BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Penguins received some good news and revealed some bad on the injury front on Thursday.
First, the good: Bryan Rust took to the ice for the team's morning skate at KeyBank Center, albeit in a non-contact jersey. He will miss his eighth straight game with a lower body injury sustained Feb. 26 after taking a hit from Blue Jackets defenseman Adam McQuaid. But he is nearing his return.
"We want to get him around the team, into practice and he's feeling really good," Mike Sullivan said.
And now for the not-so good: Zach Aston-Reese is out "longer term" with his lower body injury.
Sullivan said he misspoke when he originally characterized Aston-Reese's injury as day-to-day. Typically, longer-term means that an injury will keep a player out for several weeks. Aston-Reese, who will miss his second straight game after leaving in the second period of Sunday night's win over Boston, will not need surgery and is expected to return at some point this season, according to Sullivan.
In other injury news, Kris Letang and Olli Maatta did not make the trip to Buffalo. Both stayed back in Pittsburgh to work with skills coach Ty Hennes. "They are making progress," Sullivan reported.
Letang will miss his ninth straight game with an upper-body injury suffered in the Feb. 23 outdoor game in Philadelphia. Maatta has been out with an upper-body injury since the Feb. 11 game against the Flyers.
Despite missing two of their top-six defensemen, the Penguins have managed to win four of their last five and hold a two-point lead over Columbus for third-place in the Metropolitan Division.
BRADFORD'S VIEW
OK, it's time for Teddy Blueger to step up.
With Aston-Reese out of the lineup, it would appear that the 24-year-old rookie will get some extended time as the left winger on the second line, at least until Rust gets back.
Blueger played with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel in Tuesday night's win over the Capitals and acquitted himself well. Tasked with being the defensive conscience for his two more offensively-gifted linemates, Blueger was a plus-1 with one shot on goal, one hit and one blocked shot against the Bruins. Malkin and Kessel had a pair of points each Tuesday but it all came on the power play. At 5v5, the second line had an impressive 64.29 Corsi For percentage with two high-danger chances for and two against.
Though he's viewed as a bottom-six player at the NHL level, Blueger has shown a decent scoring touch since his recall last month. Blueger has three goals in 16 games but has just one assist in his last nine games. Until Rust gets back, the Penguins will need Blueger to chip in offensively.
It bears repeating that losing Aston-Reese is no small matter. He appeared to be the long-lost answer to the Penguins' predicament at left wing on the second line. The trio of Aston-Reese, Malkin and Kessel combined for six points in the Feb. 17 win over the Rangers and had been a mainstay since. They had combined for seven goals and had a 52.60 CF%.
This is Aston-Reese's fourth injury in his 59-game NHL career. He missed a month last season with an upper-body injury and then was knocked out of the playoffs with a concussion and broken jaw on a hit from Tom Wilson. Then he missed a month earlier this season after suffering a hand injury in a fight with Florida's Colton Sceviour.
When Aston-Reese was out of the lineup from Jan. 11 to Feb. 11, the Penguins went just 5-7-1. Following his return, they went 9-3-2.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins at Sabres morning skate, Buffalo, N.Y., March 14, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS