PHILADELPHIA -- Olli Maatta was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and will be out of the Penguins' lineup indefinitely after suffering an apparent arm or wrist injury in the Penguins' win over the Flyers.
With a little over six minutes remaining in the first period, Maatta was knocked out of the game after absorbing this hit from Phil Varone:
Maatta went back to retrieve a loose puck in the corner to the right of Matt Murray where he was bumped by Varone. The 24-year-old Finn went down hard on his left shoulder and was slow to get up, but eventually made his way to the bench and down the runway while holding his left arm. The Penguins finished out the game using a five-man rotation.
Even after Sullivan recently split up the top pairing of Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin to create better balance, the only pair that remained intact had been Maatta with Juuso Riikola. As a pairing, Maatta and Riikola have been on the ice together for 15 goals for and 12 against while carrying a 46.31 Corsi For percentage.
When Justin Schultz returns, which should be soon, it was presumed that he would be reunited with Maatta. After Monday, however, that might be subject to change.
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