The Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon announced No. 1 pairing defenseman Brian Dumoulin had ankle surgery that will sideline him for eight weeks. A two month absence for Dumoulin, who coaches regard internally as the team’s best defenseman, will be a huge test for this defensive corps that has largely overachieved this season. Meanwhile, the hits kept coming today as Patric Hornqvist was injured on a fall today and is being evaluated for a lower body injury.

LATEST INJURY TIMELINES
Brian Dumoulin – ankle surgery on 12/1, out 8 weeks.
Nick Bjugstad – core muscle surgery on 11/21 with a timeline of 8 weeks, which puts a return around mid-late January.
Sidney Crosby – core muscle surgery on 11/14 with a timeline of at least six weeks. The six week mark for Crosby is December 26th.
Justin Schultz – Suffered groin injury on 11/22 with a timeline of 2-3 weeks. Has begun skating on his own and expected to be cleared to practice this week.
Bryan Rust – Day-to-day
Patric Hornqvist – LBI in Monday’s Practice, being evaluated