EDMONTON, Alberta -- Justin Schultz will be sidelined on a "week-to-week" basis, Mike Sullivan announced today.
Schultz sustained an unspecified lower-body injury on his only shift during the Penguins' 4-1 victory over Calgary on Tuesday.
He's the latest addition to a medical report that includes Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist, Brian Dumoulin and Nick Bjugstad. For the moment, anyway.
The Penguins have lost 133 man-games to injury and illness through their first 34 games this season.
Schultz's absence opens a spot in the lineup for Juuso Riikola, who has played in just 12 games this season -- and who spent a number of those on the wing, not defense.
"No one hopes that someone gets hurt," Riikola said today. "But it happens in hockey many times."
Sullivan reconfigured his defense pairings during a practice at Rogers Place, putting Riikola with Chad Ruhwedel, Jack Johnson with Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson with John Marino.
Riikola has been anchored at the bottom of the defensive depth chart all season, but the injuries to Dumoulin and Schultz opened a spot in the lineup for him. Riikola said that his biggest concern about returning after an extended layoff is that he might not react instinctively to what's going on around him.
"You start thinking too much," he said. "Normally, you just go and play and you do those things. You try to not think too much about every situation. Just go out there and play."
Ruhwedel, who has extensive experience sitting for long stretches, said he believes Riikola will be able to adapt quickly.
"It comes back quick," he said. "After you get the first or second shift, you're right back in it."
Riikola is a strong skater who can move the puck effectively, and Sullivan said the coaches will be looking for him to play to his strengths.
"We want to see him use his skating," Sullivan said. "We want to see him be assertive. We want him to defend hard. We want him to be active in the rush. We want him to be active on the offensive blue line. He's going to be part of the second power-play unit.
"Juuso's strengths are his skating ability, his ability to pass the puck. He has an offensive dimension to his game, but he's also going to be called upon to defend. And he's going to have to use his skills set to defend."
• The Penguins biggest challenge against the Oilers figures to be limiting the damage done by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who rank first and second in the league in scoring. They shut out McDavid during a 2-1 overtime loss to Edmonton Nov. 2 at PPG Paints Arena, but Draisaitl scored the game-winner. "Obviously, they're two very high-threat guys," Jared McCann said. "Guys who put up a lot of goals and a lot of points. We need to really focus and bear down."
• Although the defense tandems have been changed numerous times this season, mostly because of injuries, Marino said he hasn't played alongside Pettersson much. "Maybe sometimes, here and there," Marino said. "A couple of shifts in a couple of games. But he's a great player, so I wouldn't be worried about the chemistry there."
• Here are the forward combinations the Penguins used at practice:
Jake Guentzel -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese -- Jared McCann -- Dominik Kahun
Alex Galchenyuk -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty
Dominik Simon -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
• Jim Rutherford said he was "not totally" surprised when San Jose claimed forward Stefan Noesen on waivers. "He has some NHL experience," Rutherford said. "So we felt there might have been a chance." Losing Noesen means the Penguins likely will recall a player from their farm team in Wilkes-Barre, although Sullivan said after practice that no decision had been made yet.
