Pittsburgh PenguinsWinger Bryan Rust has been through this before with injuries, and this season has been no different.
Rust suffered a lower body injury during training camp that kept him out of the first two games of the 2024-25 season. He played eight games – scoring three goals and four points – before the same injury knocked him out of the lineup again for nearly two weeks.
“Obviously any time you get hurt it sucks,” Rust said. “It takes you out of that flow a little bit.”
Rust admitted that sometimes it takes a minute to reacclimate to the lineup after an injury.
“I think I just keep trying to build my game, because anytime you try to get back into it after an injury, it might take a game or two,” he said. “Things might be off. Your readings might be a little off. But I’ve had quite a few injuries, so I can kind of figure out the best way to make sure that I’m at my best when I’m coming back .”
And, by all accounts – six games later – he’s starting to look like he’s definitely back.
In his second return, his usual teammate, Sidney Crosby, played alongside Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell, who all played very well. After head coach Mike Sullivan decided to break up that power line, he moved Malkin back to the second line, kept Rakell and Crosby – who had built chemistry – together and placed Rust next to Malkin and Michael Bunting.
And since then, it seems like he’s really found his game. He’s scoring at a 30-goal pace. He was better in the defensive zone. His readings are better. His skating – a strength of his game – was also evident, as Rust himself said his ability to move his feet is an important part of his game.
He even managed to pull off two of his signature power moves that resulted in goals each time: one for Malkin, one for himself:
But the work his teammates do – as well as the chemistry he has with both of them – also seems to help his cause.
“Bunts is blue collar, he goes out there and works really hard,” Rust said. “He’s really good around the net. He’s got really good hands in close games, he makes good plays. Geno is Geno. He can make special things happen there. He’s a guy which, if I can use my skating to open up space for him, he’s going to find that space to play.”
Rust has also received some promotion since his return. Defenseman Kris Letang missed the last three games due to illness, and during that time, Rust sported the “A” as an alternate captain.
Sullivan had nothing but good things to say about Rust’s work ethic and character.
“He’s a Stanley Cup champion. He’s been here a long time,” Sullivan said. “In many ways, he embodies what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin. He deserves this leadership role. Even though he doesn’t wear a letter, he is a leader on this team.”
© Charles LeClaire – Imagn Images
Rust and the Penguins know the task at hand. After a resounding victory against the Washington Capitals on November 8the Penguins have lost four of their last five games and have been outscored 22-11. They own the league’s worst goal differential of minus-26, they are the league’s worst defensive team and they have blown multi-goal leads eight times this season, including in their last two games.
They have a tough schedule ahead, as they play back-to-backs against the Winnipeg Jets and Utah Hockey Club on Friday and Saturday before taking on the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
Rust knows it won’t be easy, and he and the team know they need to play better, smarter and more engaged on defense.
“For us, the harder we can play defensively, the quicker we can get out of our territory,” Rust said. “I think that’s one of our strengths. We have a lot of guys that can do a lot of really good things with the puck, so I think the harder we can play defense, the sooner we can get it back, That’s our goal.”
