Rust takes it personally; that’s good for Penguins
Was that predictable or what? The Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3, in overtime Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. That ran their streak against the Flyers to 7-2-1 in the past 10 home games.
Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal and had a three-point night. That gave him 105 points in
70 career games against Philadelphia, easily the most points among active players against the Flyers.
Evgeni Malkin also had a goal and three points, giving him 73 points in 58 career games against Philadelphia. That is the second-most points among active players against the Flyers.
And one more …
Bryan Rust scored another goal. It seems like that’s happening every night.
How about these stats before Mike Sullivan steps in to gush about Rust? Jake Guentzel, one of the best wingers in the world, had 20 goals in 39 games before his season-ending shoulder injury Dec. 30. Rust has 22 goals in 37 games. His remarkable season keeps getting better and better.
Take it away, coach.
“I think Rusty has really evolved as a player in his time here as a Pittsburgh Penguin,” Sullivan said. “He’s always been a conscientious player on the defensive side of the puck. I think his offensive game has really grown to another level. He’s shown the ability to finish. I watch him with his poise with the puck and his vision and his puck protection. His panic threshold is really high right now. He hangs on to pucks and, because of that, it’s really helped his game offensively. His overall 200-foot game is the best it’s been since he’s been a Pittsburgh Penguin.”
Rust scored on the power play in the second period to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. He helped to set up the goal by diving to keep the puck in the Flyers zone. Rust nearly won the game in overtime a few moments before Crosby’s winner. He swiped the puck from the Flyers’ Sean Couturier and had a great scoring chance only to hit the post.
“That’s the foundation of my game,” Rust said. “Hard work, using my skating to cause some turnovers and then make plays from there.”
The one unexpected result of the night was that Rust’s overtime shot didn’t win the game.
“We all thought it was going in,” Justin Schultz said. “He’s hot right now.”
Hot doesn’t begin to describe it. Rust missed the first 11 games this season after blocking a shot on a 5-on-3 penalty kill and breaking his left hand in the final exhibition game. He then carried the Penguins during lengthy injury absences by Malkin and Crosby. His 22 goals and 44 points easily surpass his career bests of 18 and 38. There still are 31 games left.
It’s a matter of consistency, Rust said. “There were times over the last how many years I’ve been in the league when I’d go on great runs and be really productive and then kind of go away for a little while. I think that was my focus in the offseason coming into this year. Bring it night in and night out and do it consistently over the year. Trying to build one game after another and not look too far ahead.”
Give Rust 95 percent of the credit for his big season. Give the other 5 percent to Jim Rutherford.
Rutherford lambasted the Penguins after they were swept last spring by the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs, suggesting a few players might have been too happy with winning a couple of Stanley Cups and too fat after signing a nice contract. He didn’t name names, but it certainly appeared he was targeting Rust, among others. Rust scored a total of 13 goals in the team’s Cup runs in 2016 and 2017, signed a fouryear, $14 million contract before last season and was held without a point and was a minus-4 against the Islanders.
“I did take it personally,” Rust said. “It’s one of those things you have to look at yourself in the mirror and push a little bit harder.”
There was plenty of speculation in the offseason that Rutherford might have to trade Rust for salary-cap reasons. You know what they say, right? Sometimes, the best trades are the ones that aren’t made.