Kris Letang will be back in the Penguins' lineup tonight, and back in his customary spot on the No. 1 defense pairing.
That doesn't necessarily guarantee that he'll be carrying his usual workload, though.
Letang left the NHL's COVID-19 protocol Monday and had just one practice with his teammates after that, so there's not much evidence available of how his bout with the illness might have affected his stamina, which usually is exceptional and explains why he is averaging a team-high 26 minutes, eight seconds of ice time.
Assistant coach Todd Reirden said that Letang's return is "obviously, a huge boost for our team," but that his playing time "is something that we'll need to monitor as the game goes on. He's obviously a phenomenal athlete and in tremendous shape, but that being said, this virus affects people differently and the fact that he was symptomatic is something we're going to monitor during the game and see how he does."
Letang is scheduled to start the game alongside Mike Matheson because his usual partner, Brian Dumoulin, is in the COVID protocol, along with fellow defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel, center Sidney Crosby and coach Mike Sullivan.
"(Letang and Dumoulin) have proven their value for years to this organization and had a ton of success together," Reirden said. "Certainly, it would have been nice to have had them both back."
There's no question that having such a depleted lineup is less than ideal for a team that has lost its past three games after starting the season 3-0-2.
"The focus is going to be on us continuing to find some of the hockey we were playing at the beginning of the year," Reirden said. "Get back to some of the things we were doing well, some of the details and habits that we had in place that have slipped a little lately."
