DALLAS -- COVID-19 has done something Penguins opponents haven't been able to lately.
It stopped Bryan Rust.
He and fellow winger Brock McGinn have entered the NHL's Covid protocol, Mike Sullivan said today, as the Penguins prepared for their game against the Stars at 2:08 p.m. Eastern at the American Airlines Center.
Jeff Carter, who missed the past three games while in the protocol, will play against Dallas, Sullivan said, but Evgeni Malkin, who has yet to make his 2021-22 debut while recovering from offseason knee surgery, will not.
With Rust and McGinn out of the mix, the Penguins plan to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen today. Defenseman Mark Friedman is a possibility to be used up front.
"Some coaches prefer playing seven (defensemen) and 11 forwards," Sullivan said. "It's not an uncommon combination."
For the record, it is not one Sullivan employs under normal circumstances.
Rust has scored seven goals in the past three games, teaming with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel to form a line that has been almost unstoppable.
Sullivan did not say who will fill in for Rust on the right side of that unit, but Evan Rodrigues would seem to be a leading candidate since he has been used there before.
Sullivan said that Rust tested positive this morning, while McGinn did so Friday.
In McGinn's case, the coaching staff had some time to contemplate how to replace him, a luxury the coaches did not have with Rust, who tested positive Saturday morning.
"It gives us some time to think through the contingencies," Sullivan said. "Certainly, we went through that yesterday. (Rust) was this morning, so that was another conversation."