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During the first period in last Friday’s game against Binghamton, Bryan Rust found himself engaged in a battle.
Rust wasn’t necessarily squaring off against an opponent, but rather himself.
It was Rust’s first game back since suffering a lower body injury on Feb. 21, and as his teammates worked to build a lead over the Senators, Rust fought to get his game back.
He admits that his timing and playmaking abilities weren’t up to par thanks to the long layoff.
“I was feeling it out a little bit in that first period. I was just trying to get my feet under me,” Rust said. “As the game went on I started to play my game and get going.”
Returning from an injury has proved to be an important lesson for Rust in his rookie season. The Penguins coaching staff did a good job of putting him in game-like situations during practice, he said, but actually testing things out when the puck drops is a different experience.
“A game is a totally different animal, and the conditioning is the hardest part,” Rust said. “You can ride the bike and skate in practice all you want, but until you play games it’s tough to get your legs going again.”
While Rust didn’t get on the score sheet in his first two games back from the injury over the weekend, head coach John Hynes said the young winger took some positive steps.
Considering Rust was out for nearly six weeks, Hynes expected a little bit of a slow start.
“Each game he started a little bit slow, but once he got his legs he played well,” Hynes said. “He got better as the weekend went along and that’s a credit to his maturity level, character and dedication to come back from the injury and play solid.”
Hynes said the experience of coming back from an injury will help Rust’s development now that he knows the work it takes and the process that must be followed for a successful return.
Rust said one of the most important aspects physically is not to rush things, but there’s a bigger hurdle that must be overcome.
“It’s mostly a mental battle,” he said. “When your body is ready, it’s ready, but mentally it’s knowing you can push it 100 percent in the corner and along the wall. Getting the confidence back that you had before you got hurt is the biggest key.”
NOTEBOOK
– The Penguins face the Hartford Wolf Pack tonight at home and look to redeem themselves from the last time they met – a 5-2 loss at the Mohegan Sun Arena on March 15. “They handed it to us pretty good the other night, and they’re right in the (playoff) hunt so we’re expecting their best game,” he said.
– The Penguins have lost four of their last six games, and Hynes said a better performance from the power play may have helped produce better results. But that’s not all. “There were times in the games we lost where we had opportunities on power play to tie the game or maybe go ahead. We haven’t been able to do that. That’s one piece of it. Something we talked about, but I wouldn’t say that’s going to cure the inconsistencies,” Hynes said.