Penguins' 2009 Cup holdovers seek to build legacies

BY JONATHAN BOMBULIE

http://triblive.com/sports/

May 29, 2016

The Penguins' Sidney Crosby (right) and Evgeni Malkin talk during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Capitals on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, at Consol Energy Center.

As the champagne sprayed and the Stanley Cup was passed around on that legendary June night at Joe Louis Arena in 2009, the Penguins knew they had just completed a spectacularly difficult task.

They survived an epic seven-game battle of superstars with the Washington Capitals. They dethroned a respected Detroit Red Wings team in seven more games in the final. They played through the potentially debilitating injuries and draining fatigue that all teams must overcome to win 16 games in a single postseason.

It was hard, they learned painfully that spring, to get to the top.

It was even harder, they learned even more painfully over the next six springs, to stay there.

Now, as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury — the five players from the 2009 title team that remain on the roster — prepare to lead the Penguins into the Stanley Cup Final again seven years later, they have a chance to show the hockey world exactly what they've learned.

“We did a great job of becoming a certain style of team,” Kunitz said. “We grew as a group. We had our struggles. When you go through struggles and can come out better on the back end, we've been playing some of our best hockey because of what we went through.”

Kunitz was referring to the struggles the Penguins have endured this season, getting off to a dismal start before a coaching change and key personnel additions turned their fortunes around. But he might as well have been talking about the career arcs of the five championship holdovers.

They've sustained an unfathomable rash of injuries — concussions, torn ligaments, even a stroke for Letang — since 2009.

They've suffered a series of playoff failures — an upset by Jaroslav Halak and a marginally talented Canadiens team in 2010, a first-round meltdown against the rival Flyers in '12, a sweep at the hands of the Bruins in '13, an epic collapse to the Rangers in '14 — over the past six seasons.

They've heard the barbs of critics who claim one championship is a disappointment for a core with so much talent.

If they're really ready to come out better on the back end, they'll relegate those struggles to historical footnotes.

If they've really learned the painful lessons of the past six springs, their legacies will be unassailable.

All it takes is four more wins.

But they're the hardest wins of them all.

“We have a chance,” Letang said, “to do something great and to be remembered.”

SIDNEY CROSBY

Then: Already an MVP and scoring champion, Crosby had vanquished the Penguins' historical rival (Flyers) and his (Alex Ovechkin) while leading a return to the Stanley Cup Final. He finished the playoffs with a leading 15 goals, and his 31 points were second only to Evgeni Malkin's top total. Crosby became the youngest Cup-winning captain in NHL history when the Penguins upset the Detroit Red Wings.

Now: Missing more than a year with concussion symptoms and taking the brunt of the criticism for the team's playoff failures, there have been tough times for Crosby since 2009. This season, however, has been a redemption story. Crosby shook off the longest scoring slump of his career to cement his status as the league's best player. He had three game-winning goals in the conference finals.

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY

Then: Haunted by a Game 6 home loss in the previous final, Fleury started the playoffs by stopping 83 of 86 shots to steal Games 2 and 4 in the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers. Ultimately third in playoff MVP voting, Fleury's last-second save on Nicklas Lidstrom preserved a 2-1 victory in Game 7 of the final. He surrendered only 33 goals in the Penguins' 16 playoff wins.

Now: While all five championship holdovers have sometimes struggled since 2009, Fleury's hard times are now. After suffering a concussion March 31, Fleury temporarily lost his starting spot to rookie Matt Murray. After a 21-save performance in a 4-3 overtime loss in his return to the lineup in Game 5 of the conference finals, it seems clear Fleury won't get his net back until next fall.

CHRIS KUNITZ

Then: Kunitz brought championship experience along with speed and physicality when he was acquired by general manager Ray Shero during the regular season. He clicked immediately upon being paired with Sidney Crosby, becoming the captain's regular left winger on a top line that also included veteran right winger Bill Guerin. He scored just once, but Kunitz had 13 assists and 80 hits during the playoff run.

