Rust was placed on injured reserve Thursday with forward Ben Kindel, who briefly lost consciousness after experiencing a vasovagal syncope, a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure that reduces blood flow to the brain, shortly after the team plane departed Salt Lake City International Airport on Tuesday. Forward Rutger McGroarty and defenseman Chase Pietila were recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
Rust and Kindel will not play against the Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, SCRIPPS, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS).
Tommy Novak moved from second-line center to left wing on the first line, with Rakell shifting to the right, during the morning skate. Hendrix Lapierre replaced Novak on the second line and Blake Lizotte took Kindel's place at third-line center.
"I won't confirm anything up until we get to the game, but they're definitely options," Muse said. "I think you've got two guys, two forwards, that started the last game that are not available, so it does sometimes become a little bit of a shuffle trying to find a good balance.
"We'll see at puck drop tonight what it actually is, but those are ones that we want to take a look at here. ... It's a starting point and then we'll go from there."
Since winning its first two games this season, Pittsburgh is 1-6-1 in its past eight and has allowed at least five goals in four straight losses.
Rust, in his 13th NHL season, has five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games after missing the first three with an upper-body injury. The two-time Stanley Cup champion (2016, 2017) has 507 points (235 goals, 272 assists) in 717 NHL games.
