Penguins’ Bryan Rust to miss game vs. Flames, day-to-day with lower-body injury
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without forward Bryan Rust for Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames as he deals with a lower-body injury, the club announced earlier the same day.
Rust, 33, is officially day-to-day with the injury, which did not appear to have any impact on his usage in Thursday’s 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Pontiac, MI product logged 19:29 of ice time and took two shots on goal in the victory over New Jersey.
According to Penguins head coach Dan Muse, Rust’s absence means Kevin Hayes will enter the lineup against the Flames on Saturday. Hayes, 33, has three goals and five points in 21 games with the Penguins this season.
Forward Bryan Rust will not play today versus Calgary and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. pic.twitter.com/UKSmuQH1fO
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) January 10, 2026A third-round pick (No. 80 overall) of the Penguins in the 2010 NHL Draft, Rust has spent his entire professional career to date in the Penguins organization. The 5’11” right wing played four seasons at Notre Dame before making his pro debut with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2014.
Rust played a key supporting role in Pittsburgh winning its fourth and fifth Stanley Cup championships in franchise history in 2016 and 2017, emerging from relative obscurity to appear in 46 playoff games over those two years. He gradually took on a larger role for the Penguins in subsequent seasons, scoring at least 20 goals in six consecutive seasons between 2019-20 and 2024-25.
In 40 games with the Penguins this season, Rust has collected 16 goals and 36 points. He’s under contract through the end of the 2027-28 season at a $5.125 million cap hit.
Expected by most observers to finish near the bottom of the NHL standings in the 2025-26 season, the Penguins have instead been surprisingly competitive. They’ve won six games in a row and currently occupy the second wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 21-12-9 record through 42 games.