No suspension for Sharks’ Marleau; Penguins OK with that

PITTSBURGH - Patrick Marleau did not earn a suspension for his hit to Bryan Rust’s head in Game 1 Monday, and while the Penguins are concerned about Rust, whose status is unclear for Game 2, they aren’t in a tizzy about Marleau escaping further discipline. “Hopefully Rusty is OK, but I don’t think anyone in here is up in arms about it or sees it as being a big deal,” captain Sidney Crosby said Tuesday after the Penguins’ optional practice at UPMC Lemieux Training Center. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he didn’t have an opinion about the decision not to discipline Marleau beyond the two-minute penalty Marleau received for an illegal hit. Rust returned briefly after the third-period hit only to leave for good after absorbing a hit from Marc-Edouard Vlasic with 11:05 left. Even though he is only 24, the rookie has been one of the team’s hottest scorers lately, putting in Pittsburgh’s first goal on Monday night and also scoring both goals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last week.