Coming off their first loss of the season, the Penguins are on the road tonight, but it’s a short trip to play one of their biggest rivals. Paul Steigerwald has a preview of the game in the nation’s capital.
Bryan Rust was a full-contact participant at Penguins’ practice yesterday and appears ready to rejoin the lineup, but he might not be in his usual spot alongside Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell on the top line. As he did for much of training camp, coach Dan Muse had Rust on the third line working with Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen, while Crosby and Rakell skated with Hendrix Lapierre on the top line.
Muse says putting the puzzle pieces together with a surplus of talented forwards hasn’t been easy.
Rust says working with Ben Kindel in camp and again yesterday was invigorating.
Rust was injured in the Pens’ final preseason game and has not played yet this season. If he is able to play tonight, the Penguins would have to make a roster move to get down to the maximum 23 skaters.
