Mark Madden: Don't overreact to dumb penalty by Penguins' Kris Letang

Kris Letang took an ill-advised penalty at New Jersey on Tuesday, so the knives are out.

Letang’s petulant slash put the Penguins down by two men for 102 seconds. The Penguins were protecting a 2-1 third-period lead. Letang inadvertently fueled the game’s turning point. The Penguins killed the five-on-three and went on to win 5-2.

Criticism of Letang in the aftermath has been harsh, and rightly so. It was a stupid penalty. Letang has done similar but rarely worse.

So what should coach Mike Sullivan do with Letang?

That’s easy: Let him play.

Certainly, Sullivan should solicit Letang to come to Jesus. The language need not be delicate. Letang must realize the gravity of what might have happened, especially given the Penguins’ terrible recent play and suddenly precarious position in the standings. (He does, and likely did so immediately.)

But Letang is still, by far, the Penguins’ best defenseman and a workhorse to boot. (He had an assist and empty-net goal after committing that penalty.)

Even the thought of trading Letang come the offseason rings absurd: Justin Schultz will leave via free agency, and John Marino can’t play 60 minutes.

Letang always has had a cranky streak. At 32, it’s unlikely to subside.

The same can be said of Evgeni Malkin at 33.

Malkin leads the Penguins in penalty minutes. On Saturday, after the Penguins got beat 5-2 by Washington, Malkin sermonized to the media about all the Penguins had done wrong. On Sunday, with the puck 100 feet away, Malkin whacked the stick out of a foe’s hand, drawing a penalty almost as foolish as Letang’s on Tuesday. The game was 75 seconds old. The Penguins lost 6-2.

Great players can do idiotic things. But you’ve still got to play them.

That goes for Malkin, who bounced back to totally dominate in that Penguins victory at New Jersey. It applies to Letang in equally obvious fashion.

Letang leads the Penguins in ice time with an average of 25:44. That’s almost five minutes more than runner-up Brian Dumoulin.

Letang leads Penguins defensemen in goals (15), assists (29) and points (44).

None of the team’s other defensemen remotely possess Letang’s combination of speed, skill and physicality. None can single-handedly lug the puck out of danger or join the rush like Letang (though Marino is getting there).

Sure, Letang makes mistakes. He leads the Penguins in giveaways with 80. But there’s a risk/reward factor with all offensive defensemen. Letang is able to precisely and quickly get the puck to Malkin and Sidney Crosby moving through the neutral zone — except when he doesn’t. But there’s more reward than risk.

If Letang doesn’t do all that, who does?

Yeah, I know: The Penguins won the Stanley Cup without Letang in 2017. These Penguins aren’t those Penguins. They’re just not as good and don’t have the same depth on defense.

By the way, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup with Letang in ’09 and ’16. He scored the Cup-winning goal in ’16.

Ideas on how to “punish” Letang range from dumb to dumber.

If you bench or scratch Letang, who does what he does? Somebody suggested stripping him of his alternate captaincy. That blows up the locker room, you lose Letang mentally and does zero tangible good besides placating Twitter, aka the world’s intestine.

Letang is one of the NHL’s top 10 defensemen. When he’s focused and playing well, he’s a force. Letang gets it right a lot more often than not.

The Penguins don’t look like it right now, but they could be a legit Stanley Cup contender. Letang is 32, talented and established. The time for teaching lessons has long since passed. Examples don’t need to be set for the dressing room. They get it.

Let Letang play. Sullivan should express his dissatisfaction with Tuesday’s penalty, then let it go. So should you.