Seeing a top-line forward and your most indispensable defenseman walking slowly down the tunnel and out of sight during a game would be startling if the Pittsburgh Penguins haven't grown so used to it.
At least Bryan Rust and Justin Schultz felt well enough on Tuesday to join the rest of the team as the defending Stanley Cup champions hopped a plane and headed to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4 of their Eastern Conference final tied at 1-1.
Whether Rust, Schultz and Patric Hornqvist — scratched after warmups before Pittsburgh's 1-0 Game 2 victory on Monday night — get a chance to play is unclear. All three are day-to-day because of upper-body injuries, though their absence hardly slowed their remarkably resilient team. The Penguins controlled play despite playing the last 50 minutes with just five defensemen and 11 forwards.
Rangers pick Drury to lead AHL team
The Rangers named former player Chris Drury the general manager of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. He replaces Rangers assistant GM Jim Schoenfeld.
Also Tuesday, former Gopher Ken Gernander was fired as coach of the Wolf Pack, a position he held for 10 seasons. Under Gernander, the Wolf Pack went 388-304-84.
Etc.
• Peter Chiarelli of the Oilers, Pierre Dorion of the Senators and David Poile of the Predators are the finalists for the NHL general manager of the year award, announced Tuesday. The NHL awards will be handed out June 21.
• The expansion Vegas Golden Knights reached a multiyear affiliation deal with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
• The Blues are not bringing back assistant coaches Rick Wilson, Ray Bennett, Steve Thomas and Ty Conklin next season. All four joined the team before coach Mike Yeo took over for the fired Ken Hitchcock in the middle of the season. Wilson was an assistant under Yeo with the Wild.