Now: After his career peaked with a 35-goal season and Olympic roster spot in 2014, Kunitz has settled into a role that will carry him through the twilight of his career. He remains the most physical forechecker on the roster and seems to have found chemistry on a line with center Evgeni Malkin and right wing Bryan Rust. He has three goals and three assists in his last five games.

KRIS LETANG

Then: By his second postseason, Letang had entrenched himself on the Penguins' second pairing. Only Sergei Gonchar and Nicklas Lidstrom scored more than Letang's 13 points among defensemen, and his overtime goal in Game 3 provided the Penguins a needed first win in Round 2 against the Washington Capitals. During the Stanley Cup Final, Letang was deployed against former teammate Marian Hossa. The matchup — and series — went to the Penguins.

Now: His temper occasionally still gets the better of him, and he had a forgettable minus-4 night in Game 5 of the conference finals. But for the most part, Letang has become one of the most brilliant and indispensible minutes-munching defensemen in the league. The Penguins have become a well-oiled puck-moving possession machine in large part due to Letang's efforts on the breakout.

EVGENI MALKIN

Then: Three years into his career, Malkin established himself as arguably hockey's dominant offensive force. He followed a first scoring title with 36 postseason points — still the most by in a single playoff run by any player since Wayne Gretzky in 1993. The playoff MVP, Malkin was the only Penguin to score multiple goals in every series, including six in the Eastern Conference finals sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Now: Dealing with an elbow injury that kept him out the last month of the regular season, Malkin hasn't been as consistently dangerous as he was in 2009, but that's probably an impossibly high standard to reach again. Malkin had two goals and five assists in four games against the New York Rangers in the first round and made the scoresheet in the last five games of the conference finals.

Staff writer Rob Rossi contributed. Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.

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How the Mike Sullivan effect turned the Penguins into playoff bullies

By: Matt Larkin on May 29, 2016

Filed under: Coaching, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, Previews, Stanley Cup Playoffs

http://www.thehockeynews.com/

Head coach Mike Sullivan in action during the NHL Stanley Cup Final Media Day at Consol Energy Center on May 29, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

May 29, 2016| Credit: Justin K. Aller

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins have become the schoolyard bullies of these Stanley Cup playoffs, and not in the traditional sense. You won’t see this team dropping mitts with reckless abandon. Their opponents don’t come down with the CONSOL Energy Center Flu, as traumatized teams used to every time they visited the Philadelphia Spectrum in the mid-1970s.

No, these Penguins are a different kind of bully. They tilt the ice to what feels like a 45-degree angle and cram puck after puck after puck down their opponents’ throats. They are the modern incarnation of an intimidator: the analytics version, pelting opponents with shot attempts.

Per war-on-ice.com, The Tampa Bay Lightning were one of the NHL’s best possession teams, ranking sixth in score-adjusted Corsi percentage, and the Penguins made Tampa look like the exact opposite. The Corsi (shot attempt) margins for Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference final:

Game 1: 71-40
Game 2: 69-44
Game 3: 78-50
Game 4: 65-48
Game 5: 54-56
Game 6: 55-60
Game 7: 64-42

The Penguins controlled the possession game five times in the series. They kept their foot on Tampa’s throat regardless of the score. Instead of going into a defensive shell with a lead in the third period of Game 7, Pittsburgh outshot Tampa 10-7. The margin was 39-17 overall.

How does Pittsburgh seemingly put every opponent, even the offensively elite Washington Capitals in Round 2, back on its heels? The straightforward answer is speed. The Conor Sheary-Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist line skates. The HBK line, Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel, really skates. The Chris Kunitz-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust line skates. Fleet-footed Rust put daggers in the Bolts’ hearts in Games 6 and 7. The D-corps, from Kris Letang to Olli Maatta, skates. But it’s more than that. This team’s personality changed completely Dec. 12, 2015, when coach Mike Sullivan took over. They ranked 20th in 5-on-5 score adjusted Corsi and 28th in goals per game at the time of coach Mike Johnston’s firing. Sullivan came in, and the Pens were second only to the Los Angeles Kings for the rest of the season in 5-on-5 score-adjusted Corsi. It seems Sullivan unlocked or unshackled this team.

