CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Save for the two goalies, Bryan Rust was the first skater to take the ice Wednesday at the Lemieux Complex.
He always is.
Call it superstition or just routine, it's what Rust does every practice. Almost four years to the day since making his NHL debut, the 26-year-old treats every game -- and practice -- like it's his first. Like he still has something to prove.
"It's just part of his attitude and his routine," Riley Sheahan was explaining to me. "He works his bag off."
And after every practice, like clockwork, Sheahan presents Rust -- or vice versa -- with a 12-ounce plastic bottle of their trusted sports drink: G2, only the purple kind.
"He's one of my close buddies," Sheahan said of Rust, his fellow Notre Dame alum. "I try to put a smile on his face and keep him motivated. He's doing a great job of keeping a great attitude."
But everyone, even Rust, has his limits.
Twenty-six games into this season, Rust hasn't had the start that he or the Penguins would have liked after the organization rewarded the forward with a four-year, $14 million contract extension this summer. While many, including the GM, have suggested that this team has become complacent after earning paydays, that's just not the case with Rust. With last month's trade of Carl Hagelin, Rust is the Penguins' fastest skater. It's his only speed.
If his hands were as good as his legs, well ...
He's been an integral part of the Penguins' sixth-ranked penalty kill, averaging 1:55 shorthanded per game. However, the Penguins aren't shelling out $3.5 million per year for someone not to score.
Tuesday night's 6-3 win over the Avalanche made it 18 games since he last scored his only goal of the season. That was Oct. 25 in Calgary when seemingly everyone scored on Mike Smith in a 9-1 win. He's had had 27 shots on goal -- and just three assists -- since, but nothing seems to be going in.
Case in point was the final 2:59 of the win over the Avalanche. With Semyon Varlamov on the bench, the only thing that separated Rust from his second goal of the season was an empty net ... and the stick of Nathan MacKinnon. As he was streaking down the right side to fire into the yawning cage from the blueline, Rust was hauled down by MacKinnon, sending his shot well wide.
Ian Walsh or Frederick L'Ecuyer could have, probably should have, just awarded Rust the goal -- he would have gladly taken it -- but they instead called a tripping penalty. Such has been Rust's bad fortune.
Clearly, this drought -- now officially the longest of his career -- is starting to get to him. Usually happy-go-lucky, Rust was uncharacteristically short with reporters on Wednesday.
"Just keep working hard, try not to dwell too much on it, try not to think about it too much," he said. "Just keep focused on playing the game, trying to create chances and things will fall."
Has it been a lack of chemistry with his centers? In addition to his speed and work ethic, his versatility -- he can play either wing on any line -- is perhaps his best asset.
"I've worked with a lot of centers, so I don't think that's an issue," he said flatly.
According to naturalstattrick.com, at even strength, Rust has worked 83:22 with Sheahan, 56:27 with Derick Brassard, 50:42 with Derek Grant, 29:46 with Evgeni Malkin and 28:28 with Matt Cullen.
On Thursday night against the Islanders, it appears he'll be reunited with Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby, the center he's seen the most ice time with this season (94:55). With Dominik Simon out day-to-day with a lower body injury suffered Tuesday, Rust will likely move up to right wing on the top line. That is where he practiced Wednesday.
The trio has had past success and Guentzel is confident that Rust will score again.
"Just the way he's playing, you can tell," Guentzel was telling me. "Obviously some of the bounces aren't going his way, but they're about to come. With the way he's playing, you just have to keep giving him chances."
Mike Sullivan said he can't speak for Rust as to whether he's been pressing. Everyone's their own harshest critic, the coach says. But he said he wants to see Rust simplify his game.
"It's not so much focusing on scoring goals, it's just focusing on the process," Sullivan said. "We've talked to him about using his speed, and being the first guy on the forecheck and forcing turnovers, and taking defensemen wide and challenging people with his speed all over the rink.
"Nothing but good things can happen when he's using his speed. Everything comes off of that."
Sure, Rust is perplexed but he's not yet sacrificing chickens either. He has talked to Sheahan and, well, he hasn't completely lost his sense of humor either.
"If there's any guy who knows about going long stretches without goals, it's him," Rust cracked.
Sheahan infamously went 80 games without scoring until putting in two in the 2016-17 regular-season finale while with the Red Wings.
"He's not going to go 80 games without a goal," Sheahan said. "He's had a lot of opportunity. Now he's going to play with some highly talented players. He'll be fine."
• Count Marcus Pettersson as one of those who believes that the Eastern Conference is faster than the West. That, he said, was noticeable during his Penguins debut.
"It was up and down early on," Pettersson, who was paired with Jack Johnson, told me. "I tried to establish my gap real good, used my stick real good as well, I thought. Then, I don't know, some plays I could have made some better plays with the puck. I tried to find a blade too much instead of playing it easy and quick. It's a lot different from the Western Conference. It's a lot quicker. You can't have the puck for long, you have to move it. Hopefully, I can adjust."
• Kris Letang did not practice as he had a maintenance day, according to Sullivan.
• Without Simon or Letang, the lines and pairs looked like this:
Guentzel -- Crosby -- Rust
Pearson -- Malkin -- Hornqvist
Aston-Reese -- Brassard -- Kessel
Sheahan -- Grant -- Wilson
Dumoulin -- Ruhwedel
Maatta -- Oleksiak
Pettersson -- Johnson
• Olli Maatta manned Letang's spot on the first power play unit.
• The second power play unit had Brassard centering Tanner Pearson and Guentzel with Jamie Oleksiak and Juuso Riikola on the back end.
• Matt Cullen and Matt Murray, both out since Nov. 17 with lower body injuries, skated on their own before the start of practice.