‘It’s a Forward’s Mentality,’ Letang Learning New Role on Pens PP

Kris Letang stopped and used his hands to make a point that the Pittsburgh Penguins power play is not struggling. The Penguins top defenseman is no longer the point man on the Penguins top power-play unit nor is Letang the point on the PP2. Instead, Penguins coaches are reaching to fill the right-wing circle with a shooter, and they’ve turned to Letang to provide that offensive pressure though Letang may not be as sure about his new role.

The Penguins set a franchise record on the power play two seasons ago when they converted above 26%. Last season, they were almost equally as dangerous. This season, the Penguins coaches thought they would have a bottomless treasure trove of schemes and personnel packages to chose. Injuries to nearly half of the Penguins forwards halted the progress. But with Malkin’s return Saturday, the Penguins dug deep into those schemes.

I’ve been talking with Sid (Crosby) and Geno (Malkin),” Letang said of his new role.

The Penguins were again an O-fer on the power play, but head coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t deterred, either.