Bryan Rust - Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn ImagesOn Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust finished his first 30-goal season of his career. By netting his 30th and 31st goals, he becomes the 39th player in franchise history to reach 30 goals in a single season while wearing a Penguins sweater.
Meanwhile, he joins current teammate Rickard Rakell, who finished the season as the team's leading goal scorer with 35, as first-time entries on this list.
Of course, these two now share a space with Sidney Crosby, who just capped off his franchise-record 13th 30th goal season, along with Evgeni Malkin, who last scored 30 goals in 2017-18 as the only active players in this category.
Here's a look at the Penguins' 30-goal club members:
13 Times
Sidney Crosby
11 Times
Mario Lemieux
10 Times
Jaromir Jagr
Six Times
Evgeni Malkin, Jean Pronovost
Five Times
Rick Kehoe
Four Times
Kevin Stevens, Mike Bullard
Three Times
Jake Guentzel, Joe Mullen, Mark Recchi, Lowell MacDonald
Two Times
Alex Kovalev, Petr Nedved, Martin Straka, John Cullen, Rob Brown, Dan Quinn, Doug Shedden, Paul Gardner, Peter Lee, Vic Hadfield, Pierre Larouche
One Time
Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel, Chris Kunitz, James Neal, Robert Lang, Stu Barnes, Tomas Sandström, Rick Tocchet, Paul Coffey, Randy Cunneyworth, Warren Young, Greg Malone, Syl Apps, Al McDonough, Greg Polis
However, that isn't the only list Rust now finds himself on after reaching 30 goals. When he reached the magic milestone, he became only the 14th Penguins draft pick to achieve the feat in Pittsburgh.
Here is the exclusive list of draft picks to score 30 goals for the Penguins:
Sidney Crosby (13)
Mario Lemieux (11)
Jaromir Jagr (10)
Evgeni Malkin (6)
Mike Bullard (4)
Jake Guentzel & Mark Recchi (3)
Martin Straka, Rob Brown, Doug Shedden, & Pierre Larouche (2)
Bryan Rust, Greg Malone, & Greg Polis (1)
Finally, Rust becomes only the fourth drafted Penguins player in franchise history to record a 30-goal season after turning 30, following Crosby, Lemieux, and Malkin. Moreover, Rust becomes the oldest drafted player to record his first 30-goal season, achieving the feat at age 32.
Overall, Rust is only the eighth player to ever score 30 goals with the Penguins after turning 32, joining a list that includes Crosby, Mullen, Hadfield, MacDonald, Kunitz, Lemieux, and Pronovost.