And, talking to Sullivan and his players on media day at the Stanley Cup final, it’s clear this is no shoehorned narrative. Pittsburgh didn’t just happen to wake up under a new coach and bust a slump playing the same way they did under the old coach. No. Everything about the franchise’s turnaround this season has been deliberate. Sullivan had a specific vision when he came in. Right wingers Kessel and Hornqvist both mentioned Sunday that Sullivan is a serious man. Hornqvist said he likes Sullivan’s honesty. But what both players, and seemingly Penguins player, praise most consistently about their coach: his organizational skills. Everything he does is structured and calculated.

“One of the things we tried to do as a coaching staff is instill a game plan where we could play to our strengths,” Sullivan said Sunday, his gaze hardened with focus and conviction. “When you look at our core players, they all want to play a speed game. They can all skate. They all have really good hockey sense. They have the ability to move the puck and change the point of attack. So speed in all its forms, whether it’s foot speed or team speed and your ability to move the puck and change the point of attack quickly, and to create opportunities or to create a competitive advantage, is what I envisioned with this group. So we’ve tried to implement some strategies to give these players an opportunity to play to their strengths.”

Doing so seemingly freed the Penguins as an offensive team, especially captain Crosby, who scored 66 points in 52 regular-season games from the moment Sullivan took over. In the New York Rangers, Capitals and Lightning, the Pens faced the NHL’s No. 7, No. 2 and no. 12 offenses and overwhelmed each so far in these playoffs. They’ve obviously done it by being the NHL’s fastest team, but it’s more than that. It’s organized chaos. Left winger Sheary said Sullivan makes every guy on the team “play fast,” even if they aren’t naturally fast skaters, as the up-tempo allows for quick strikes on unsuspecting D-men. And left winger Kunitz believes the system not only puts opponents on their heels, but also creates space for Pittsburgh players.

“It’s reading and reacting and understanding that the faster you can be, the faster you can do things, it puts your teammates in a better situation when they get the puck,” Kunitz said. “Gives them more time to make that next play, catch someone else out of position.”

Crosby lauds Sullivan’s belief in his players. Yes, they play a frantically paced game, but also a smart one, and Sullivan counts on them to make correct decisions even at breakneck speeds.

“He puts a lot of trust in us to make the play that’s there,” Crosby said. “Other times you’ve got to chip a puck and not make the fancy play. It may not seem like a great play at the time, but it’s not going to end up in your net. And there are times when you have to make a play, there’s a clear pass to be made, and he expects you to make that, too. It’s about decision making and giving us the opportunity to make plays when they’re there but also knowing that, if there isn’t something there, not to force it.”

If there’s a word to describe Pittsburgh this post-season, “relentless” comes to mind. The attacking never stops. It exhausted the Rangers, Capitals and Lightning. And it reflects the stamp Sullivan placed on his team. Crosby said Sunday Sullivan continues to hammer home the message of playing with pace, every game, every day, every practice, even as they’ve reached the Cup final. He’s hard-wired this team like robots.

And perhaps that’s why Trevor Daley went from a Chicago Blackhawks castoff, traded for Rob Scuderi in December, to a vital piece of the Pens’ blueline, one they’ll miss dearly in the Cup final after he broke his ankle versus Tampa Bay. It’s why checkers like Rust and Sheary suddenly look like they’re here to stay as full-time NHLers. The Pens didn’t necessarily have the league’s deepest toolbox when the season started, instead drawing criticism for being too top-heavy after Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Kris Letang. But Sullivan has found the right way to use his tools. And no coach has maximized each individual tool better since the calendar changed to 2016.

“He makes everybody work and do the right things,” Hornqvist said. “It doesn’t matter what the number is on your jersey. If you don’t backcheck, he calls a guy out. If you don’t go in front of the net, he’ll call a guy out. He gets everybody on the same page working hard for the guy next to you. When we do that, it’s hard to beat us.”

The San Jose Sharks are Pittsburgh’s most formidable test yet this post-season. But, so far, the Pens have made some dangerous scoring teams look ordinary. Will the Sharks become the next victim of the Sullivan Effect?

