Game Preview: 03.18.26 at Carolina Hurricanes

The Penguins conclude their five-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM ET. 

This game will be available to watch on SportsNet Pittsburgh, ESPN, and Prime. Fans can listen to the game on 105.9 The X and on the Penguins app.

Team Records: PIT (34-18-15), CAR (42-19-6)

Pittsburgh has points in six of its last eight games versus Carolina (3-2-3). The Penguins are looking to snap an nine-game winless streak (0-4-5) in Carolina dating back to Mar. 19, 2019. Pittsburgh has points in 19 of 20 games versus Metropolitan Division opponents (11-1-8) this season.

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Game Notes

Quick Hits

Ten of the last 16 games between Pittsburgh and Carolina have been one-goal games.

Egor Chinakhov (14G-14A-28PTS) sits two goals and one point shy of tying his respective career highs (16G and 29 PTS) set in the 2023-24 season. His assist on Monday in Colorado helped him establish a new career best. 

The Penguins enter tonight with four 50-point or more scorers (Sidney Crosby - 59; Bryan Rust - 53; Anthony Mantha - 52; Evgeni Malkin - 50) and only Vegas and Montreal (5) have more. Erik Karlsson comes into tonight on 49 points (7G-42A) and his next point would make him the team’s fifth 50-point scorer.  

With his goal on Monday night, Noel Acciari has now scored three goals in his last four games and has four points (3G-1A) total. 

Bryan Rust enters tonights game riding a four-game point streak (4G-3A) and has points in nine of his last 10 games played (6G-7A) dating back to Feb. 28.

STREAKIN’ SWEDE

Rickard Rakell tallied an assist on Monday against Colorado to extend his point streak to six games (2G-5A). It is now his longest point streak of the season and ranks tied for fifth in the NHL.

A-MUSE-ING

Head Coach Dan Muse has the Penguins playing some of the most consistent hockey in the league in his first season in the NHL. Under Muse’s guidance, the Penguins have already matched last season's win total through 67 games, and the team has seen massive year-over-year improvement in multiple categories. 

The Penguins have utilized 38 skaters and four goaltenders this season. On Monday, Elmer Soderblom notched his first goal as a Penguin, giving the team a league-leading 28 unique goal scorer.

SWEDE ASSISTS

Erik Karlsson tallied a goal and two assists on Monday against Colorado and now has eight assists in the last five games overall. He now sits one behind Daniel Alfredsson for fifth most all-time by a Swedish-born player.

MANTHA’S CAREER YEAR

Forward Anthony Mantha continued his hot streak on Monday, tallying a goal to extend his point streak to five games (5G-2A). In doing so, he now has career highs across the board in goals (26), assists (26) and points (52). Mantha leads the NHL in goals (5) since point streak began on Mar. 8.

SILKY SWEDE

Erik Karlsson tallied a goal and two assists on Monday against the Avalanche and now has 14 points (3G-11A) in the last 10 games. He ranks first among defensemen in points in that span.

DIRTY THIRTY

Sidney Crosby comes into tonight's game three goals shy of reaching the 30-goal mark for the 14th time in his career and the fifth-consecutive season. Only six players in NHL history have more 30-goal seasons than him currently and only Alex Ovechkin has more among active players (19).

MULTI-POINT MAYHEM

Sidney Crosby has seven multi-point efforts in his last 18 games and is now one such instance shy of tying both Mark Messier and Marcel Dionne for third most multi-point games in NHL history.

SUPER ROOKIE

Ben Kindel enters tonight's game with 11 points (8G-3A) over his last 17 games. Kindel is up to 16 goals on the season, which ranks fourth among NHL rookies. Four of his 16 goals have been game-winning tallies, and he’s one game-winning goal shy of the NHL single-season record for an 18 year old.

LETANG 800

Kris Letang enters tonight's game one point shy of 800 career points. He would be the 21st defenseman to reach the mark in NHL history and fourth active blueliner to do so. 

Letang holds every major statistical record among defensemen in Penguins’ history which includes games played (1,222), goals (178), assists (621) and points (799). He would become the ninth defenseman in NHL history to reach the mark with one team.

GIRARD 200

Newly acquired defenseman Sam Girard comes into tomorrow's game two assists shy of 200 career assists. He would be the 13th player and the fifth defenseman from the 2016 NHL Draft to reach the mark.

STORM CHASER

Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby has 68 points (25G-43A) in 63 career games against Carolina. Crosby’s 68 points versus the Hurricanes are the second most among active players, and his 1.08 points-per-game average against them is the seventh best (min. 20 GP).

Crosby has points in 10 of his last 15 games against Carolina (10G-6A) and has 21 points (11G-10A) in his last 22 games versus them. Only Alex Ovechkin (9), Steven Stamkos (7), John Tavares (6) and Adam Henrique (6) have more game-winning goals against the Hurricanes than Crosby (5) among active players.