A reunion with Bryan Rust has helped spark Evgeni Malkin's offense

Bryan Rust knows better.

His eight-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins has validated one tried and true axiom:

The lines never are permanent.

That wasn’t the case when he debuted as a scrappy fourth-liner trying to prove himself as an NHL-er in 2014. And that hasn’t changed now that he’s a verified 20-goal threat who can meet the finicky demands of a franchise center in 2022.

It won’t even change after a historic 11-2 home win against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday in which he helped the team’s other franchise center record his first hat trick since 2018.

“Coach (Mike Sullivan) obviously makes his decisions on what he thinks is going to be best for our team,” Rust said after the game. “Those lines did a very good job tonight, so we’ll see if those lines stick together.”

It’s probably a safe assumption Rust and Evgeni Malkin will remain together on the second line for the time being. They have been for six of the past seven games (an illness sidelined Malkin for a 5-1 road loss to the New York Rangers on Friday).

The decision to pull Rust off the top line with Sidney Crosby was made in hopes of balancing the team’s scoring. And sure enough, it has borne fruit.

Over that sextet of games, Malkin’s offensive figures have seen a spark with eight points (six goals, two assists). Rust also has eight points (two goals, six assists) during that span with Malkin.

“(Rust) is such a good two-way player,” Sullivan said. “He’s really good on both sides of the puck, and he’s fast. Offensively, he can utilize his speed to force turnovers. When he plays with a guy like (Malkin) — or Sid and (forward Jake Guentzel), for that matter — his line has an opportunity to create off of the loose pucks he creates or the errant passes because of his puck-pursuit game up the ice.”

That was evident with Malkin’s first goal of this six-game swing. During a 4-1 road victory against the Arizona Coyotes, Malkin scored the winner after Rust won a puck battle in the Coyotes’ left corner and fed the puck to the slot. From there, Malkin chopped in his 11th of the season.

This isn’t the first time Malkin and Rust have been teamed on a line. Rust’s breakout season of 2019-20 in which he recorded his first 20-goal season — Rust had 56 points (27 goals, 29 assists) in only 55 games — came with Malkin as his center.

Even before that, during the 2016 postseason, when Malkin was playing through an injured elbow, Rust and Malkin formed the team’s second line along with veteran Chris Kunitz and helped the franchise claim its fourth Stanley Cup title.

During Sunday’s pillaging of the Red Wings, Malkin completed his hat trick off a precision pass that saw Rust set up Malkin for a one-timer.

Re-establishing chemistry with his old/new center wasn’t a lengthy process.

“Didn’t take long,” Rust said. “We’ve played together in the past. We’ve gone through a couple of playoff runs together and a whole lot of other games. Been on his team, been with him for a long time. Just know kind of how he plays, how he likes to play and we were able to kind of build that chemistry. It took maybe a game or so, and I think we’ve been going pretty well ever since.”

However long “ever since” lasts is anyone’s guess, including the players. With injured winger Jason Zucker working his way back from a core muscle injury, that could change the alchemy of several lines.

But for the time being, the Penguins seem satisfied in what they have with Rust and Malkin. Again.

“He has great awareness in the defensive zone,” Sullivan said. “The reads that he makes, the decisions that he makes with his linemates, I think, stabilize the line that he’s on. He’s just a really good player on both sides of the puck. When he plays with (Malkin), he’s a stabilizing factor because of that. Especially on the defensive side of the puck. His foot speed and his hockey sense, I think, is good enough that it allows him, I think, to help the offense. That’s what he does with Sid and Jake, for example, as well.

“He’s played a fair amount … with both Sid and (Malkin) over the last few years. Depending on how our team is going and where the needs are of the team, that’s where we tend to put him. I just think that’s the value that (Rust) brings to our group.”

Notes: The Penguins signed undrafted defenseman Colin Swoyer to a one-year entry-level contract worth $750,000 at the NHL level. He spent the past four seasons at the NCAA level with Michigan Tech. … The Penguins had a scheduled day off Monday.

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