On Tuesday, Bryan Rust did something he hasn’t done much this season.

Kill penalties.

During the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 4-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena, Rust was pressed into short-handed duties as bottom-six forward Ryan Poehling was sidelined by an undisclosed injury.

With the Penguins uncharacteristically taking five penalties during the contest, Rust racked up an even five minutes of ice time on the penalty kill. His only teammate with more was defenseman Brian Dumoulin (5:01).

Before Tuesday, Rust had 4:42 of short-handed ice time in his first 25 games of the season.

The last time he was involved in that much short-handed action?

“Probably Game 7 last year,” Rust said of his team’s final game of the 2022 postseason, a 4-3 overtime road loss to the New York Rangers on May 15.

(Officially, Rust had a mere 2:33 of short-handed ice time in that defeat.)

Another thing Rust did that has become scarce for him as of late?

Score.

He scored the Penguins’ first goal of the game by cleaning up a rebound off the end boards and jamming in a forehand shot under goaltender Elvis Merzlikins 1:15 into the second period.

He later added an assist on a goal in the third period by forward Teddy Blueger.

That production comes on the heels of a season-best four-point outburst (one goal, three assists) in a 6-2 rout at home of the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Six points in two games is pretty good for any player, even one in the first year of a six-year contract that carries a salary cap hit of $5.125 million as well as a heavy set of expectations.

This uptick in production was preceded by a dreadful 14-game stretch in which Rust, a staple on the right wing of the team’s top-two lines, was limited to two points (one goal, one assist).

So what has gone right over the past two games that didn’t in the previous 14?

“Playing on my toes,” he said. “Our line is playing well. Seeing the ice a little bit better. Obviously, a little bit of confidence helps.”

Rust’s limited production over that 14-game stretch wasn’t for lack of opportunities. In fact, in his most recent game without a point, a 4-3 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, he led the team with six shots.

“Sometimes, you get a little bit of luck,” Rust said. “Sometimes, you don’t. Sometimes, you bury your chances. Sometimes, you don’t. It’s just stick-to-it-ness.”

Scoreless skids aren’t anything foreign to Rust. He is quick to point out that he is prone to them. Even while he set a career-high with 58 points in 2021-22, he failed to record a point in the final nine games of the regular season.

Rust professes there is no extra emphasis to avoid such skids now that he carries one of the highest salary cap hits on the roster.

“No. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are,” he said. “When things aren’t going your way or you’re not playing great, I think you’re just kind of worried about hurting the team and you’re trying to get back on the right track. You’re trying to help the team win games.”

There’s nothing to guarantee that Rust will extend his ongoing scoring streak to three games in Friday’s road contest against the Buffalo Sabres.

He just sticks to a simple approach to avoid any poverty of production.

“Any time you go through stretches like that, it’s in the back of your head,” Rust said. “I’ve gone through stretches like that before. I’ve gone through stretches much worse. You just try to stay level-headed. You try to talk with your linemates, try to talk things out as much as possible.

“Then just play hockey. Get out of your own head and just play hockey.”

Note: The Penguins canceled practice Wednesday.

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