Mark Madden: Bryan Rust has earned his starring role with Penguins

It’s time for refreshing Penguins notes, with a San Jose Sharks chaser! Who’s worse, the Sharks or the 1983-84 Penguins that tanked by way of drafting Mario Lemieux? I watched the latter team extensively. I don’t want to think about it.

• Just keep Bryan Rust out there in overtime. He’ll score as many times as needed.

• I don’t know what to think of Rust sometimes. I’ve called him a bottom-six winger who hit the linemate lottery. But he’s fast and relentless, which makes him a good top-six fit on a team that features Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at center. One thing is certain: Rust has earned everything he’s got. Goals, contract, rings, etc. Rust has played 596 games for the Penguins, and never once mailed it in.

• It’s far too early to think that 6-foot-6 Magnus Hellberg should be the Penguins’ No. 1 goaltender. Perhaps he’s big and nothing else. But the Penguins should keep an open mind about the position if Tristan Jarry continues to be ordinary. That applies no matter what Jarry’s price tag is. You’re paying him anyway.

• If Jarry’s only injury is a swollen face, leeches should be applied like when Eddie Johnston played goal. That really happened. Before donning a mask in 1968, Johnston frequently got dinged in the melon. Leeches relieved the swelling. Welcome to medieval times! The ex-Penguins coach and GM is hockey incarnate.

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• Johnston is arguably the greatest power-play mind in hockey. When he coached the Penguins in 1981-82, they set the NHL record for power-play goals in a season with 99 despite mediocre talent (see Boutette, Pat) because Johnston designed a system of picks that couldn’t be solved. The current Penguins’ power play ranks just 22nd in the NHL at a conversion rate of 17.1% and stumbles frequently. Johnston is almost always in the press box at PPG Paints Arena. Why don’t the Penguins consult Johnston?

• The Penguins played better while sweeping three games out west but were still situationally flawed. They allowed three-on-twos in the waning moments of narrow wins at Anaheim and Los Angeles, conceding the tying goal in the latter instance and being bailed out by Hellberg in the former. The Penguins will die on that hill.

• When your smartest players do stupid things, that’s a problem. Jake Guentzel unnecessarily going offside to negate Noel Acciari’s empty-net goal at Anaheim put the “dumb” in dumbfounding. Good thing Guentzel has a team-high 15 points in 12 games.

• Kris Letang is playing more defensively since the arrival of fellow defenseman Erik Karlsson and doing so brilliantly. He’s been the Penguins’ most consistent player. Letang has made just four turnovers in 12 games but is still slick with the puck.

• With Letang and Karlsson, the Penguins should never lose in overtime. They provide the perfect anchor in the back for playing three-on-three. If they get the puck to Rust.

• Radim Zohorna has been a revelation since rejoining the Penguins after inexplicably getting cut at training camp. Besides his three goals in eight games, Zohorna (6-foot-6) and Drew O’Connor (6-3) provide big bookends at wing for center Lars Eller. That’s a solid third line. Eller, given his role, may be the team’s most consistent forward.

• Not that Crosby hasn’t been great. But that’s expected. Seven-game points streak. Two electrifying plays at Los Angeles: A wrap-around goal and a seeing-eye pass for a Guentzel tap-in. Crosby also saved the day after Guentzel’s offside faux pas at Anaheim, getting the ENG with a backhand lob. That’s a captain’s goal.

• Jeff Carter wore a neck guard at Los Angeles, the only Penguin to do so in the wake of ex-Penguin Adam Johnson’s tragic death while playing in England. Hopefully, that’s a trend. Even more hopefully, neck protection will soon be mandated by the NHL.

• San Jose lost 11 in a row to open the season. Then the Sharks won two straight, beating Philadelphia and Connor McJesus. Does it get any better?

• When the Penguins go splat, it will be after the current core won three Stanley Cups. Edmonton (2-9-1) is going splat before McJesus even got to a final. Edmonton and the Sharks both have five points. When will McJesus want out?