Legend! Legend! Legend!

When Kris Letang skated back to the bench after recording his 600^th career assist on Tuesday night, he was quickly embraced by teammate Erik Karlsson, who had a huge smile on his face.

Letang joined Karlsson as one of only four active defensemen to reach such an impressive number – Brent Burns and Victor Hedman are the others – and just the 20^th blueliner in NHL history to do so.

“It’s awesome,” Karlsson said. “Obviously, he’s had a lot of adversity in his career, even though we weren’t teammates at the time. Getting to know him on a personal level, you start seeing how much he dedicates himself to this game. For him to be able to accomplish milestones is equally as fun as doing it yourself. He’s such a good guy. It was nice that it happened (Tuesday), and he didn’t get stuck at 99 for a while. I’m sure I did [Laughs].”

As Letang was awarded his milestone puck, and then the Player of the Game helmet, Karlsson even started a chant for his friend: LEGEND! LEGEND! LEGEND!

“We call him a legend from time to time. When he’s pouting, we usually try to cheer him up with it,” Karlsson said with a mischievous grin. “But, he is a legend.”

Like Karlsson mentioned, Letang has gone through more adversity than most. His perseverance and dedication to the sport of hockey earned Letang the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2022-23 after recovering from his second stroke, the first occurring in 2014.

That led to Letang undergoing successful closure of a patent foramen ovale, which is a small hole in the heart that he was born with, in the offseason. He’s also dealt with countless injuries that have cropped up during the course of long seasons. Those challenging moments that made Letang’s milestone on Tuesday even more memorable.

“From the beginning, I always said to people, I didn't think I would get here,” Letang said. “It's just pretty surreal for me to get to that point. But to also play for almost a full 20 years, it's the type of thing that will come along the way. I was just happy to be a hockey player.”

After being drafted by the Penguins in the third round of the 2005 NHL Draft, the same class as Sidney Crosby, Letang went on to become the franchise defenseman. The three-time Stanley Cup Champion has appeared in over 1,100 games in black and gold, and holds every single significant team record for a defenseman.

This latest one speaks volumes to Letang’s long-lasting role with the Penguins.

“It’s been a long career, and you want to do your best every single night,” he said. “That’s playing with good players also, and you get rewarded with those types of things.”

Two of those players are Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who both earned a shoutout from Letang “for the 500 goals you gave me” when donning the player of the game helmet. The captain defected the credit right back.

“He’s played some major minutes over his career, had an important role on both sides of the puck that whole time,” Crosby said. “So, to see that number, and to know how much he takes the defensive side serious, it's not always easy. That's a hard game to play, and he's created a lot of offense, and we've been on the receiving end of those passes and then those plays.

“So, it's a great number, and something that speaks to how hard he works and what kind of effort and what he puts into the game.”