Penguins defenseman Kris Letang skates, works out while recovering from stroke

As he continues to recover from a stroke, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang skated and worked out lightly Friday, according to Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.

On Monday, Letang suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Per the team, the ailment is not believed to pose a threat to the 35-year-old’s career. He has missed the team’s past two games and has officially been labeled as being out indefinitely.

An update on Letang was provided by Sullivan following a morning skate at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

“His spirits are really good,” Sullivan said. “He’s making progress. He looks really good. He skated yesterday. A lot of that is still not in the form of structured ‘hockey skates’ but just getting out on the ice. He’s working out a little bit. He’s such a fitness freak. That’s just part of his DNA. That’s his comfort zone. Our doctors are monitoring him very closely. Everything that he’s doing at this point, he gets approval from our medical team. He is making progress and he’s in great spirits”

This is the second time the six-time All-Star has suffered a stroke in his career. During the late stages of the 2013-14 campaign, Letang missed 26 games due to a stroke but was able to return to the lineup toward the end of the regular season and played in all 13 of the team’s postseason games.

According to team officials, this stroke is not as serious as the one Letang suffered in 2014.

“He looks really good,” Sullivan said. “We’re hopeful he continues to progress here so at some point here, we can re-engage him from a hockey standpoint.”

Letang also skated lightly Thursday, according to Sullivan.

In 21 games this season, Letang has 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) and leads the team’s non-goaltenders in time on ice with an average of 23:54 per contest.

Notes:

• The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Saturday’s home game against the St. Louis Blues.

In 15 games this season, Jarry has a 9-3-3 record, a 2.91 goals against average, .915 save percentage and one shutout.

Over his career, Jarry has appeared in three career games against the Blues and has a 3-0-0 record, a 0.80 goals against average, a .970 save percentage and one shutout.

• With the notable exception of defenseman Letang, the Penguins had full attendance at their morning skate on Saturday.

• While their lines remained status quo, there was a notable change among the power-play units.

Forward Rickard Rakell worked on the left side of the first unit, a role typically filled by forward Bryan Rust.

Also stationed on the first unit were forwards Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Jeff Petry.

Rust was moved to the second unit and skated with forwards Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen and Jason Zucker and defenseman P.O Joseph.

• The lines were:

59 Jake Guentzel – 87 Sidney Crosby – 67 Rickard Rakell

16 Jason Zucker – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 17 Bryan Rust

23 Brock McGinn – 77 Jeff Carter – 42 Kasperi Kapanen

25 Ryan Poehling – 53 Teddy Blueger – 15 Josh Archibald

The defensemen rotated.

• Rakell has 199 career assists.

• The Blues are expected to start goaltender Jordan Binnington. In 18 games this season, Binnington has a 9-9-0 record, a 3.11 goals against average, an .899 save percentage and one shutout.

Throughout his career, Binnington has appeared in five games against the Penguins and has a 2-2-0 record, a 2.92 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. He enters this contest with 99 career wins overall.

• Blues forward Brayden Schenn has played in 799 career games.

Saturday afternoon, the Blues recalled forward Will Bitten from Springfield of the American Hockey League (AHL). In 20 AHL games this season, Bitten has 10 points (two goals, eight assists).

Follow the Penguins all season long.