Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust out week-to-week with upper-body injury

Not necessarily good news for one of the key offensive weapons in the Steel City.

On Tuesday, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced that forward Bryan Rust is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Rust was injured during the Pittsburgh’s 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Rust was involved in a collision in the neutral zone during the second period, and left the game shortly before teammate Drew O’Connor scored.

The victory saw a great performance from the 31-year-old, as Rust notched two goals and an assist against the rival Flyers. Prior to this injury, he had already missed 13 games with other ailments. Rust  sat out three games in November with a lower-body injury, before being held out of the lineup for 10 games the following month with an upper-body injury.

The Penguins are also without another top scorer, as Jake Guentzel is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The absence of them sees Reilly Smith jump up to the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell, whom Rust had been playing with for the last few weeks.

In 42 games this season, the Pontiac, Michigan native has 18 goals and 18 assists, good for sixth on the Penguins in scoring.

In 547 career games, Rust has scored 162 goals and 190 assists, including 35 points in 79 games.

Heading into their road trip, Pittsburgh (26-21-8) is sixth in the Metropolitan Division, seven points back of the Flyers for third. They are also eight points back of the Detroit Red Wings for the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Pens begin a tough stretch of games out west, as they take on the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. They follow that up with matchups with the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.