It was a huge win not just for the Pittsburgh Penguins and their standings, but for the return of veteran defenseman Kris Letang.
PITTSBURGH - Just under two weeks removed from being diagnosed with the second stroke of his life, Kris Letang returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup and helped push the team to their fifth straight win.
Letang didn’t contribute any points, but he did lead the Penguins in time on ice with 22:14, picking up right where he left off.
There was no sense of easing Letang back in as after the first period he was leading the team in ice time with 8:06.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game that they planned on communicating with Letang on how he felt as the game progressed.
“As far as his workload is concerned,” Sullivan said. “We were going to see how it goes. We would communicate with him as the game went on. He was assuring to everyone that he felt great.”
Letang’s return to the lineup was a shock and probably lit a fire under the rest of the team, as they got off to an extremely good start.
Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby both scored to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead before the Sabres could record a single shot.
The opening goal from Rakell was tallied on the power play, the fifth straight game where the Penguins capitalized with the man advantage.
The Penguins offense slipped away a little from the second into the third period as Casey DeSmith began stealing the show.
DeSmith routinely plays well against the Sabres, bringing a 3-2-2 record against Buffalo heading into the matchup; those three wins were all shutouts.
It seemed like a fourth perfect game was on the horizon for DeSmith, but a deflection from Peyton Krebs broke the bid.
The Sabres looked like they were beginning to battle back in the closing minutes, but Crosby put any hopes to rest with his second goal of the night.
The Penguins closed out their fifth straight win, and second in as many nights against the Sabres, on the back of Letang’s return, a pair of tallies from Crosby, and 37 saves from DeSmith.
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