Kris Letang back at Penguins practice in no-contact jersey, eyes return to games soon
Kris Letang confirmed that the injury that is affecting him now is the same one he suffered in the outdoor game Feb. 23, but the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman was at practice Wednesday and sounded poised for a return to game action before the start of the playoffs next week.
“I’m going to go out there when I feel like I am ready to go and I am 100 percent,” said Letang, who has played in just three of the past 18 games. “So if I play one (before the playoffs), I play one; if I play two, I play two. As long as I am ready for (the playoffs).”
The Penguins close out the regular season with two home games: Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings and Saturday against the New York Rangers.
Although Letang was wearing a “no-contact” jersey for Wednesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, both he and coach Mike Sullivan indicated that doesn’t necessarily mean he cannot play in a game until after he is cleared for practice contact. Sullivan said that in the past the veteran defenseman has returned from injury after “skipping” the usual practice-contact step.
“(A return to games) is just when I am going to be ready, I’ll be ready,” Letang said.
Letang said that the impending start of the postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs begin a week from Wednesday) nor the urgency the Penguins face (they have yet to clinch a berth for them) will affect the timing of his return.
“I talk with the doctor; we’ll make the decision based on what’s intelligent,” Letang said. “It’s not based on, ‘If we do this, if we do that.’ We go by my health first… We kind of go day-by-day.”
Letang was injured in a scrum with the Philadelphia Flyers’ Shayne Gostisbehere during the Penguins’ loss at Lincoln Financial Field six weeks ago. He returned with three points in three games March 19-23 but has missed the past four games.
“It was just that I didn’t feel that comfortable after those games and I thought taking a little bit more time to get better was a better idea,” Letang said.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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