DALLAS — Bryan Rust sped down the ice during the opening minutes of practice on Friday afternoon and, with a slick flick of the wrist, he fired a puck past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray. Goal. His teammates saluted the goal properly with stick taps and some chirping.
On Saturday night, he just might get the chance to do the same with a couple more fans in the seats.
After starting the season on long-term injured reserve with a hand injury, Rust appears poised to return to the lineup in time for Pittsburgh’s game against the Dallas Stars. He’ll likely be joined by Nick Bjugstad, who has been out with a lower-body injury since the second game of the season.
Officially, coach Mike Sullivan is calling both game-time decisions. But both participated in the entire practice and did not wear any type of non-contact jersey.
“They obviously felt good in practice,” Sullivan said. “They had a strong practice. They’ll be game-time decisions, but it certainly looked encouraging watching practice today.”
Alex Galchenyuk, who went on injured reserve with an undisclosed lower-body injury, also participated in the practice. However, Sullivan has already ruled him out for Saturday’s game.
“He’s obviously getting real close,” Sullivan said. “He’s joined the team in practice. That’s the reason we brought him out here, to get him around the team, to get him around the team practices. The next step, obviously, would be the decision to put him back in the game. The first step is to get him back and practicing with the team.”
Forward Adam Johnson is still out with an upper-body injury that kept him from competing in Wednesday’s game in Tampa. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin and center Evgeni Malkin were not on the ice for practice, either.
Rust adding padding, but not changing style
There is never a good time for an injury. But Rust’s was especially untimely.
He was trying to kill a penalty during the final preseason game and went to block a shot. The puck looked like it struck him on the inside of his glove.
“Obviously, getting so close to the regular season there and getting that unfortunate injury,” Rust said. “But I’m definitely really excited to be back.”
Rust played left wing on the second line during practice with Bjugstad at center and Patric Hornqvist on the right. But some of his defining characteristics are his abilities to play up and down the lineup and bring speed, clutch scoring and penalty killing.
In an effort to stay in the lineup, he’s been working with the equipment staff to “put as much padding as I can pretty much everywhere.”
Will the injury also make him consider taking fewer pucks off the body?
“No,” Rust said. “I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t do that.”
Bjugstad in shape and ready
When a player misses time with a lower-body injury, it’s natural to wonder if his conditioning will suffer. However, Bjugstad feels confident he’ll be ready for the rigors of the game on Saturday.
“I wasn’t off the ice more than six days,” he said. “I think when you’re able to work out and stay in shape, that’s probably the biggest thing. It’s a tough game to get back into if you’re out of shape. It’s such a fast game. The training staff here is amazing. They’ve done great with me.”
Bjugstad has some experience coming back from injury. He said one of the keys is to “keep it simple” as he eases his way back into action after about three weeks off.
“You can’t go out and try to do everything,” he said. “You’ve got to just get your feet under you and try to make the right play.”
Galchenyuk has not turned into Spider-Man
In some ways, it was no surprise to see Rust and Bjugstad participating without non-contact jerseys at practice on Thursday, a move that’s typically the last step before an injured player returns to game action.
Galchenhyuk? He’s another story.
“Skating with the team was something good for me,” he said. “Once you start skating with the team, you get the feeling that you’re close to coming back. That’s always positive.
“It’s always tough to miss games and watch games at home from the couch. You want to be part of it. You want to help. But you also want to be smart and make sure you’re 100% when you come back.”
Galchenyuk has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury since camp. After playing in the first three games, it flared up to the degree that he needed some time off the ice.
This was the first time he spoke with the media since the recurrence. During that time, there was a report that said he was bitten by a spider, causing an allergic reaction that delayed some of his rehab.
Galchenyuk said that’s not completely accurate.
“I had a really bad allergic reaction,” he said. “When I got to the hospital, the doctors told me I got bit by whatever it could be. I just had an allergic reaction to that. I don’t know why the spider thing got out. It wasn’t official that it was a spider or anything in particular. I just had a crazy allergic reaction.
“I didn’t stall my rehab or anything like that. It was all good. Just an allergic reaction, and now I’m here.”
Mike DeFabo: mdefabo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDeFabo
First Published: October 25, 2019, 7:18 p.m.
