Dan Bylsma coached Kris Letang with the Penguins from 2009-14. He knows everything about Letang’s game, the good and bad, the highs and lows. He says there is nothing Letang does that surprises him.
Well, almost nothing.
“It’s not possible,” Bylsma said of Letang’s overtime performance Sunday night against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Letang played nearly four minutes of the five-minute overtime before setting up Sidney Crosby for the deciding goal in a 3-2 win.
“It’s just not possible to be out there for 3½ minutes, go off the ice for 40 seconds and come back out to finish the game off like he did,” Bylsma said. “I was like, ‘He’s going to have nothing left in the tank.’ But he stepped over the boards and seemed to have a jump in his step. It was truly amazing.”
This was late Tuesday night, after Letang led the Penguins to a 5-4 shootout win against Bylsma’s Buffalo Sabres at Consol Energy Center. The tireless Letang played brilliantly for a career-high 35:14 and scored one of the goals in the shootout. He had eight shots on net and was credited with two hits and two blocked shots.
“Monster minutes,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan called Letang’s ice time.
“I’m flattered that they thought they had to play him that much to beat us,” Bylsma said, wryly.
Letang has come a long way after a horrible start this season. No one is sure why he was so bad for two months. Maybe he had lingering concerns about his concussion after a hit from Arizona’s Shane Doan last March, a hit that forced him to miss the 2015 playoffs. Letang won’t admit that, but it was the latest in a number of concussions for him. Privately, at least, he had to be worried about his future in the game.
“Concussions are tough because no one knows for sure about them,” Letang said before this season. “But I go with the percentages. Right now, I don’t think I’m in the high-risk [group].”
Letang has stayed relatively healthy this season. Whatever the reason for his poor start, he quickly found his game in December after the Penguins fired Mike Johnston and replaced him with Sullivan. No one is complaining now about Letang’s eight-year, $58 million contract, which runs through 2021-22. He has led the Penguins to the brink of a playoff spot — they have won nine of their past 10 games going into the home match tonight against Nashville — and is in the conversation as team MVP with Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury. He also is a legitimate candidate for the Norris Trophy, which goes each season to the NHL’s best defenseman. Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson and San Jose’s Brent Burns score more points and Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty and Chicago’s Duncan Keith have more acclaim, but none is playing better than Letang.
“I think he’s that good,” Sullivan said.
Letang is known as an offensive defenseman. His 15 goals and 44 assists are career highs and his 59 points rank third in the NHL among defensemen. But he has improved his defense to the point Sullivan wants him on the ice in every situation. Penalty-kill. Power play. Late game. It doesn’t matter.
“Sometimes, we marvel at what he’s been able to do as far as helping us win at both ends of the rink,” Sullivan said.
Letang’s average of nearly 27 minutes per game ranks fourth among defensemen behind Karlsson, Minnesota’s Ryan Suter and Doughty. The number figures to increase with the games down the stretch and in the playoffs. In eight of the past 10 games, Letang has played more than 28½ minutes. He topped 30 minutes four times.
“His fitness level is off the charts,” Sullivan said.
Letang grinned when asked if he gets tired.
“I want a rest, that’s for sure.”
Actually, Letang doesn’t.
“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I think everybody in the dressing room would like to play more minutes. The more ice time you get, the happier you are.”
Letang’s endurance doesn’t happen by accident.
“I work on it. Conditioning is my favorite thing to do.”
Bylsma knows how hard Letang has worked to become a great player. That’s why it was meaningful Tuesday night when Bylsma said he has never seen Letang play better. He coached Letang when Letang tied Hall of Famer Larry Murphy’s franchise record with five goals in the 2009 playoffs when the Penguins won the Cup. He also coached Letang in the 2012-13 season when Letang was a Norris Trophy finalist.
“I think the last month, how much he’s been in control of the game, is pretty amazing,” Bylsma said.
There’s that word again.
Amazing.
Sullivan wishes he would hear it associated with Letang more often.
“I honestly think Kris doesn’t get the recognition in the hockey world that he deserves,” Sullivan said. “He’s a great skater. He’s a tremendous competitor.”
A winner, Sullivan called Letang.
An elite defenseman.
“One of most elite defensemen that this league has.”
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter @RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Poni” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: March 31, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
