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Rust, ZAR & Dumoulin Crush Fortnite Competition, Raise 50k for Charity

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Pittsburgh Penguins Zach Aston-Reese, Bryan Rust, Brian Dumoulin Fortnite

The Pittsburgh Penguins video game troop with Bryan Rust, Zach Aston-Reese, and Brian Dumoulin earned a cool $50,000 for charity by besting 29 other NHL gamers in the NHLPA Open. The game was Fortnite, and Team Pittsburgh finished in second to earn the check to be given to the charity of their choice.

As of Monday afternoon, the team had not yet decided on a charity.

Fortnite is a first-person shooter video game that athletes and gamers love. Team Pittsburgh narrowly eked out second place by beating the Carolina Hurricanes team, aptly known as Storm Surge, in the fourth of four rounds.

“We were just trying to get good rotations,” Aston-Reese said post-game. “I know the point is to kill other people, but we were just trying to get good rotations and attack from there.”

Well, there’s a sentence I hope I never have to type again.

The Pittsburgh Penguins players do have a few charities in mind but will spend a few moments narrowing down their choices.

“I wasn’t expecting a second place,” Dumoulin laughed, but it was unclear if that meant he was disappointed in the runnerup spot or happy.

Aston-Reese and Rust decided to quarantine together. Dumoulin is with family, which includes his son, who was born in November. The NHL players have been biding their time since the NHL season pause on March 12. There has been momentum this week to restart the season and negotiations have hit a critical stage. An announcement could come this week on a 24-team playoff. 

“We felt like we had a team that could go deep, but we weren’t sure,” Dumoulin said of the Fortnite tournament. “We weren’t counting our chickens before they hatched, but we put up a good (match), and it was pretty fun.”

In a real sign of the times, Zach Aston-Reese explained his and his roommate’s daily routine. It begins with he and Rust working out, and the pair put Fortnite celebrity YouTuber Nick EH 30’s games on the big screen.

As long as everyone had fun. There was no word on how much Taco Bell or Code Red Mountain Dew was consumed during tournament training.