Kris Letang's errors contribute to Penguins' loss to Panthers
There are plenty of ways to elucidate what Kris Letang is.
All-Star. Stanley Cup champion. Franchise pillar.
Most prolific defenseman in Penguins history.
All are accurate descriptions.
This past weekend, another apt adjective would be mistake-prone.
A pair of errors by the Penguins all-everything defenseman helped lead to a flat 4-1 loss to the underwhelming Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.
The loss snapped a five-game points streak for the Penguins.
“Some mistakes,” said a succinct Letang. “I made some mistakes. It is what it is. A bad one.”
It was a bad one seemingly from the get-go for Letang and the Penguins.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 2 minutes, 28 seconds of the first period. Pushing a puck up the right wing, Panthers forward Frank Vatrano zipped by minimal resistance from Letang and attacked the net, shuffling a one-handed backhander on net. Goaltender Tristan Jarry denied the initial shot but allowed a rebound that Vatrano jabbed past Jarry’s left leg with a forehand shot for his ninth goal of the season.
Only 84 seconds expired before the Penguins responded. Meandering his way past Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck, a native of Upper St. Clair, Penguins forward Dominik Simon created a two-on-one with forward Jared McCann against Panthers defenseman Josh Brown. Simon dished a subtle backhanded pass from the right circle to the opposite circle, where McCann was able to sizzle a wrister past goaltender Chris Driedger’s blocker on the near side for his 11th goal. Simon and forward Patric Hornqvist collected assists.
Florida reclaimed a lead, 2-1, at the 10:44 mark of the first. Corralling a puck on the end boards, Letang forced an errant pass that was intercepted by Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson above the left circle. Matheson immediately dealt it to Trocheck above the crease. Trocheck momentarily lost the puck but quickly reclaimed it on the end boards, turned toward the cage and moved a pass to the slot, where forward Brett Connolly was able to lift a wrister past Jarry’s glove hand for his 16th goal.
It marked the second time in as many games a turnover by Letang in his own zone led to an opposing goal. During Saturday’s 3-2 overtime road win against the Montreal Canadiens, he fed a soft pass toward his own net that was intercepted by Canadiens forward Artturi Lekhonen and converted into a goal.
“(Letang) can simplify his game in those situations,” said coach Mike Sullivan, one of Letang’s most fervent advocates. “Him and I have had this conversation. It’s usually ongoing with us. (Letang) has the ability to be a difference-maker, and we certainly don’t want to take the stick out of his hand. But as we say to all of our players: Sometimes the best play is a simple play. It’s just recognizing those situations.
“It’s not going to be perfect out there, especially for guys that log the type of minutes that (Letang) logs. It’s not going to be a flawless game but certainly that’s a conversation that (Letang) and I have fairly frequently.”
After a scoreless second period, the Panthers secured victory at 8:52 of the third. Off a Vatrano feed from the right half wall, Panthers forward Mike Hoffman sniped a blistering wrister from above the right circle past Jarry’s glove hand on the near side for his 14th goal.
An empty-net goal by forward Evgenii Dadonov, his 18th, at 17:32 of the third capped the scoring.
The Penguins, with 42 games played, enter the second half of the 82-game season with 55 points, second most in Metropolitan Division. Given the absences of teammates Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin and others, much of that success can be attributed to Letang.
The same could be said for Sunday’s defeat.
“It was not great from start to finish,” Letang said. “You try to forget about it.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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