Kris Letang made his return to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup after missing almost two weeks recovering from a stroke.
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Penguins are an organization pretty familiar with dramatic comebacks and returns.
Players like Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin have all had their fair share of big returns to the Penguins lineup, and now Kris Letang has his own.
Letang returned to the Penguins lineup under two weeks after being diagnosed with the second stroke of his life.
The first time occurred in February of 2014, and Letang was out of the lineup for about two months.
Letang’s first game back was nothing stellar, no points were recorded, but he did lead the Penguins in time on ice with 22:14, as if he never left.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said following the game that the team communicated with him as the game went on to make sure he was still feeling at 100%.
Nothing felt off, so Letang played his normal role, despite being listed on the second line.
“Me and Todd [Reirden] kept track of how I felt,” Letang said. “I felt good during the game.”
Letang wasn’t out of the lineup for long, but did start to feel the nerves as his return grew closer.
“As I was starting to feel better, you get anxious,” Letang said. “You want to get back out there.”
Even though Letang was only out for five games, he didn’t have much time to practice with his teammates.
“I tried to prepare the best I could,” Letang said. “Timing needs to get a little better, but the legs were there.”
Letang was definitely playing like he never left the ice; his minutes and ability to step up in certain situations highlighted that.
Brian Dumoulin took a penalty in the first period, and it was Letang that stepped up to take his spot on the ensuing kill.
Letang finished the game with 1:14 of time on the penalty kill.
While it’s usually an unfortunate situation that leads to comebacks, it shows the resilience and drive of the player.
In Letang’s case, he’s picking up right where he left off and is back to helping the Penguins win hockey games.
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