Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed Saturday that right winger Bryan Rust won’t play Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens. When talking about Rust’s injury, Sullivan said that “[Rust’s] continuing to be evaluated. … I do not have an answer for you about if he will be on our upcoming road trip.” Rust was a late, unexpected scratch for Friday night’s game against the Islanders after suffering a lower-body injury during warmups. Rust has two goals and seven assists through 12 games this season, which has been a tough one for him so far with a variety of injuries and COVID concerns. It will be concerning if Rust doesn’t appear for Pittsburgh on its upcoming road trip, which ends on Dec. 10 and includes stops against the red-hot Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Washington Capitals.
More injury notes from around the league:
- Forward Ondrej Kase won’t play for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night against Anaheim due to an upper-body injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Saturday. Kase missed Toronto’s last game on its California swing, a 4-1 win against San Jose. He had an assist in 13:52 worth of ice time against the Leafs' first California game against Los Angeles. Kase has netted five goals and three assists through his first 21 games as a Maple Leaf after playing just three games last season due to injury. The one-time 20-goal scorer has looked good, but injuries remain a concern for the embattled Czech winger.
- Per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, defenseman Chris Wideman is out with an injury for the Montreal Canadiens' Saturday night game against Pittsburgh. Forward Michael Pezzetta will draw back into the lineup after the Habs had iced 11 forwards and seven defensemen in their last contest. Wideman, who’d signed a one-year, league-minimum deal with Montreal this past offseason to return to the league after a good season abroad in Russia, leads Canadiens defensemen in points with eight.
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