PITTSBURGH — Bryan Rust has helped carry the Pittsburgh Penguins with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin out of the lineup.

Rust scored twice in regulation and got the lone goal in the shootout, and the Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on Saturday night.

“That’s just a character win,” Rust said. “We obviously have a lot of guys out. We were down by two and then up by two and they tied it up again. It was a bit of a roller-coaster game.”

Rust came through again when the Penguins needed him most.

He faked a shot on the forehand and flipped a blocker-side backhander past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick for the deciding goal. The Kings had a chance to continue the shootout, but the puck rolled off Adrian Kempe’s stick, giving the injury-riddled Penguins their fifth win in six games.

Rust, who scored the overtime winner Thursday against Columbus, had a 5-on-3 power-play goal in the second period. Teddy Blueger and Jack Johnson scored third-period goals, while Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang both had three assists. Pittsburgh has points in 17 of its last 22 games, including 13 wins.

Tristan Jarry, who entered the game with three shutouts in his last four appearances, made 38 saves.