Matt Larkin is a writer and editor at The Hockey News and a regular contributor to the thn.com Post-To-Post blog. For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine. Follow Matt Larkin on Twitter at @THNMattLarkin

Creative Rutherford, blunt Sullivan key Penguins' turnaround

By Will Graves
https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/teams/pit/
May 28, 2016

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford stands behind the glass as the team works out during NHL hockey practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in Cranberry, Pa. The Penguins host the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday, May 30. Mike Sullivan wasn't Rutherford's first choice to be the Pittsburgh Penguins coach. However, the duo have worked in lock step with Rutherford acquiring quick, skilled players to go with Sullivan's aggressive, pressure-heavy style which lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup appearance that appeared far-fetched when Sullivan was hired in December. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The door closed and Mike Sullivan started to talk. Over the course of the next 10 minutes, the Pittsburgh Penguins coach laid out for rookie goaltender Matt Murray why veteran Marc-Andre Fleury was starting Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals even though Murray's rapid maturation was one of the reasons Pittsburgh found itself two wins from a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

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When Sullivan was finished, Murray stood up and left without so much as a word. Really, there was no need to talk. Sullivan had explained himself so thoroughly that Murray didn't see the point of dragging it out. The fact Sullivan bothered to explain it to him at all was enough.

''With a lot of coaches, they kind of make a decision on the goalies and leave you to it (to figure out why),'' Murray said. ''Coach Sullivan is probably the best communicator of any coach I've ever had. ... I prefer it that way, you don't go back and say 'What could I have done differently? What did I do wrong?'''

While Sullivan insists ''there is no magic bullet'' to explain the Penguins' rapid turnaround from lethargic underachiever to the Cup Final against San Jose starting on Monday, the link between his arrival and Pittsburgh's spring awakening is unmistakable. So is the imprint of general manager Jim Rutherford, whose aggressive roster retooling since taking over for Ray Shero less than two years ago have made the Penguins faster, deeper and more resilient, qualities it lacked in abundance when Rutherford arrived.

Only eight players remain from the group Rutherford inherited on June 6, 2014, tasked with finding the right pieces to put around franchise cornerstones Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Fleury. The initial results were underwhelming. Injuries and the uninspired tenure of professorial but hardly charismatic Mike Johnston led to a first-round playoff exit in 2015 and a slow start last fall that eventually cost Johnston his job.

Enter Sullivan, who spent over a decade grinding out a career as a responsible but hardly flashy two-way center. Initially brought in to help mold young talent with the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Rutherford turned to Sullivan with the Penguins sleepwalking near the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

View gallery

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan skates with the team during NHL hockey practice at the  …

The connection, Rutherford said, was ''immediate.'' Even if the initial results - a four-game losing streak in the week after Sullivan was promoted - were not.

''His philosophy on how to play the game suited these players,'' Rutherford said. ''It was just a matter of time when you put that group together with that coach they come closer and closer and closer together.''

Maybe, but Rutherford didn't just sit back and wait for the turnaround to happen organically. He continued to tinker, acquiring skilled skaters who would play the kind of 200-foot game Sullivan thrives at teaching. Sullivan's debut on the Pittsburgh bench - a bumpy 4-1 home loss to Washington on Dec. 14 - coincided with a trade that sent struggling defenseman Rob Scuderi to Chicago for Trevor Daley, an upgrade in both speed and skill.

Pittsburgh paid a significant portion of Scuderi's remaining salary to help pull it off, a deal the Penguins could only pull off because longtime forward Pascal Dupuis retired earlier in the month, allowing Pittsburgh to put him on the long-term injured list and freeing up money under the salary cap.

''In some ways, our misfortune with Duper became our good fortune as we went along,'' Rutherford said.

View gallery

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan diagrams a play during NHL hockey practice at the UPMC  …

Rutherford insisted at the time he would put his phone away for a while to give Sullivan time to figure things out. Barely a month later he put together another deal, sending forward David Perron to Anaheim for Carl Hagelin, a move that caught Hagelin - who had just signed a long-term contract with the Ducks after coming over in an offseason trade with the New York Rangers - completely off guard.

