Penguins promote forward Bryan Rust to top power-play unit
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Bryan Rust was in a familiar realm Monday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ first power-play unit.
During a practice session in Cranberry, Rust replaced fellow forward Rickard Rakell on the top unit, joining forwards Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Erik Karlsson.
Rakell skated on the second unit, along with forwards Jeff Carter, Reilly Smith and Radim Zohorna and defenseman Kris Letang.
Considering the Penguins are 2 for 13 (15.4%) on the power play this season — including no conversions in eight chances over their past three games — some augmentation isn’t outrageous.
Rust has skated on the top unit before. In fact, among active players, only Malkin (173), Crosby (164), Letang (52) and Guentzel (44) — all of whom have played in at least one All-Star Game — have scored more power-play goals for the franchise than Rust (27).
And his scoring acumen has been on display through the early stages of 2023-24 season. In five games, he is tied for the team lead in goals with four.
But his ability to get the puck seems to be a more prominent factor in his promotion than his abilities with the puck.
“The biggest thing is his puck retrievals,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s really good at tracking down loose pucks, rebounds, 50-50 pucks that are up for grabs. A big part of a successful power play is your ability to retrieve those so you sustain (offensive) zone time. A lot of times, you can create opportunity out of them because teams are out of their structure when there’s a 50-50 battle, let’s say in the corner, and you win the puck.
“Opportunity, a lot of times, can present itself with a quick-strike attack. One of the biggest parts of (Rust’s) game that he brings to the power play is the ability to retrieve pucks. He does it five-on-five, but he brings that aspect of it to the power play also.”
Rust appears to have a firm grasp of his role skating alongside a handful of All-Stars.
“Go out there, work hard,” Rust said. “Get pucks back, get to the net. Work for (teammates) out there. Those guys are world-class talents. If I’m out there, I’m out there working hard, trying to get to the net and make plays when they’re there.”