Letang Heating Up

Another game, another two-goal performance from Kris Letang.
He capped off his three-point night by scoring the overtime winner to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.

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"He's a world-class player," Bryan Rust said of the 33-year-old defenseman. "Any time he gets on the ice, he plays huge minutes for us. He plays in all situations, he does so many things. I think to see him get two huge goals here again tonight, I think just shows his leadership and his character. And how when the team needs him, he's just going to step up."
Letang went without a goal for his first 14 appearances of the season before scoring twice to lead the Penguins past the Islanders, 3-2, in Sidney Crosby's 1000th NHL game last Saturday.
Letang has since embarked on a four-game point streak - collecting four goals, three assists and seven points over that stretch. When asked what's working for him right now, Letang said he hasn't changed much in his approach.
"I think sometimes for defensemen, that's the way it is, you know?" Letang said. "You keep shooting and sometimes, at one point, you get rewarded. But I don't think anything has really changed, either on the power play or 5-on-5. Just try to get open.
"I know we have tons of forwards that can create offensively and get us the puck in good situations. So that's what I tried to do tonight again, and I was able to finish."

Though that isn't completelytrue, as Letang has recently spent a lot of time after practice working on shooting from various spots that he tends to find himself in during games.
"I was working on that to make sure I don't stickhandle too much," Letang said. "Try to get the puck quick and shoot it almost as I catch it, I was just working on releases from different areas of the ice that I often get into. So it was just to try to stay sharp and make sure I can have a quick release and the goalie is still moving when I shoot it."
That is exactly what Letang did on his first goal of the game, which came early in the second period. After Kasperi Kapanen worked the puck behind the net, he eventually found Letang in the right circle, who let it rip before Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov could get set.

The goal came 26 seconds after Letang had set up Crosby for a power-play tally, and that was exactly how much time remained in overtime when the blueliner found the back of the net a second time to get the Penguins two huge points. He essentially went coast-to-coast on the play, which started when he retrieved the puck from his own end and pushed it up the boards to Crosby under pressure.
Crosby quickly gave it back to him, and Letang headed up the ice. He gained the zone, skated into the slot and snapped a shot that fooled Varlamov.
"I came in with a lot of speed, and I didn't feel I had too much support," Letang said. "I didn't want to turn up or try to go 1-on-1, so I tried to put it on that and luckily it hit the defenseman's stick and kind of trickled in the net."

Letang ended up playing a team-high 25:06 as the team relied on him, just like they do night in and night out, to skate in all situations.
"He's just such an important player for us," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He has the ability to be an impact guy. The game-winning goal is an example of what he's capable of. He skates so well. He defends hard. But he's a good player on both sides of the puck. I think that just speaks to the legacy that he's built here and how important he is to this team."