Yet like most choices Rutherford - a finalist for NHL general manager of the Year - made this season, it clicked thanks in no small part to Sullivan's imagination.

Forced to experiment when Malkin was shelved by an elbow injury in March, Sullivan put Hagelin,Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel together. Over the next six weeks they became a catalyst for Pittsburgh's late-season surge to the point that when Malkin finally returned for the opening round of the postseason, the 2012 NHL MVP was put on what amounted to a third line alongside Chris Kunitzand rookie Bryan Rust.

''I think we were going well as a team and he wanted to deepen our team maybe and put more lines together,'' Kessel said. ''Obviously it's worked out well.''

There was no announcement from Sullivan necessary at the time, and Hagelin pointed out Malkin is so gifted ''he can play with anyone.''

While Sullivan has proven adept at handling his stars, he has been just as artful when it comes to managing younger players in and out of the lineup. He sat struggling defenseman Olli Maatta for nearly two weeks during the playoffs, making it clear to the 21-year-old what he needed to work on if he wanted to avoid being a healthy scratch.

''He knew that I knew that I wasn't playing well enough,'' Maatta said. ''We both agreed on it. He had confidence in me. That was a big thing. He knew I could come back. It was just kind of a wake-up call.''

When Daley went out with a broken ankle, Maatta returned to the lineup energized. Ditto for Murray, who hardly looked shaken while sitting the bench in Game 5 against Tampa Bay. He returned to the lineup for Game 6 and helped the Penguins advance to the Cup Final for the first time in seven years.

''Sully is the type of guy, if he doesn't like something, he'll tell you,'' defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. ''He's very cut and dry. He lets you know exactly where he stands.''

Penguins' Cole, Schultz closer to 'shutdown pair' than Gill and Scuderi in 2009

By Mark Madden

http://www.timesonline.com/sports

May 28, 2016

Ian Cole #28 celebrates with Tom Kuhnhackl #34 and Justin Schultz #4 of the Pittsburgh Penguins after a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Consol Energy Center on May 26, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

May 26, 2016| Bildnachweis: Gregory Shamus

When the Stanley Cup playoffs started, some saw the Penguins’ defensive corps as a liability.

As it turns out, it’s pretty good. Making the final is a dead giveaway.

The success of the Penguins’ blue line indicates a change in the way the NHL plays, and the very specific duties that GM Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan require.

In 2009, the Penguins’ Stanley Cup champions utilized a “shutdown pair” of 6-foot-7 Hal Gill and prototypical defensive defenseman Rob Scuderi. They were very effective, and a big factor in containing the opposition’s top threats.

Those two, in their prime, would have no place today with a good NHL team.

Today’s hockey is about puck management, and Gill and Scuderi could barely manage to get the puck on their sticks.

In 2016, defense is about having the puck. Spending as little time as possible in your end. In the current game, Gill and Scuderi would be liabilities because they had sub-par precision in possession.

Ian Cole and Justin Schultz are more attuned to the way hockey is.

As a pair, Cole and Schultz are greater than the sum of the parts. Individually, mediocre. Together, much better. It’s odd that Cole struggled mightily as Kris Letang’s partner, but elevates Schultz.

Cole is adequate physically. Schultz does the bare minimum in that regard.

But Cole and Schultz can skate, which allows them to get to dumps and loose pucks first. They have quick sticks and good ice awareness, which enables them to disrupt opposition passing. They block shots. (Cole is fourth in these playoffs with 39 blocks.) When they get the puck, they turn the play around smartly and quickly. When the situation calls, they contribute by joining the rush.

In today’s game, Cole and Schultz are a lot closer to a “shutdown pair” than Gill and Scuderi would be.

So far, losing Trevor Daley (broken ankle) has been much less catastrophic that it could have been.

His minus-4 hiccup in Game 5 against Tampa Bay duly noted, Letang has been the Penguins’ most valuable player in these playoffs. His skill set is exactly what’s required of a No. 1 defenseman, and his execution is consistent. Just when you think Letang has gambled unwisely, his skating gets him back in the play.

