The Pittsburgh Penguins lost defenseman Justin Schultz in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final after Schultz took a hard hit from Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman.

Midway through the first period while playing the puck behind his net, Schultz’s right shoulder made heavy contact with the boards after he was pushed by Hoffman.

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Losing Schultz for a prolonged period would be difficult for the Penguins. He’s currently their best offensive defenseman and had eight points in 13 previous playoff games while averaging 21:10 of ice-time per-contest.

Schultz had 51 points in 78 games this past season in a career year for Pittsburgh. The Penguins are currently playing without defenseman Trevor Daley, who has been out since Game 7 of the second-round. Pittsburgh has also been without Kris Letang all postseason because of a neck injury. He is not expected to return this playoff.

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Earlier in Game 2, Penguins forward Bryan Rust left the game after taking a big open-ice hit from Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not have an update on Schultz after the game, a 1-0 win by Pittsburgh.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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