Superstar captain Sidney Crosby and fellow top-liner Bryan Rust have reached or surpassed major achievements this season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Crosby and Rust will look to help the Penguins rebound from a lopsided shutout loss when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
A future first-ballot Hall of Famer, Crosby has team-leading totals in assists (35) and points (47) through 44 games. He finished with a goal and two assists in Thursday’s 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
That pushed Crosby to 1,643 points, enough to pass Hall of Famer Joe Sakic for ninth place in NHL history. Up next is Pittsburgh legend Mario Lemieux (1,723).
“I’m running out of superlatives,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of the 37-year-old Crosby. “What he’s accomplishing, first of all, his body of work in the (NHL), his legacy that has been built to this point, speaks for itself. He’s the consummate pro. … He just carries himself with so much grace and humility and integrity. And he’s a fierce competitor on the ice.”
Rust, 32, has been reaching high marks, too.
On Jan. 3 at the Florida Panthers, Rust played in his 600th career match and recorded his 400th point. He is the ninth Penguins player to hit the latter milestone.
Rust is second on the Penguins with 16 goals. He also owns 16 assists for Pittsburgh, which was blown out 5-0 by the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in the third contest of a five-game homestand.
The Penguins were blanked for the fourth time.
Sunday’s matchup will be the back end of a back-to-back for Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, and both clubs are looking to rebound from losses.
Tampa Bay won the first meeting 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 19 as Brayden Point tucked in the game winner.
Saturday night in New Jersey also required extra time, but the Devils’ Stefan Noesen beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for a 3-2 win.
Captain Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov scored a goal for the Lightning, who are 2-4-1 in their past seven contests.
Hedman’s goal was his sixth, most of the defensemen, and he has 25 assists. Kucherov posted his 18th goal and team-high 59th point.
Earning a point on the road after losing all three matches in California last week was a positive for the Lightning.
“At the end of the day, it’s a step in the right direction on the road,” Hedman said. “We’ve been having a tough go as of late.”
Vasilevskiy posted 22 saves against the Devils and likely will turn over the crease to Jonas Johansson for his 10th appearance this season.
The 29-year-old Swedish backstop is 4-3-1 in eight decisions. He has a 3.32 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.
Johansson yielded three goals on 25 shots in his last outing, a 4-1 setback to the Anaheim Ducks last Sunday.
With starter Alex Nedeljkovic surrendering five tallies in 27 minutes and being pulled, the Penguins could come back with him or Tristan Jarry, who stopped all five shots in relief.
–Field Level Media