Letang’s omission from Canada’s team for the pretend Olympics reflects negatively on Canada’s warped selection, not Letang’s worthiness. (Jake Muzzin?)

At 6-4, Brian Dumoulin has a reach reminiscent of Gill’s but is a much better skater with superior skill. His consistency makes you forget he’s a rookie.

Ben Lovejoy is playing the best hockey of his life during these playoffs. “Ka-ching!’ goes the cash register come Lovejoy’s free agency July 1.

That leaves Olli Maatta. What a story.

Maatta wasn’t playing very well, and got scratched for Games 2, 3 and 4 against Tampa Bay. But Daley got hurt. Maatta re-entered the lineup for Game 5 and put together sustained excellence.

Maatta was on the ice at the end of Game 7, protecting a one-goal lead and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. When the puck went behind the Penguins' net in the waning seconds, Maatta got it, shielded it and kept it there. Smart play. Game over. A brilliant performance from Maatta when the Penguins needed it most.

Maatta is 21. He’s been through a lot: Cancer, two shoulder surgeries and mumps. Maatta is back on the path to being a top-pair defenseman. He’s got everything.

The Penguins don’t have everything. In a 30-team league, no team does. But the Penguins have enough.

San Jose is their stiffest test. But the Penguins win in 7.

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).

Game 7 hero Bryan Rust paving his own way with his brother’s support

By Alex Prewitt

http://www.si.com/nhl/

May 28, 2016

Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust scored twice in a 2-1 Game 7 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to help lead his team to the 2016 Stanley Cup final. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

The Rust Family Open is an annual golf tournament nearing its 10th year of existence, a weekend-long excursion exclusive for kin. No prizes are awarded except pride, and teams are chosen by drawing names from a hat. The format switches throughout the trip—best ball, team best ball, one-on-one matchups. Everything is handicapped and the traveling group of eight usually stays the same.

Last year, they played Lakewood Shores, located near Michigan’s eastern shore and Lake Huron. Earlier this June, they were scheduled to visit Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, site of three past PGA Championships. They had tee times and hotel rooms booked and everything. Then the Pittsburgh Penguins made the Stanley Cup Final, forcing Bryan Rust to postpone. “He’s probably got more exciting plans,” says his older brother, Matt Rust. “I’ll make sure that he better play a role in getting it back on the calendar.”

For now, the task of rescheduling would fall onto Matt, who called his parents to discuss the matter on Friday, the day after Bryan scored two goals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals and the Penguins advanced past the Tampa Bay Lighting. As has become recent good-luck tradition, Matt watched from the couch in his Ann Arbor condo, alone and with a burrito. On the television, he saw his brother—the 24-year-old rookie forward skating on Evgeni Malkin’s wing—whip a one-footed wrister past Andrei Vasilevskiy early into the second period and jam a rebound midway through the frame, the only goals Pittsburgh scored in a 2–1 win.

The next morning, Matt arrived at his job in real estate finance proudly wearing his Penguins T-shirt with RUST 17 on the back, even though the announcement wasn’t necessary. For weeks now, as Bryan piled up five points in the Lightning series and increasingly became a symbol for Pittsburgh’s speedy forward depth, colleagues had been referring to Matt by his brother’s name. “Just to rub it in a little bit,” Matt says, laughing. The last game Matt attended live was in the first round, when Pittsburgh eliminated the Rangers and Bryan, once again in a closeout scenario, scored twice. “Part of me wants to stay put on the couch, but then again it’s man, you can’t miss a Stanley Cup Final game,” he says. “I know the folks at work will be understanding.”

If anything, they understand more because of Matt’s story. A former fourth-round pick by the Florida Panthers and a four-year letterman at the University of Michigan, Matt Rust was actually the first family member into the Penguins’ organization, signing a PTO with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2011–12. Matt logged 43 games for the AHL Penguins as a forward, or two fewer than his brother would have this season with the big club. He notched 11 points and played twice in the Calder Cup playoffs. The next year, with the NHL lockout trickling high-caliber players into the minor leagues, finding work was difficult. So when the chance came to return to Michigan as a graduate student, and work with a favorite professor in economic development, Matt left hockey for good.

