The Penguins lost a valuable two-way forward when Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon broke Teddy Blueger's jaw with a high hit Sunday.
Dillon didn't lose anything, except perhaps a bit of sleep if he happened to feel guilty about driving Blueger's head into the glass behind the Winnipeg net about 11 minutes into the first period.
He wasn't penalized. Hasn't been suspended. Apparently won't even be fined.
Mike Sullivan said after the game that the officials told him they hadn't seen contact to Blueger's head in real time.
Whether Sullivan truly accepted that explanation is hard to say, but he made it clear after the Penguins' game-day skate Tuesday that he doesn't understand the league's lack of supplemental discipline for Dillon.
"I was surprised," he said. "When I read the rulebook and I watch the hit, for me, it's the letter of the law. The main point of contact was his head, hence a broken jaw. Points in consideration, unnecessary extension of the body upward and outward. It appeared to me that that took place, both, on the bodycheck. So for me, my understanding of the rule and watching the hit is very different than the way the league saw it. But it's not my call."
How to replace Blueger, who needed surgery to repair his injury and is expected to be out 6-to-8 weeks, will be, however.
Blueger's absence opens a spot in the middle for Brian Boyle, who worked between Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon at the skate.
"Brian is very capable," Sullivan said. "He understands what his role is. He's a real sound positional player. He's pretty good on faceoffs. He's a good shot-blocker. He's hard to play against. ... I think he can help us fill that void."
Make no mistake, it's a significant one, because Blueger not only centers a reliable bottom-six line, but is one of the guys on whom the Penguins rely most when they are shorthanded.
"We're going to be missing him, for sure," Aston-Reese said. "Especially on the (penalty-kill)."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• Arizona is next-to-last in the overall standings and has been all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in the Western Conference. The Penguins, though, insist they will not look past the Coyotes when the teams meet tonight. "This is the NHL," Boyle said "Every team is good, and every team has some great players. We need to be respectful of that." The Coyotes are 4-4-1 in their past nine games.
• Aston-Reese, who has dealt with a broken jaw, on what things will be like for Blueger during his recovery: "I think he's kind of in the 'chipmunk phase' right now, where he going to be a little bit swollen. The first two weeks are tough, then the swelling kind of goes down and you can start working out again."
• The Penguins have won five consecutive games, despite not executing as efficiently as usual for much of that time. "There are points in the season where sometimes it doesn't happen," Boyle said. "How fast you can get back to that game is important. I think it's kind of what separates teams in the standings."
• Tristan Jarry will start in goal.
• Personnel combinations:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen-Evgeni Malkin-Kasperi Kapanen
Brock McGinn-Jeff Carter-Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese-Brian Boyle-Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mike Matheson-Chad Ruhwedel
