When Marc-Andre Fleury dived to his right to deny Nicklas Lidstrom's last-second desperation shot on June 12, 2009, Bryan Rust remembers the 17-year-old version of himself swearing up a storm in his parent's den in their Pontiac, Mich., home.
Needless to say, Mr. and Mrs. Rust were none too pleased with their son's new-found language.
But they also understood his passion for hockey. Like everyone in Metro Detroit, Rust was a big fan of his hometown Red Wings going back to Steve Yzerman and, before that, Martin Lapointe, in particular.
After defeating the Penguins a year earlier to capture Detroit's fourth Stanley Cup since 1997, the 2009 Red Wings failed to repeat as champions as Pittsburgh prevailed with a 2-1 win in Game 7. Rust said he was crushed at the time.
"Yeah, it was a little bit different a year earlier," he was saying.
Rust joked after Sunday's morning skate at PPG Paints Arena that he'll gladly put tonight's game behind him as the Penguins will honor the 10th anniversary of the organization's third Stanley Cup. About 15 members of the 2009 team will be on hand tonight, including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and the Blackhawks' Chris Kunitz, who will play in tonight's game. Others have sent video messages to be played during the game.
Jack Johnson knows exactly how good that Penguins teams was. He was then a 22-year-old defenseman for the Kings. His lone game against the '09 Penguins came on March 20, a 4-1 loss at Mellon Arena. Though he remembers the game, he'd probably like to forget that he went a team-worst minus-2 as the Penguins got goals from Crosby, Malkin, Bill Guerin and Tyler Kennedy.
"I felt like the two best teams in the league, by far, were Detroit and Pittsburgh," Johnson was telling me. "Everyone else was playing for third. If I remember, it was a long night for us with L.A."
At that point in his career, Rust says his dream was to just play in the NHL, regardless of team. A year later, the Penguins selected him in the third round of the 2010 draft.
After the Penguins made consecutive trips to the Final in 2008 and '09, it seemed they were destined to win it every spring. But despite the organization's best efforts, it didn't happen, as Kunitz was saying:
In fact, the Penguins didn't win again for another seven years until Mike Sullivan and Rust arrived. The 2016 and '17 Penguins became the first to win consecutive titles since Yzerman's Red Wings did it in 1997 and '98. After failing to make it three in a row last spring, Rust said he has a greater appreciation for his two titles.
"I was extremely fortunate," he said. "I was 2-for-2 and that basically never happens. Going through it last year, having lost, it's tough. There's such a small margin for error. You have to get a bounce here or there. Get a call here or there. And be so consistent for a long period of time. It's an extremely hard thing to do."
By winning those consecutive Cups under Sullivan, the Penguins were transformed from chronic underachievers to champions. And by captaining those teams, Crosby solidified his place among the NHL's all-time greats.
"I'm not sure if there was frustration but everyone thought there was more," Rust was saying. "I don't know if it was a collective frustration or just a collective acknowledgement that there was more to give out of the organization. Sid led by example, things changed."
A decade later, Crosby is still going strong. In fact, Johnson believes Crosby is even better now.
"He's always been a great player," he said. "He probably feels better, more comfortable from being in the league so long and accomplished so much and played in so many big games, Stanley Cup and internationally, all those things accumulated. I think he feels like he's still learning. That's what makes him so great. I'm sure he has a lot more knowledge than he did 10 years ago."
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Justin Schultz, defenseman, is out until mid-February with a fractured leg. Schultz resumed skating on Sunday but Sullivan had no further update today. He clarified that Schultz's return is not imminent and is characterized as "week to week."
• Blackhawks: Brandon Davidson, defenseman, is out with a knee injury that required surgery Nov. 27.
THE SKATE
• Derick Brassard says he's looking for more offense from his line, which has been together the past seven games. Sullivan says there's no reason for Brassard, Phil Kessel and Tanner Pearson not to succeed. But they have to play more complementary.
"We're hopeful that line could potentially should be, could be very dangerous with the players that are on it," the coach said. "All three of them are very good offensively. They have great instincts. They're all different with the skill sets they bring, but they have the makings for being a very good line for us.
"It starts with simplicity, with being quick to pucks, puck support and staying close in the offensive zone, and paying attention to the details where they can work together to have success."
• To a round of stick taps from his teammates, Crosby made a fashionably late entrance about 10 minutes after the informal skate started.
• 2009 Cup champs Ruslan Fedotenko, Tyler Kennedy and Craig Adams took in the skate from the home bench.
• Among those not taking the ice were Brian Dumoulin, Letang, Kessel and Malkin.
• Casey DeSmith will get the start in goal. It'll be his first start since Dec. 31 in Minnesota, where he stopped 31 of 33 Wild shots. DeSmith took the loss in Chicago on Dec. 12, when he allowed four goals on 27 shots. That game was one of just two regulation losses for the Penguins since Dec. 4.
• As expected, Jamie Oleksiak will be scratched as Juuso Riikola draws back in the lineup after sitting out Friday night's win over the Jets.
• Obviously, Riikola was quite pleased to see Finland win the gold medal at the World Junior Championship with a 3-2 win over the U.S.
"That's a big thing for our country: Play your best," said the 24-year-old, who represented Finland last spring at the World Championships. "And that's what they did."
THE OTHER SIDE
• Kunitz has been a healthy scratch the previous four games and 19 of the last 23, but the 39-year-old will draw back into the lineup tonight and skate on the fourth line. He has two assists in 23 games this season, his first with the Blackhawks.
"Just his leadership," Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton, 33, said of the veteran's impact. "He's been around four Cups. Great presence with our young players. Even for us, to have that guy who's been through a lot and learned a lot in the past, it's never a bad thing to have around."
• Acquired Saturday from Edmonton, Drake Caggiula will make his Hawks debut and skate on the fourth line. The Hawks traded defenseman Brandon Manning to the Oilers for Caggiula and defenseman Jason Garrison on Dec. 30. He's been skating with the team since.
"Excited to get him in here and see how he does," said Colliton. "He's a pro. I know he's been skating, so I'm not too concerned."
• Cam Ward will start in goal for the Hawks, who are in the first game of a back-to-back set. They will host the Flames tomorrow night at United Center. The 34-year-old has struggled in his first season in Chicago, going 6-7-4 with a 3.85 goals-against average and .888 save percentage.
THE COMBINATIONS
• An educated guess at the Penguins' lines and pairings based off Sunday's practice:
Guentzel—Crosby—Rust
Simon—Malkin—Hornqvist
Pearson—Brassard—Kessel
Aston-Reese–Cullen—Sheahan
Dumoulin—Letang
Pettersson—Johnson
Maatta—Riikola
• And for the Blackhawks:
Saad—Toews—Kahun
Anisimov—Strome—Kane
DeBrincat—Kampf—Perlini
Caggiula—Kruger—Kunitz
Keith—Gustafsson
Forsling—Seabrook
Dahlstrom—Murphy
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff is at 8:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena to accommodate NBCSN's national telecast. The Penguins will practice at noon Monday in Cranberry, then host the Panthers on Tuesday night.
THE COVERAGE
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