- Bryan Rust left Monday’s loss to Utah with a lower-body injury
- Penguins have lost four straight and sit at 3-6-1
- Read below for what Rust said before the game and what’s next for Pittsburgh
Bryan Rust is hurt again.
The Penguins winger left Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth with a lower-body injury and did not return. The team confirmed it during the game:
Rust skated the first two periods but missed the third. He finished with two assists, including the pass that set up Rickard Rakell’s power-play goal to tie the game 2-2 in the second. The Penguins haven’t said how serious it is.
This is a second injury scare for the 34-year-old in a short stretch. He missed the first three games of the season with an upper-body injury he picked up late in the preseason. Since coming back, he has three goals and two assists in seven games.
Earlier Monday, Rust talked about how the Penguins needed to respond to their slow start. His message was simple, and he wasn’t talking about talent.
“When things aren’t going your way, both individually and at a team level, I think you just got to work a little bit harder,” Rust said. “I think you got to get a greasy win, a hard-fought win.”
Pittsburgh got the effort in the third, cutting a 5-2 deficit to 5-4 on goals from Egor Chinakhov and Declan Carlile, but Utah goalie Sebastian Cossa held on. The Penguins have now lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.
The injuries keep piling up on the forward group. Defenseman Sam Girard got hurt in Saturday’s 6-2 loss to Vegas, and Trevor van Riemsdyk is still on injured reserve. All of this lands while Pittsburgh is reportedly open to moving veterans, as we covered over the weekend.
Rust had 29 goals and 65 points last season and plays on the Penguins’ top line. The Penguins host the Florida Panthers on Thursday, and there’s no word yet on whether he’ll be in the lineup.
