"Broken collarbone or separated shoulder": Sports injury expert speculates Canucks D-man Filip Hronek's injury

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek will miss time due to an upper-body injury sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Freelance reporter Irfaan Gaffar confirmed that Hronek will be out for a while but won’t need surgery, which is good news.

"Want to add that it doesn’t look like surgery is going to be required for this injury which is some good news." Gaffar tweeted.

"Sounds like Canuck Defenceman Filip Hronek is going to be out a while with an upper body injury." Gaffar wrote in another tweet.

Sports injury expert Dr. Harjas Grewal speculated it could be a broken collarbone, which could lead to an 8-12 week absence, or a separated shoulder, which could take less time to heal.

"Mechanism can cause a broken collarbone (8-12+ weeks out) or separated shoulder (depends on type but typically day-to-day or worst week-to-week), Sounds like there’s pessimism around Hronek currently, so hopefully the concern isn’t a broken collarbone," Grewal tweeted.

Hronek was hurt late in the third period after a collision with Jack St. Ivany. He recorded an assist and logged 25:50 of ice time in the 5-4 loss. Vincent Desharnais is expected to join the Canucks' lineup during Hronek's absence.

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Filip Hronek suffered the injury in Canucks' 5-4 loss

The Vancouver Canucks lost 5-4 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday. Vancouver fell behind early and couldn’t recover despite a late push.

Blake Lizotte scored the first goal at 3:59, returning from a concussion, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. Aatu Raty tied it 1-1 at 8:52, snapping a shot over Tristan Jarry’s glove.

Rickard Rakell took the Penguins back into the lead before Kevin Hayes added a power-play goal at 15:14 to make it 3-1. Rust extended it to 4-1 with a wrist shot and made it 5-1 early in the second with another wrist shot from the right circle.

Pius Suter started Vancouver’s comeback with a slap shot at 13:40, cutting the lead to 5-2. Quinn Hughes made it 5-3 40 seconds into the third with a snap shot from the left circle. Elias Pettersson scored late, pouncing on a loose puck at 18:14, but an equalizer wasn't to be.

Arturs Silovs made 18 saves for Vancouver, who couldn’t overcome a poor start. Despite strong plays from Hughes and Pettersson, the Canucks’ early mistakes proved costly. Vancouver's next step will be improving their starts to avoid similar deficits.