Bryan Rust has been entrenched on the right wing of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top line for the better part of half a decade. And with that station comes the luxury of having the spellbinding Sidney Crosby as his center.
So, he’s had a front row seat for the milestones Crosby keeps amassing.
Rust was witness to — and a participant in — another on Monday as Crosby scored the 1,700th point of his dazzling career during a 6-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena.
Crosby registered a secondary assist early in the third period on a goal by Rust to reach the mark.
“I don’t think he ever ceases to amaze us,” Rust said in Cranberry on Saturday. “He just keeps going, keeps working hard, keeps wanting to get better, keeps wanting to win. For him to be able to have the success that he’s had and to continue to have that fuel, I think speaks volumes about him as a person.”
The Penguins continued to provide talking points about what they are as a team on Monday as they won for the fifth time in six games (5-0-1).
Goaltender Tristan Jarry unofficially made 27 saves on 30 shots to boost his record to 4-1-0.
A hiccup-quick two-goal outburst within the first 55 seconds of regulation gave the Penguins an early lead.
After failing to find the net in his first six games of the season, Rust extended a modest goal-scoring streak to two games with his second goal of the campaign only 39 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Claiming a puck out of a battle on the right wall of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson maneuvered to the high slot and drew the attention of Blues fourth-liners Alexey Toropchenko and Nick Bjugstad. That created space in the right circle for Rust, and Karlsson slipped a backhand pass to that space. With an acre of ice and a calendar of time to work with, Rust toasted goaltender Joel Hofer’s glove on the near side.
Forward Anthony Mantha’s fifth goal came on the next shift, only 16 seconds later.
Following a mad dash through the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin drove to the lower right circle, then slipped a pass to the far side of the crease, where Mantha shoved away Blues rookie forward Jimmy Snuggerud and tapped in an easy forehand shot past Hofer, who was spun out of position.
The Blues were undeterred and managed to tie the score before the period was over through Bjugstad’s second goal at the 4:45 mark and forward Jordan Kyrou’s third goal at the 15:43 mark.
An unlikely source regained the lead for the Penguins when defenseman Parker Wotherspoon scored his first goal of the season and as a member of the club at 6:37 of the second period during a delayed penalty.
Off some puck movement on the perimeter of the offensive zone, Karlsson faked a slapper above the left circle, then slid a pass to the opposite circle for Crosby. Surveying the scene for a moment, Crosby fed it across the ice to Wotherspoon. Moving in slightly above the left dot, Wotherspoon gripped and ripped a wrister to the far side over Hofer’s glove. Crosby and Karlsson collected assists.
Rust struck again only 42 seconds into the third period.
Calming a puck rimmed behind the St. Louis net, Crosby emerged to the right of the cage and slid a pass to the right point, where Karlsson chopped a half-speed slap-pass to the slot. From below the left hashmark, Rust held his stick on the ice and deflected the puck with his backhand, causing it to glance off of Hofer’s right leg and through his five hole. Assists were claimed by Karlsson and Crosby.
The Blues persisted, and forward Mathieu Joseph generated his first goal of the season off a two-on-one rush at 4:35 of the final frame.
Crosby’s 1,701st career point came in the form of his seventh goal of the season on a breakaway at 16:39 in the third. Malkin capped the scoring 20 seconds later by claiming his third goal on an empty net.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.