CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Alex Galchenyuk has missed the Penguins' past four games because of an injury.
It is, according to the team, a lower-body issue.
It is not, Jim Rutherford said today, anything that has been complicated by Galchenyuk's reaction to a spider bite, as was reported during NBC Sports Network's broadcast of the Penguins-Avalanche game Wednesday evening.
Asked today how the team's medical staff had determined that a spider bite had led to a disruption in Galchenyuk's recovery, Rutherford said simply that, "I don't think they did."
Mike Sullivan confirmed that Galchenyuk was taken to a hospital recently for treatment of an allergic reaction, but that "it's not confirmed that it's a spider bite." He added that "certainly, our doctors have followed it up."
The initial spider-bite report came from NBC "Insider" Bob McKenzie, who is one of the best-sourced reporters in the industry.
This time, however, Rutherford said that McKenzie was passing along some inaccurate information.
"He's not on our medical staff," Rutherford said, adding that, "I've not been told that he had a spider bite."
Regardless of the finer points of Galchenyuk's injury or anything that has impeded his recovery from it, Rutherford declined to speculate on when he might be able to return to the lineup.
"I don't even like to guess, because that's what it is," he said. "Just a wild guess."
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