Letang’s Return Sparks Penguins to an Important OT Win

Good morning and happy hump day, Wednesday, January 24th.

Congrats to our readers who predicted Tage Thompson would collect the most points last night in yesterday's poll. His 3 points bested Matthew Tkachuck (2), Erik Karlsson (2), Jack Hughes (2), and Mikko Rantanen (0) last night.

With all that Kris Letang has endured over the past two months, it was hard to know what to expect from his return to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup Tuesday.

But Letang has always been a difference-maker and that’s what he still is after a 27-day absence from his sport.

Letang, 35, netted two goals, including the winning tally in overtime (watch here), to power the Penguins to a much-needed 7-6 win against the Florida Panthers. He also had two assists for a four-point night in his first game since suffering a lower body injury on Dec. 28.

During his injury rehabilitation, the veteran defenseman also had to grieve the sudden death of his father, Claude Fouquet.

Letang called the situation “surreal.”

“I didn’t know what to think or how it was going to go,” he said. “These guys supported me for the last month… it’s just great to be back.”

Letang’s goal was his 31st overtime point, tying him with San Jose’s Erik Karlsson for the NHL record for defensemen. Both players have nine goals and 22 assists in overtime.

With Washington losing to Colorado, the Penguins (24-15-8) moved ahead of the Capitals (25-19-6) for the No. 1 wildcard position in the Eastern Conference.

Both teams boast 57 points, but the Penguins have three games in hand. Maybe more important, the Penguins are now three points behind the third-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division.

The return of Letang is a much-needed boost for a Penguins squad that is 5-3-2 in its last 10 games.

Pittsburgh has been plagued by injuries throughout the season, and the situation is far from over. Before the game, it was determined expected starting goalie Tristan Jarry couldn’t play because of an upper body injury. Backup Casey DeSmith replaced him and earned the win.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Jarry’s injury is being evaluated.

🚨 Dougie Hamilton with another overtime winner last night! Not satisfied with scoring a beauty OT winner two nights prior versus Pittsburgh, Dougie Hamilton tied last night's game against the Golden Knights with 1:10 remaining in regulation (watch the goal here) and proceeded to blast a rocket slapshot past the glove of Logan Thompson in overtime for back-to-back OT winners (watch here). Last night marked the Devils 4th consecutive overtime game, collecting a 3-1 record along the way.

🍾 The Vancouver Canucks secured a 5-2 win over the Blackhawks in head coach Tocchet's debut. The Canucks played some stingy team defense only allowing 14 shots against on goaltender Colin Delia while racking up 47 shots against a lowly Blackhawks squad. Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice and Bo Horvat collected his 31st of the season to snap the Canucks 3-game losing streak headed into last night's action.

Derian Hatcher was the first American to captain a Stanley Cup winning team, achieving the feat in 1999 with the Dallas Stars. Who was the second American to captain a Stanley Cup winning team?

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Los Angeles Kings Dustin Brown was the second American to captain a Stanley Cup winning team in 2012.