Rust, Penguins defeat Blues in OT to end 4-game losing streak

ST. LOUIS -- Bryan Rust scored at 1:16 of overtime for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Rust, who also had an assist redirected the puck inside the right post off a pass from Evgeni Malkin after his initial shot was blocked.
"I just tried to keep their guys on the ice," Rust said. "I took a shot and it got blocked, and Evgeni made a nice move there and made a good play to get the puck to me."

Malkin also scored, and Marcus Pettersson had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (28-21-9), who were outscored 21-10 during their losing streak. Tristan Jarry made 25 saves.
"I thought it was a hard-fought game," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "I loved our will to win. We generated a fair amount of scoring chances. I don't think we got rewarded for some of our effort out there. I thought the Blues played hard. I thought their goalie played really well. There's a fine line between winning and losing in this league. It could have deflated us when they scored late in the game. Our effort was strong in the overtime."
Jordan Binnington made 45 saves for the Blues (26-28-5), who have lost five in a row (0-3-2) and have been outscored 21-8 during that span. Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist.
"[Binnington] played great, especially that first period," Faulk said. "I think we gave up 25 shots, or whatever it was (21). He stood tall and gave us a chance, more than a chance.
"I thought in general we played more of a competitive hockey game tonight. Obviously, heavily outshot in the first, but I think we battled in the second and third. We had a little bit more there. We pushed the OT there, but (it) kind of becomes a little bit of a crapshoot once it gets there with 3-on-3 hockey."
St. Louis was looking for a better response after some harsh comments from coach Craig Berube following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
"I thought that we got a good response tonight. Competitive," Berube said. "We were physical. Played hard. Just offensively, we've got to get more done. But overall, I was pretty pleased with the effort."
Pettersson's first goal of the season gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 14:32 of the third period, scoring from the slot with a wrist shot off a rush.
Faulk tied it 2-2 at 17:33 when he jammed the loose puck through a crowded crease after forward Alexey Toropchenko took it hard to the net.
"We were down and bodies laying down there, just kind of in a normal situation, you don't go in there and kind of sniff around for something being down one," Faulk said. "You just kind of went to the net and hope you can find it on the weak side. It just squirted free just enough to get a little bit on it."

Pavel Buchnevich gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead 23 seconds into the second period when he redirected a wrist shot from Robert Thomas.
Malkin tied it 1-1 at 6:59, finishing off a passing play with Rust after Pettersson won a loose puck in the neutral zone with Blues defenseman Colton Parayko.
"We were on our toes the whole game," Rust said. "That's how we need to play the whole time."
NOTES: Rust has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 10 games against the Blues. ... Malkin six points (three goals, three assists) in his past four games. ... St. Louis claimed Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from Pittsburgh earlier in the day. The forward is expected to arrive on Sunday and be at practice on Monday. ... Jarry is 5-0-0 in his career against the Blues. ... St. Louis defenseman Torey Krug played 19:13 after missing one game with a lower-body injury. ... Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta was activated off injured reserve after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury and played 13:00. ... Pittsburgh is 9-1-0 against the Central Division. ... St. Louis played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen after sending forward Nikita Alexandrov to Springfield of the American Hockey League. ... Binnington's 45 saves tied his season high. ... Pittsburgh hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.