Report: Schultz out “for the foreseeable future”

The Pittsburgh Penguins have confirmed the worst possible news for injured defenseman Justin Schultz, saying last night that he’ll be out of the team’s lineup “for the foreseeable future”. 

Schultz left the team’s contest against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night with an apparent lower-body injury and did not return. He’s unlikely to play tonight at PPG Paints Arena against the New York Islanders, although head coach Mike Sullivan has not yet made an official announcement on Schultz’ status for the game. "I'm not going to rule him out," Sullivan said, "but it's not probable at this point."

With Schultz out of the lineup until further notice, spare blue liner Chad Ruhwedel will slot into the team’s lineup alongside Schultz’s usual partner Ian Cole. "We played together a lot last year and seemed to have some good chemistry," Ruhwedel said of playing with Cole. "Really easy guy to play with, he's always in the right spot. If I'm in, we'll find out tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it."

This is the second injury to Schultz so far this season after missing time with a concussion in early November. The 27-year-old blue liner has two goals and 10 points in 23 games this season, following a career high 12 goals and 51 points in 2016-17.