The Pittsburgh Penguins and head coach Dan Muse are getting set to start a really tough 5 game road trip all against teams that are in the playoffs. The Penguins are going to be playing the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this season but will be playing the Hurricanes without a few key players.
It was announced prior to Tuesday's morning skate that there were some updates on players that are currently injured or that got injured and now have timelines for a return to play. The timeline especially on veteran forward Justin Brazeau was not encouraging as he was lately labeled day-to-day.
Below are updated injury statuses/timelines on behalf of Head Coach Dan Muse:
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) March 10, 2026
Justin Brazeau - upper body, week to week
Sam Girard - upper body, day to day
Kevin Hayes - upper body, day to day
Ryan Graves is not practicing today (personal), but is available for tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/yiOkQlVq7r
Brazeau now has a week-to-week label and Girard and Hayes now carry day-to-day labels. That also goes along with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby not yet being able to play due to a knee injury he suffered in the Milan Olympics. And veteran forward Evgeni Malkin is serving the third game of his 5-game suspension and is eligible to return next Monday at the Colorado Avalanche.
The Penguins are now down quite a few of their players and said players make big contributions on a daily basis. This game is going to be an uphill battle, but the Penguins who were led by Anthony Mantha and Egor Chinakhov found a way against the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Like the Bruins, the Hurricanes are a team that the Penguins have always seemed to struggle with for years now. And the Penguins have not won a road game at the Hurricanes in what is now 8 years. The last time the Penguins won a game in Raleigh, Jake Guentzel was still a Penguin.
December 22, 2018 — The last time the Penguins won a game in Raleigh.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 10, 2026
December 23, 2018 — The last time AB played in a game for the Steelers.
Trying to find a correlation here. No luck yet.
Good morning from Raleigh.
That seems like a long time ago and the Penguins are going to have to find a way to get a win in this one as the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets are on their tail. This is also an important game as the Penguins are trailing the Hurricanes by 8 points in the Metro division standings.
If anybody can find some adversity and win this game, it is the Penguins. Muse has done an unbelievable job with his team this year and could use some magic one more time.