Technically he was a "game-time decision," but when the Penguins stepped onto the ice for warmups at PPG Paints Arena before Monday night's game against the Anaheim Ducks, there was little doubt that Kris Letang would not be there.
Fortunately for the Penguins, Letang is indeed in the lineup. He will end up missing just one game with his lower-body injury suffered in the third period Friday night against the Bruins.
For Monday's game, Letang was reunited with regular defense partner Brian Dumoulin, and he also manned the point on the No. 1 power-play unit.
After the morning skate, Letang said he initially feared the worst. But, he added, he felt good and would let the team's medical staff determine whether he played.
"It's better than what we expected," he said.
With Letang retuning, that meant someone had to come out of the lineup. That ended up being Juuso Rikkola and Chad Ruhwedel. After being a healthy scratch six of the previous seven games, Rikkola returned to the press box. Ruhwedel hasn't played since Nov. 19.
