Bryan Rust Thinks Penguins Would've Upset Rangers If They Made Playoffs Over Capitals

Karl Rasmussen | May 29, 2024

Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bryan Rust (17) skates with the puck against the Nashville Predators. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Penguins were not a participant in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, having missed out on the postseason after coming up short in a wild-card race that went down to the wire in the Eastern Conference.

At least one player on the team seems to think that the Penguins would've made a better showing than some teams that did qualify for this year's playoffs.

Winger Bryan Rust said Wednesday that he thinks Pittsburgh could've staged an upset of the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs had they snuck in as the final playoff team.

During an interview with gamer Ninja, Rust said that he felt the Penguins matched up well with the Rangers, who have gone on to the Eastern Conference Final.

In an interview with Ninja, Bryan Rust said he believes the Penguins would've beaten the Rangers in the first round if Pittsburgh made it instead of Washington 👀 pic.twitter.com/2EoeIEbWkN

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 29, 2024

"I think we would've beat the Rangers," Rust said. "It is a matchup thing. You look across the league and there's some teams that you do well against and teams that you don't. And I feel like the Rangers would've been good for us, if we could've figure out our penalty kill against their power play."

Across three regular-season matchups this year, New York held a 2–1 record against the Penguins. Still, Rust made clear he thinks that Pittsburgh would've matched up well with the Rangers, and maybe given them a closer fight than that of the Washington Capitals, who were brushed aside in four games.