Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen suffered a concussion when he was hit into the boards by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Derick Brassard during Monday’s 6-3 Devils win at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Vatanen initially appeared to be fine after the game, where he did receive stitches for facial lacerations. But he started showing symptoms later, leading to the diagnosis. Vatanen did not return to the game after the third-period hit, and he did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday.

“Next morning, he came in, got evaluated, but then he wasn’t feeling totally right,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “So they did the test (Tuesday) after practice. So I don’t have a timetable on him yet.”

Brassard received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for elbowing on the hit, though he did not face supplemental discipline from NHL Player Safety.

Replays showed Brassed didn’t make contact with his elbow, and he didn’t have it extended away from his body, so Hynes saw how it was a difficult decision regarding additional punishment.

“It’s tough in this way. It wasn’t an elbow. He was in a vulnerable position, and it was a vicious hit in the sense of, he hit to hit through him," Hynes said. "But it did not look like, when you go through it, that it was a targeted, elbow run. It was just a violent hit against a guy in a vulnerable position. So it’s tough to say if there was an elbow extended or a longer path to the hit.

"It’s a tough one to see Sami like that. He was kind of in a vulnerable position, and I think sometimes it’s on the hitter. Even though it wasn’t an elbow, you’re blasting a guy in a tough spot.”

Vatanen’s concussion is his second in less than one year. He suffered one during Game 4 of the Devils' first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in April of 2018. Vatanen missed Game 5, when the Devils were eliminated, but he recovered from that hit shortly after the end of the season.

With Vatanen sidelined indefinitely, the Devils will turn to a trio of players to help fill his ice time. Mirco Mueller, Steven Santini and Egor Yakovlev have been in and out of the lineup all season as healthy scratches, but with Ben Lovejoy also currently hurt, all three will be in the lineup in the short term.

“It’s really by committee right now,” Hynes said. “I don’t think there’s (one) guy. (Will) Butcher’s taken some steps to show he can play some top-four minutes. I think between Santini, Mueller and Yakovlev, we’re going to have to see where they are. But we will need one of those three players to take a step to handle more minutes. No one’s going to take Vatanen’s minutes. But someone’s going to have to play in those situations.”

Other injury news:

- Taylor Hall did not skate on Tuesday or Wednesday, when he worked out off ice on both days. Both sessions were planned days off the ice as he continues his rehab.

- Lovejoy has missed the Devils' past three games, dating back to before the team’s bye week, but he is skating on his own while recovering from a lower body injury.

- Forward Stefan Noesen (lower body) also resumed skating on his own.

- Forward Joey Anderson has been skating on his own for several weeks and is close to returning to full practice in the coming days. He has been out since Thanksgiving with a broken ankle.

Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.