SAN JOSE, Calif. — With seven seconds left on the game clock, the magnitude of the moment hit Penguins winger Bryan Rust.
Tears welled in his eyes. A joy he had never known followed.
The Penguins hoisted the Stanley Cup on Sunday night in the Shark Tank of northern California — about a million miles from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where four rookies started their season.
“We iced it, and it kind of hit me all at once,” Rust said. “The tears were about to come.”
Rust, goalie Matt Murray, and wingers Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl can’t have possibly imagined the scene that followed way back in October on those long bus rides to Binghamton, N.Y., and Providence, R.I.
None were projected to make the lineup out of training camp, and certainly not become central figures to a fourth Penguins championship.
Yet that’s what transpired as the Penguins muscled past New York, Washington, Tampa Bay and finally San Jose for the sweetest win of the 2016 season.
“I asked the older guys if we get this every year,” Sheary said. “I mean, I’m just going to enjoy it while it’s here because you know it doesn’t come often.”
The speedy Rust finished the playoffs with six goals, three assists — including the only two goals needed in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.
Sheary finished with four goals, six assists. The pair opened the scoring in Game 1 of the Cup final.
Sheary, at 5-foot-nothing, didn’t even have a contract two years ago and may have locked down a spot on Sidney Crosby’s wing for the foreseeable future.
“No I can’t imagine any of this. It’s been a surreal year,” Sheary said. “I thought my first NHL game would be my most exciting moment, but this will top that.”
Kuhnhackl basically barreled up and down ice for two months, forechecking hard on the important fourth line, and killing penalties. He scored twice in the postseason.
And Murray? That’s another story altogether.
He turned 22 in the middle of the Penguins’ run, and his internal calm allowed him to bounce back after every single loss this postseason. He finished with a 15-6 record, 2.08 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
“There’s no secret to it. I just tried to compete every time on the ice,” Murray said. “That’s what I was able to do. I don’t think about it anymore than I do any other game.”
Not a Calder Cup between them, all four are now Stanley Cup champions.
Jenn Menendez: jmenendez@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JennMenendez.
First Published: June 13, 2016, 7:18 p.m.