Bryan Rust is in the midst of an impressive goal-scoring streak, however it’s his team’s run in the wrong direction that is foremost on his mind.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to snap a six-game winless skid (0-2-4) on Thursday when they visit the Ottawa Senators.
“The season’s always going to be a bit of a roller coaster, and obviously right now we’re in it in a downswing,” Rust said after he extended his goal-scoring streak to four games in a 6-4 setback to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
“And I think we can’t just go around here moping around and coming in every day with long faces. I think each day is a new day. Think about this one for the rest of the night, learn our lessons, move on. Obviously, we’ve had a few too many lessons to learn here recently, but we can’t sit and sulk and dwell on it.”
Penguins head coach Dan Muse is well aware of his team’s recent fortunes.
“It obviously adds up,” Muse said. “It wears on you. As I’ve said before, it’s going to be different every night. No two games are the same. So, we have to just focus on the things that we do.”
Defenseman Erik Karlsson and Tommy Novak each collected a goal and an assist and Danton Heinen also tallied on Tuesday for Pittsburgh.
Captain Sidney Crosby notched an assist for his 1,722nd career point to move within one point of tying Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the franchise record.
With a fruitless five-game homestand in the rearview mirror, the Penguins hope some time away from the Steel City will do them some good. They own a five-game road point streak (3-0-2) and are 8-3-4 away from home this season.
The Senators recorded a 3-2 overtime victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday to conclude a 2-1-0 road trip.
Tim Stutzle capped his ninth career three-assist performance by setting up captain Brady Tkachuk’s goal at 2:11 of overtime.
Stutzle has totaled nine points (four goals, five assists) during his four-game multi-point streak, which is one shy of the franchise record. He is set to play in his 400th career NHL game on Thursday.
“I’m just really happy with the two points,” Tkachuk said. “We lead the league in one-goal (regulation losses entering play on Wednesday), and we made an emphasis on that 6-on-5 that we weren’t going to get denied. Maybe it took a little puck luck, but I think we were due for that.”
The Senators are expected to turn to workhorse Linus Ullmark on Thursday. The goaltender is on pace to play in 60 games this season, well above the 44 last season and 49 during his Vezina Trophy-winning campaign with the Boston Bruins in 2022-23.
Signed to a four-year, $33 million extension, Ullmark has a 3.00 goals-against average and .879 save percentage this season. Those numbers are well behind his respective career averages (2.58, .915).
“There has been a lot of talk about his game this year,” Ottawa head coach Travis Green said of Ullmark “You could really see that he was dialed in (on Monday). He came big for us in the third period and in overtime.”
