Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Bryan Rust and Matt Nieto, both of whom are sidelined with injuries, don’t currently have specific timetables for prospective returns to action.
Nieto, who has not played yet this season, is back to practicing with the team but remains on long-term injured reserve as he enters the last stages of recovering from offseason knee surgery.
Rust, on regular injured reserve with an unspecified ailment, is out week-to-week but skated individually Monday in Cranberry ahead of the Penguins’ team session.
Bryan Rust (lower-body injury, week-to-week) is skating before Pens practice. @SNPittsburgh pic.twitter.com/aQzvk6L297
— Dan Potash (@DanPotashTV) November 4, 2024
Per coach Mike Sullivan, both players will travel with the club on its upcoming three-game road trip, which begins Tuesday night against the New York Islanders.
The Penguins deployed the following lines, defensive pairings and power-play groups in Monday’s practice:
71 Evgeni Malkin – 87 Sidney Crosby – 67 Rickard Rakell
10 Drew O’Connor – 20 Lars Eller – 19 Cody Glass
8 Michael Bunting – 55 Noel Acciari – 18 Jesse Puljujarvi
13 Kevin Hayes – 46 Blake Lizotte – 72 Anthony Beauvillier
24 Matt Grzelcyk – 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson – 65 Erik Karlsson
27 Ryan Graves – 3 Jack St. Ivany
First power-play unit: Crosby, Malkin, Rakell, Karlsson, Grzelcyk
Second power-play unit: Eller, Bunting, Hayes, Glass, Letang
Note: Since being assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on a conditioning loan Oct. 25, Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry has gone 3-0-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
Sullivan indicated that he isn’t speaking to Jarry regularly but is aware of the strong numbers Jarry has produced during his AHL stint.
“I’ve left him alone,” Sullivan said. “The reports that I’ve gotten is that he’s played extremely well. We’re certainly encouraged by that and we know that he’s a high-quality goaltender. He’s working at it and he’s playing extremely well, which is encouraging.”
