"Kris Letang has a lower-body injury and will be out for a couple of weeks," Sullivan said.
Letang obviously isn't easy to replace. He is the only NHL defender to average better than a point per game during the past calendar year, skates in all situations - including on a power play that has seven goals in the last three games - and ranks seventh in the league in time on ice with an average of 26:04 minutes per game. As Sullivan said, it will have to be by committee.
"We think we have capable people," Sullivan said. "We'll sort it out. But certainly, he'll be a tough guy to replace."
Veteran Steve Oleksy has been on the roster as Pittsburgh's seventh defenseman, registering one assist during a solid performance in his season debut on Nov. 26 versus New Jersey. As of now, he is an option to slide in while Sullivan said recalling Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is something they could do as well.
"That's something that we'll discuss with our management group," Sullivan said. "But we'll see how it goes. We've got some ideas we think we'll try and we'll see how it goes."
Note: the Pens announced that they had called up Pouliot at 5:10 p.m.
It helps that overall, the Pens' blue line has been strong as of late - led by the excellent play of Justin Schultz.
The 26-year-old had a three-point effort in Pittsburgh's 4-3 overtime win, registering a goal and an assist. Overall, he's got five goals and 12 points in his last eight games.
"They're just going in right now, I guess," Schultz said with a smile. "That happens sometimes. You get on a little streak and then everything is going in. It's not going to last all season, I don't think. That would be nice if it did. I think we just got to keep playing the same way."
But not only is he contributing offensively - Sullivan has been very pleased with Schultz's play defensively as well.
"We just want to be solid defensively and be able to go out there and have the coaches trust us and be able to go up against top lines," Schultz said of his mentality with partner Ian Cole. "I think we're getting there and if we keep focusing on defense first, all that other stuff, the points, that will all come."
