Letang Back in the Lineup; DeSmith Starts Again

LOS ANGELES — Kris Letang, cornerstone of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ defense, will rejoin the lineup for their game against Los Angeles at 11:08 p.m. Eastern at Crypto.com Arena.

Mike Sullivan confirmed a few hours before the opening faceoff that Letang would be available.

Letang was scratched from the Penguins’ 6-3 victory at Anaheim Friday night because of illness. Sullivan had seemed optimistic in the aftermath that Letang would be able to be in uniform against the Kings.

Letang has five goals and 16 assists in 33 games this season, making him the leading scorer among Penguins defensemen despite missing 18 of their first 51 games because of injuries and illness.

In addition to working alongside Brian Dumoulin on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ No. 1 defense pairing, Letang mans the left point on the top power-play unit. Jeff Petry, who normally works on the second power play, took his spot on the first group against the Ducks.

Sullivan also said that Casey DeSmith will be in goal for the second game in a row. He made 28 saves during the Penguins’ victory over the Ducks.

The Penguins generally split the workload between two goalies when playing on consecutive days, but Sullivan decided to stick with DeSmith rather than giving Dustin Tokarski the start against Los Angeles.