Bryan Rust makes bold claim about Penguins' chances against current playoff team

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Cooper Godin
May 30, 2024 (2:22 PM)

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For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which marks the first time in the Sidney Crosby era that has happened.

Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas will have plenty of work to do this summer to help the team get back to being a contender for the postseason, starting at the draft where he could make a trade or two, or in free agency with a handful of top players expected to be on the open market.

However, while the organization has their attention on the summer and next season, one Penguins player is looking back on the team's 2023-24 campaign and made a pretty bold claim about Pittsburgh's chances against a current playoff team.

In an interview with world-famous streamer Ninja, Penguins forward Bryan Rust said that Pittsburgh would have defeated the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, if they had gotten in over the Washington Capitals.

Rust went on to say that the Penguins would have matched up well against the New York Rangers and would have had a good chance to beat them, if they found a way to combat their powerplay.

The Penguins forward also mentioned that his team's powerplay was 'trash' all season long and he certainly wasn't wrong. Pittsburgh had a powerplay percentage of 15.3 during the 2023-24 season, which was third worst in the entire National Hockey League. Only the Philadelphia Flyers (15.1%) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (12.2%) were worse.

"Bryan Rust told @ninja in an interview that he thinks the Pittsburgh Penguins would've beat the New York Rangers if they made the playoffs over the Washington Capitals 😳

Rust said the Pens' match up well against New York, and if they could've figured out how to penalty kill against their powerplay, they would've had a good chance. Rust also said "[The Penguins] powerplay was trash all year."" Puck Empire said.

Now, as for the Penguins' chances against the New York Rangers, they probably wouldn't have fared much better than the Washington Capitals, who were swept in the first round. During the 2023-24 season, the Penguins and Rangers met three times, with New York winning twice. The Rangers outscored the Penguins 10-9 in their three games against each other.

Bryan Rust was one of Pittsburgh's best players against New York this season, scoring three goals and adding an assist in two games. Regardless of his success against New York this season, it's a bit of a ridiculous claim to say that the Penguins could beat the Rangers in the playoffs, if they made it. Even if Sidney Crosby was at the top of his game, like he was all season long, the Penguins lacked the depth on forward and defence and were pretty shaky in net, so the Rangers could have swept them, much like they did with Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.