Concussion problems leave the Penguins down another forward.

The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in unfamiliar territory due in large part to their early season struggles and the last thing they need right now is to start losing more players due to injury.

Unfortunately for those who are hoping the Penguins to bounce back following the return of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who himself had been sidelined by an injury earlier in the month of November, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced on Saturday that he was down another forward due to injury. Sullivan informed reporters that veteran forward Patric Hornqvist has been sidelined with a concussion, a word that has become one that Penguins fans are all too familiar with. 

It's unclear how exactly Hornqvist suffered the injury but there were two high profile incidents recently in which he received a blow to the head. The first was during the Penguins warm up before game time when a shot he fired rang off the crossbar of an empty net, causing the puck to deflect off the bar and strike him right in the skull. Now I do not believe that this is what caused his concussion and it seems much more likely that the second incident, a massive hit courtesy of Boston Bruins' veteran defenseman Kevan Miller, is what caused his concussion. I only mention the puck to the head because it may have been enough to rattle Hornqvist's brain and may in fact have made him more susceptible to damage from the Miller hit. One thing is certain it absolutely did not make things any better.

The problem the Penguins likely now have is that there will not likely be a time frame on a potential return for Hornqvist, given the nature of concussions and how little we still know about both their short term and long term impact on the brain. They certainly have not provided one to the public and as of right now we don't know if this is going to be a day to day, week to week, or month to month situation for Hornqvist. The 31 year old forward had appeared in 21 games for the Penguins this season and was a big part of their offense with 9 goals and 6 assists for a total of 15 points thus far. Unfortunately if this turns out to be a serious injury it could derail the strong start he was having to the season thus far.

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