Penguins defensemen Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola sidelined several weeks

Penguins defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola will each be sidelined several weeks with undisclosed injuries according to coach Mike Sullivan.

Sullivan labeled Pettersson’s ailment as “week to week” while Riikola is “longer term.”

Each player was injured during Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime win at home against the Washington Capitals.

Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was absent from Thursday’s practice in Cranberry to attend to the birth of a child. Sullivan indicated Ruhwedel is expected to be available for Friday’s home game against the New York Rangers.

Before Pettersson and Riikola were injured, the Penguins were already dealing with several absences on defense as Mike Matheson (undisclosed) and Zach Trotman (right knee) are on injured reserve.

During Thursday’s practice, the Penguins’ defensive pairings were:

Brian Dumoulin — Kris Letang

John Marino — Cody Ceci

Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Kevin Czuczman

Ceci has been a healthy scratch for the past three games while Joseph and Czuczman are currently assigned to the taxi squad.

Joseph, one of the team’s top prospects, has never played in an NHL game while Czuczman, a veteran journeyman, has not played any NHL contests since 2013-14.

“Anytime our team has faced injuries, it’s always an opportunity for someone else to step up and fill the void,” Sullivan said via video conference. “We believe we’ve got NHL-caliber players. We believe in the depth that we have. And the onus is going to be on everyone to make sure that they look at this as an opportunity to help the Penguins to continue to win. That’s how we look at it.

“Whoever goes in the lineup, the expectation is that they’re going to play the game the right way. These guys, they prepare for this every single day. That’s the way we look at it. It’s never an easy thing when you get hit with multiple injuries at the same position but we believe we have capable people.”

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