Penguins defenseman Letang out with concussion

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is out indefinitely after sustaining a concussion against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

With 4:45 remaining in the second period, Coyotes forward Shane Doan shoved Letang to the ice, causing the defenseman to fall backward. Letang’s head snapped back into the end boards when he made contact with the ice, where he sat for several minutes while being treated by team trainers.

Penguins forward Steve Downie, who later fought Doan, and defenseman Rob Scuderi, helped Letang to his skates and to the runway. He struggled to walk toward the Pittsburgh locker room before being taken to a hospital.

“Watching the hit … It was just him going back,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “It was just such a distance from the boards. When he landed and his head snapped back into the boards that was the main impact of the injury. We’ll see how he feels over the next couple of days and go from there.”

Letang was kept at the hospital overnight and released Sunday morning. He will be evaluated day-to day, but there is no timetable for his return, Johnston said.

After being named a Norris Trophy finalist following the 2012-13 season, Letang experienced possibly the most frustrating season of his career in an injury-riddled 2013-14 season. He missed 45 games because of various injuries, including a stroke suffered in late January 2014 before the Penguins played the Los Angeles Kings at the beginning of an extended road trip.

In an injury-plagued season for the Penguins, Letang has been one of their more consistent performers and has rebounded into Norris Trophy consideration. He will miss his seventh game of the season when Pittsburgh faces the San Jose Sharks (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, ROOT) at Consol Energy Center on Sunday.

Letang is third on Pittsburgh in scoring with 54 points, trailing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He trails Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson by six points for the NHL-lead among defensemen.

“I don’t think anyone has doubted our abilities as a team,” forward Daniel Winnik said. “We were banged up and we’re banged up again now, but guys have stepped up and played well, and we have the confidence that we can do well in the playoffs and I think it’s better timing now to have a slump than in a couple of weeks.”

Winnik could serve as the Penguins’ emergency defenseman on Sunday.

“I guess [I could play defenseman],” Winnik said. “Some of us were just doing some fun stuff out there. Doing some defensive things out there [during morning skate]. If it happens, I’d be more than happy to go back.”

The Penguins are missing arguably their two best offensive defensemen as Christian Ehrhoff continuing to recover from an upper-body injury. Their losses have coincided with Malkin and forward Patric Hornqivst, two of Pittsburgh’s top three goal scorers, returning to the lineup after missing six and five games respectively.

Scoring has been an issue for the Penguins recently. They have scored more than two goals twice in their past eight games. Without Letang, who plays at the point on Pittsburgh’s top power-play unit, there is further cause for concern.

Letang is also one of the Penguins’ sounder defensemen, possibly only eclipsed by Paul Martin. Increased pressure will be placed on the forwards with Letang unavailable and Pittsburgh down to five healthy defensemen.

“The best thing you can do is to play in the other team’s end as much as you can,” forward Craig Adams said. “You don’t want to be out there in your end for extended shifts, so you want to get the puck deep. You want to get it out of your end and obviously, when you are in your end, you want to play well defensively so you can get out of there.

“So, if [Letang is out] the case, then it’s going to be tough, but there’s definitely things we can do to make it easier.”