2016 Championship Reunion: Conference Final Lookback

Ahead of the 2016 Championship Reunion on Jan. 31, we are taking a look back at each playoff round with a player who had a big impact on the series. Today, Bryan Rust talks the Eastern Conference Final against Tampa Bay. To join us for the reunion, click here.

“You’re now a Pittsburgh legend.”

That’s what Nick Bonino said to Bryan Rust on the bench after the Penguins defeated the Lightning in Game 7 of their 2016 Eastern Conference Final matchup.

“And I was like, what are you talking about?” Rust said with a laugh. “But over the years, it's like, okay – the more and more you think about it, it's like, wow, that's something that's cool.”

Then 24 years old, Rust put together a performance for the ages.

Game 1 turned out to be Andrei Vasilevskiy’s introduction to the league. Then 21 years old, the 2012 first-round pick – drafted by Tampa at PPG Paints Arena – took over between the pipes after Ben Bishop was carted off the ice and sidelined for the rest of the series. Vasilevskiy helped the Lightning earn a 3-1 victory in Game 1 before the teams went to overtime in Game 2.

And in the first minute, Rust helped the Penguins earn a 3-2 victory after setting up Sidney Crosby for the winner.

“I got off the bench, and what I would guess I was thinking was I was gonna drive the net, and then kind of saw him kind of out of the corner of my eye,” Rust recalled with a laugh. “So, I just pulled up, kind of laid it to him, and he did the rest.”

Vasilevskiy battled in Game 3 as the Penguins registered 48 total shots and earned a 4-2 win. But the Lightning’s offense exploded in Game 4, with the Penguins losing Trevor Daley to a broken ankle. After Marc-Andre Fleury replaced Matt Murray for the third period, he got the start in Game 5. This time, the Penguins lost in overtime, with Tyler Johnson getting the game-winner.

The Penguins went back to Murray for a must-win Game 6 on the road. That game featured the famous offside challenge from Andy Saucier, then working as the Penguins video coach, now the organization's Director of Professional Personnel. Pittsburgh went on to build a 3-0 lead, before a pair of goals from Brian Boyle cut it to 3-2. The building was buzzing, and it felt inevitable that the Lightning would tie the game - except on the Penguins bench.

“The feeling on the bench was we were gonna get it done,” Rust daid. “I think over that span, I don't think we gave up third period leads very often, if ever. I think there was, like, a 50-something game span. I don’t know if that included the playoffs. But I think the feeling on the bench was, we're gonna win this game.”

And Rust did his part to make that happen.

With a little over two minutes to go in regulation, Chris Kunitz sprung the young forward on a breakaway. He deked Vasilevskiy to the ice and slid the puck around him.

“I'm just glad I scored it. Surprised I didn't hurt myself punching the glass,” Rust said before quipping, “And I wonder where that finishing was on Vasilevskiy (in the shootout loss on Jan. 13)."

That was just a preview of Rust’s heroics to come in Game 7.

During a scoreless second period, Kunitz once again got the puck to Rust, who snapped a shot past Vasilevskiy. After Jonathan Droiun evened the score, it took Rust and the Penguins all of 30 seconds to respond. Ben Lovejoy's point shot missed the net and caromed off the end boards. Vasilevskiy attempted to cover, but it ended up on the stick of Rust, who chipped it through the smallest of holes between the post and the goaltender’s skate. The Penguins did not relinquish that 2-1 lead, which stood as the final score.

“In the moment, I don't know if I fully appreciated it. And I think ignorance is bliss sometimes,” Rust said. “I think that entire run, being a guy who had never gone through anything, never gone through the playoffs, never gone through the league, really... had half a season under my belt. I didn’t know, truly, how hard it really was. I was just going out there every day, I think all of us young guys were... I think that kind of feeling of the unknown, it almost kind of let me play freer.”

It’s funny – growing up in metro Detroit, Rust was a Red Wings fan, and was devastated to watch Penguins forward Max Talbot score two goals against Detroit in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.

The following summer, Rust got drafted in the third round by Pittsburgh.

Six years later, he was following in Talbot’s footsteps as a Game 7 hero for the Penguins to help them win a hard-fought series against a team who would go on to win two Stanley Cups of their own.

“It was just back and forth,” Rust said. “Like, they had so many skilled guys, so many guys who can make plays, and so did we. And I think it was just unbelievable play after unbelievable play. I can't remember all of them, but it's like the studs on both teams, they were just firing on all cylinders. It was awesome to be a part of it, and it was awesome to have my small stamp on it.”