Bryan Rust and his wife Kelsey have started a holiday tradition where they wear matching pajamas on Christmas Eve and keep them on through Christmas Day.
This year, their seven-month-old son Hunter got his own pair, with his parents watching with their hearts bursting as he opened gifts for the first time. Moments like that are what helped the Penguins winger keep his mind occupied while being out longer-term due to injury.
Starting the New Year Off Right
Bryan Rust has seven goals and 11 points in his first three games back after being out due to injury
"There were probably 4,000 pictures taken," Rust joked with a laugh. "Just to see him kind of enjoy the boxes and the wrapping paper way more than his actual presents was fun."
When Rust wasn't spending quality time with his family, he was working incredibly hard at the rink towards a return after getting hurt in warmups ahead of Pittsburgh's game against the New York Islanders on Nov. 26.
Rust did his best to try and take advantage of the extra practice time the Penguins had after their five games scheduled from Dec. 21-31 got postponed, really focusing on putting himself in a position to be successful coming off such a long layoff.
"Just being able to get those reps in and get that chemistry back with my line and get the confidence back shooting the puck, making plays, things like that - I think that did go a long way," the 29-year-old winger said.
It's resulted in Rust piling up seven goals and 11 points in three games since returning to the lineup on Sunday after missing 11 consecutive contests.
After scoring a hat trick and recording his first career five-point night in Sunday's win over San Jose, Rust followed that up with a pair of two-goal efforts on back-to-back nights: first in Wednesday's 5-3 win over St. Louis, and again in Thursday's 6-2 victory over Philadelphia - Pittsburgh's 10th straight.
The only other players to have 11-plus points in their first three games of a calendar year during the NHL's modern era (since 1943-44) are Wayne Gretzky (1982 and '84) and Mario Lemieux (1997).
"He's been on a torrid pace here the last few games, which is great for him, it's great for our team," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's getting a lot of looks every night, and he's finishing on them."
As Sullivan pointed out, Rust could have had another hat trick tonight, as he rang a shot off the crossbar in the waning seconds of the second period after scoring his goals in the first.
"Just getting some confidence back, just getting back with some guys that I'm very familiar with - obviously Sid and Jake are unbelievable players, and they make unbelievable plays," Rust said.
"I've just been trying to go out there, work hard and do my thing."
That line truly has been so dynamic, with all three players going at such a high level. Sidney Crosby has six points (1G-5A) over the last three games, while Jake Guentzel also netted a pair tonight for three goals and six points over that same span. As his longtime teammate who was rehabbing along with him after sustaining an injury of his own on Dec. 6, seeing Rust step in and contribute like this has been something special.
"He's playing at a high pace right now, and it's just fun to watch and be a part of it," Guentzel said. "I think for me, when he's shooting like that and playing with his speed, he can be one of the better players in this league. You see how much he's grown as a player, and it's just fun to be a part of it and be able to see it every day."
A healthy perspective is something that Rust certainly seems to possess, both as a new dad and as someone who's been in the league for a while now and is no stranger to challenges in many forms, whether it's injuries, scoreless streaks or a combination of the two.
That's what Rust had dealt with at the start of the year, scoring just two goals in his first 12 appearances of the season while also missing seven straight games from Oct. 16-Nov. 4, also with a lower-body injury.
"I've been in the league for a long time now, and things happen, injuries happen to everybody," Rust said. "The timing of it can suck sometimes, but it is what it is. You got to take your adversity as it comes, you got to just kind of keep your head down, motor through it."
And that approach has resulted in pucks finding the back of the net like there's no tomorrow.
"He's a guy that plays well at both sides of the game, defensively and offensively," Letang said. "He's got great speed and a great shot. He knows how to apply pressure, stay around the puck and for some reason right now, the puck is pretty attracted to him. It's fun to see him going like this."
