The 28-year-old defenseman left Pittsburgh's 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday with 12:18 remaining in the first period after taking a hit from Tomas Plekanec along the boards. His left leg bent backward as he fell to the ice.
"We have capable NHL defensemen so I'm confident that we can put guys in that I know can help us win games," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "Schultz
from the AHL.
"I wouldn't be backing up if I wasn't ready to play," Murray said. "You never know when you're going to have to get in there. So obviously I was fully cleared even before the last game. ... It's hard to know with injuries like that. It's no fun to have those injuries either. So I was happy with how quickly it resolved."
If Murray starts Tuesday, it's uncertain how the defense will look in front of him.
The top defense pair of Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin remained intact during practice while the other five defensemen rotated. Schultz had been paired with Jack Johnson on Saturday.
Johnson and Olli Maatta could reform a pair the Penguins used in their season opener against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 4. That likely would leave rookie Juuso Riikola paired with Jamie Oleksiak.
Chad Ruhwedel, who played 12 games on the third pair during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, has been a healthy scratch in each of Pittsburgh's four games.
Schultz's absence also affects the power play, where he split time on the top unit with Letang last season.
Letang knowns how difficult Schultz will be to replace.
"It's a huge loss for us, especially with what he brings," Letang said. "He plays in tons of aspects of our game. ... He kind of stabilizes the whole D-corps. So it's a tough one to watch and to see how long he's going to be out."