• MUIR: Three Stars: Penguins’ Rust comes up big in Game 7 win

Matt says he misses some aspects of the sport, like the spirit of locker rooms and the thrill of playing for teams. But that’s the great thing about having a brother who’s one-upped him at every step: It makes for great vicarious living. “I was probably in the spotlight more so than my brother was, and now it’s the other way, right?” Matt says. “It’s me being there to support him.”

Indeed, Bryan has followed a strikingly similar path. Like Matt, he played for the United States National Development Program’s under-17 and under-18 teams. They both attended college for all four years, though Bryan chose Notre Dame, partially because he didn’t want to do everything like his brother. “I’ve been kind of compared to him all my life and in his shadow,” Bryan told the South Bend Tribune at the time. “I’ve been known as ‘Little Rust,’ things like that. So I kind of wanted to veer off and make my own path.”

Pittsburgh chose him 31 picks ahead of where Florida took Matt, and he even earned 14 NHL games during his first full professional season, in 2014–15. “He’s always succeeded in the moment, in the biggest moments,” Matt says. “He’s always risen to the occasion. I think when he got his opportunity, he made the most of it. That’s not always easy to do too.”

Born three years apart, Matt and Bryan were bonded by more than hockey. As children, both attended speech therapy to help their stutters, and found themselves subject to the same type of teasing from peers. “It’s not the easiest thing to go through as a kid,” Matt says. “We were always there for each other. That’s probably a story in and of itself. He never shies away from it.” Like when NBC Sports’s Pierre McGuire Bryan Rust aside during Thursday night’s celebration at Consol Energy center and interviewed him on national television. Sitting on the couch, Matt was damn proud.

“I was never on that stage, so I have no clue how that feels,” he says. “But when you know that everyone is watching the game on NBC, or thousands of fans are going to the Penguins media site and watching your postgame interviews, it’s nerve-wracking, especially when you’re out of breath. It’s not the easiest thing to collect your thoughts. I don't know if I could do it.”

As the Penguins ready to face the San Jose Sharks, owners of an equally deep top-nine, Bryan’s celebrity has grown, inasmuch as it existed in the first place. (“Who is Bryan Rust?” read one Sportsnet headline.) He’s one of several unexpected sources fueling Pittsburgh’s first Cup Final appearance since winning in 2009, alongside goalie Matt Murray, usual top-liner Connor Sheary, and the dominant HBK line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel, all acquired in the past year. Thursday’s game-winner gave him five goals in the playoffs, matching his career regular-season total in 38 fewer games. He also became the first Pittsburgh rookiewith a multi-goal Game 7, and was a missed breakaway from becoming the first NHL rookie ever with a Game 7 hat trick.

But when asked to describe his brother, Matt settles on two words: “Quiet, loyal.” For instance, instead of vacationing on some white-sanded beach during the All-Star break, Bryan came home to watch Matt compete in a charity boxing tournament at his high school. As it turned out, Matt’s participation alone was not worth the trip. “It was one quick round,” Matt says. “The guy I was fighting was a lot bigger than me.” Later, he will summon a third word: Ruthless, at least in video games. “Over the years we’ve probably played, I don't know, close to 1,000-plus games of NHL,” Matt says. “I think his record against me is probably 950-50. Like, he just beats me and just crushes me every time.” Recently, Bryan started playing as the Penguins.

In Bryan, Matt sees a more polished, mature version of himself. “The hardest part about being a pro is the ability to be consistent, come to the rink every day and try to produce at that level,” Matt says. “When you’re a younger guy, that’s a skill you learn. I think my brother developed that skill much quicker than I thought he would. He lets failure slip off his shoulders. It’s not easy to do.” Matt didn’t exactly volunteer his experiences after Bryan entered the AHL, but it always helps having someone else around who can relate.

And if Bryan’s upcoming schedule precludes him from scheduling the Rust Family Open?

“He’s probably got more exciting plans,” Matt says. “Hopefully I’ll be planning some of it.”