shero will probably be a keen observer of the team’s performance without Gonchar given the extensions of Letang and Gonchar lurking in the horizon.
Niles
Oct 21, 03:36 PM
4-6 weeks at this point of season should not ruin anything. Maybe just lowering Sarge’s odds for Norris a little…
I just hope he’ll get healthy again.
bag o' pucks
Oct 21, 06:26 PM
Now’s when Crosby will up the ante on his production.
Malk
Oct 21, 07:13 PM
I wonder how the pairings will look. Maybe Orpik-Gogo, Eaton-Letang and McKee-Skoula. I would rather see Orpik-Skoula, since Mckee-Skoula might be a little slow. Idk how Skoula plays though, never seen him.
Pens1967
Oct 21, 08:36 PM
I think Skoula will play with Orpik since Sarge will be back in only a few weeks. No sense messing up the other two pairings. Plus, Orpik has offensive skills, but doesn’t display them often because he plays a more defensive role paired with Gonchar.
I won’t be surprised if Nate Guenin isn’t called up and gets a chance to show what he can do. He’s probably a better long term option that Skoula.
bag o' pucks
Oct 21, 09:27 PM
I’ll go with Orpik-Letang, Gogo-McKee, Eaton-Skoula. I doubt HCDB will separate Gogo-McKee. Tanger will be given an opportunity to showcase his skills on a top pairing with Orpik. Eaton-Skoula is the best option for the third pairing.
bag o' pucks
Oct 23, 12:11 PM
HCDB mentioned: Orpik-Gogo, McKee-Skoula, Eaton-Letang. Shows what I know.
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