Penguins will be without Schultz, Hornqvist, Rust in Game 3

Phil Kessel’s an emotional guy, and might occasionally yell at himself or his teammates, but coach Sullivan and the rest of the Penguins love that about him, as it shows he really cares.

OTTAWA — The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without Justin Schultz and Bryan Rust for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final as injuries continue to mount for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Schultz and Rust both left a Game 2 victory with upper body injuries and are listed as day-to-day, according to Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan. All indications pointed to the Pens dressing seven defencemen for Game 3 on Wednesday night — the series is tied 1-1 — with Trevor Daley returning from injury and Mark Streit playing for the first time since Apr. 9 of the regular season.

Sullivan said Daley and Streit would be game-time decisions.

Pittsburgh has been decimated by injuries all year-long, most notably with No. 1 defenceman Kris Letang out for the playoffs and No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray yet to play in the post-season.

"Every team goes through it," Sullivan said after a morning skate at the University of Ottawa. "We’ve had share of it, maybe a little bit more than most. But what I love about this group of players is no one’s looking for excuses, everybody’s looking for answers.

"Our expectation is that we can win games," he added. "We’re fortunate to have the depth that we have and we’ve relied on it all year-long so this is no different."

Daley has missed the last four games with a lower body injury and could return to a familiar spot alongside Olli Maatta.

Streit would be getting his first playoff action with Pittsburgh. The 39-year-old took reps on the club’s first power play unit on Wednesday morning.

"It’s a big challenge obviously, I haven’t played in a while," Streit said. "But I’m just thrilled and excited if I get to play."

The Pens’ top two power-play quarterbacks, Letang and Schultz, are now both out with injury.

Schultz registered a career-high 51 points during the regular season and had been leading the team in ice time this spring. He was injured midway through the first period of a 1-0 Game 2 victory when he was hit hard into the endboards by Senators winger Mike Hoffman. Rust took a nasty hit from Dion Phaneuf in that same first period and was also forced to exit.

Pittsburgh will also still be without Patric Hornqvist, who was injured in the series opener against Ottawa.

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