The Pittsburgh Penguins have now lost two straight after winning six in a row. On Sunday, it was a tight loss to the Boston Bruins. Despite holding the Bruins off the score sheet in six powerplay opportunities, the Penguins still lost 1-0. At some point during the game, Erik Karlsson was injured, and they just received a brutal update on the timeline for his return.
Karlsson has now been placed on IR with a lower-body injury, according to Sportsnet.
He will be out for at least two weeks with the injury. This should still allow the blueliner to return in time for the Olympics, where Karlsson will represent Sweden. The Swede played 23:12 in the game with the Bruins, and there was no indication that he was dealing with any sort of ailment, especially considering he spoke to the media after the game.
“We didn’t do ourselves any favors tonight by taking as many penalties as we did. It was a tight game, a winnable game for us, but we didn’t do enough today to sustain it long enough to create more chances for ourselves to tie the game,” Karlsson said right after the game on Sunday, per Joe McDonald of NHL.com.
The first-round pick was in the midst of a resurgent season with the Pens. He has found the back of the net four times while adding 29 helpers so far. That put him on pace for 62 points for the campaign, which would have been the most since the 2022-23 season when Karlsson was a member of the San Jose Sharks.
In corresponding moves, the Penguins also re-assigned forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, while recalling forward Tristan Broz and defenseman Ryan Graves from their AHL affiliate.
Graves has played in 17 games in 2025-26 with the NHL club, but chipped in just one point. He did find some offense in his recent AHL stint, amassing nine points in 13 games.
The loss of one of the best defensemen on the team for two weeks could prove pivotal for the Penguins. The team plays seven games in that span, including a four-game road trip.
Currently, the Penguins are 21-14-9 on the year, placing them fifth in the Metropolitan Division, and a point outside of a playoff spot. The next two games are against teams currently in front of Pittsburgh in the conference. They return to the ice, without Karlsson, on Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, before hosting their division rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Thursday.
