Bryan Rust Getting Closer to Return

The Penguins have been without star winger Bryan Rust for the past three games, as he is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. But a return could come in the near future, as Rust was a full participant at practice on Monday, and Mike Sullivan said he will likely be a game-time decision for Tuesday’s game in Nashville.

“We’ll see how things react here overnight and going into the morning,” Rust said. “Today was definitely a step in the right direction. Felt good to be out there practicing with the guys. Obviously hasn’t been a long time, but any time you’re out, it sucks."

It certainly does, as Rust is an especially difficult player to replace. His offensive game speaks for itself, as he ranks tied with Evgeni Malkin for second on the team with nine goals in just 17 appearances. It’s been a terrific start following a season where Rust wasn’t thrilled with the consistency of his play despite hitting the 20-goal mark for a fourth straight year.

But as Sullivan has pointed out, Rust came off of the first power-play unit and became a bigger part of the penalty kill, which had an impact on his production.

“He entered this league as a defensive player, as a checker. I still think that's the strength of his game,” Sullivan said. “But he's developed an offensive side to his game in his time in the NHL. I think he's developed into a legitimate top-six forward in this league that can score goals and create opportunities for his linemates.”

What’s helped Rust evolve into that sort of player, and have the start he did, is trusting his instincts and everything he’s learned over the last decade since debuting during the 2013-14 season.

“Just keep moving my feet. Don’t second-guess myself, don’t hesitate out there,” he said.

When Rust has been healthy, his line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel has been one of the league's best at 5-on-5 play, which overall, has been a big strength for the Penguins. The same can’t be said for Pittsburgh's power play, which currently ranks 27^th in the league, and hasn’t scored on the man-advantage in 16 of 20 games. They’re mired in a 1-for-25 stretch that began on Nov. 7 in Anaheim.

“We understand that that's an area where we've got a real opportunity to grow and get better,” Sullivan said. “I believe we have the talent and the players to get it done, and these guys are going to be difference-makers for us. We just got to stay with it.”

Rust did practice on the top power-play unit this morning alongside Crosby, Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson, as the Penguins continue to tweak their personnel combinations and move people around positionally in hopes of finding solutions. If Rust slots back in with that group come game time, his approach is simple: work hard.

“Gonna make plays when they’re there,” he said. “Gonna try and get loose pucks when I can. Get to the net, bang in some rebounds, tips, screens. Just try and do whatever I can to score some goals.”

When it comes to what else the Penguins can improve at the season's quarter-mark, where they have a 10-10 record, Sullivan said there's room to grow on both sides of special teams, which they worked on extensively at practice. He would also like to see the Penguins do a better job defending the rush, which starts with their own puck possession, and making sure they don't give our opponents too many opportunities to create easy offense.

In terms of what they've done well, "I think our guys have competed extremely hard," Sullivan said. "I think our effort, for the most part, has been very consistent throughout the course of the first part of the season here. I think when you look at some of the underlying numbers on our team, compared to the actuals, offensively our team has done a lot of really good things from a process standpoint. I'd like to believe moving forward that we could get more some more results with respect to those numbers."

NOTE: The Penguins did not do line rushes at practice. All expected players were present. Winger Rickard Rakell (on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury) and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel (week-to-week with a lower-body injury) did not skate. Defenseman P.O Joseph, on injured reserve with a nagging lower-body injury, did some individual work before the session with Rust.