Building blocks: Letang tries to make strong game stronger
defensemen, likened Letang’s intensity and appetite for hockey to Crosby. “He’s really passionate about the game and loves to talk about the game.”
Letang is also like Crosby in that he never is satisfied.
“Point production, it is what it is,” Letang said. “I’m a guy who’s going to bring the offense by my skating or my transition.”
What bothers Letang most are the near misses.
“There was a play [last Tuesday],” Letang continued. “[Sidney Crosby] goes on a breakaway, I don’t connect with his stick; I put it on his skate. I get rattled because I know I can do better.”
Ask anyone associated with the Penguins about Letang, and they surely will mention how valuable he is to what do they — and they’re right. A case could be made that he’s their most irreplaceable player, based on the sheer minutes he logs — only a handful league-wide average more — but also because there’s nobody who can replace him if he’s hurt.
Consider, the Penguins are 21-2-4 this season when Letang finished with an even or plus rating. What’s going right for Letang when he’s on top of his game?
“He’s really focused on the elements that he can control,” Martin said. “He doesn’t worry about things that aren’t within his control.
“His biggest asset is he has an excellent shot. He’s got a great ability to join the rush and great vision to find open men, to make a good first pass, to find a stretch guy or see players in the offensive zone. He defends well. He’s not a big man, but he’s strong. His quickness and his aggressiveness are really key in defending.”
Letang’s immense value is one of the reasons Sullivan and his staff have asked Letang to sacrifice his body less, not take as many risks and, hopefully, absorb fewer crushing blows, all in the name of keeping him healthy.
The results haven’t been exactly perfect. Letang played 4 games, was out for 5, played 21, was out for 7, played 5, was out for 6 and now has played 10 in a row.
The fits and starts have been evident.
“It seems like once he gets some traction, he gets hit with the injury bug,” Sullivan said. “Hopefully, we’ll keep him healthy here the second half, so he can get a number of games under his belt and get some traction. He’s obviously such an important part of our team. He plays so many key minutes for us. I think that will certainly help our team get to another level.”
Digging for defensive numbers to quantify Letang’s season is difficult. Much like what your eyes would tell you, it’s a mix of good and bad.
Letang has been on the ice for a goals-against per 60 minutes rate of 2.36; his career-worst in that category is 2.69, in 2008-09. Last year, over those final 46 of the regular season, his GA60 was at 2.02. Yet over his past 10 games, Letang’s GA60 has been 1.86.
Doubtful even Letang will say he’s in a better place than he was last year during the stretch run.
The important part for Letang is that he has helped the Penguins generate 13.35 scoring chances per 60 minutes (SCF60) over the past 10 games and 11.66 for the season, an increase over his 46-game stretch last season (10.56). The difference has been the scoring chances against: 9.65 SCA60 this season, 9.93 over the past 10 and 7.6 in that 46-game stretch.
An improvement there, everyone figures, will come with time.
“I think there are times — and this could be related to his injuries, and being in and out of the lineup — where the consistency that we would expect is not quite there,” general manager Jim Rutherford said. “But I would say, overall, he’s been good for us.
“And as we get down the stretch here and get ready for the playoffs, his game is very capable of getting that consistency.”
Call it the HLK line
Ever wonder why Letang, an incredible skater with plenty of offensive instincts — he’s tied for the most shootout goals all time by a defenseman — ended up on the back end?
Letang said he started out as a forward and piled up a lot of points when he was younger. As he got older, he felt less comfortable playing offense the way many skilled forwards do.
“I would have two wingers who loved to score goals and skate,” Letang said. “I would look back just to make sure I didn’t get scored on. When I switched to the other side, I became an offensive defenseman.
“I think it’s a lot how you sense things on the ice and what you’re comfortable doing. Look at Sid, going full speed through the middle of the ice. I’m not comfortable doing that. Going full speed wide, I’m more comfortable doing that.”
“Everything goes through [offensive defensemen],” Letang said. “You get out of your zone, it goes through the defenseman, the breakouts, the transition. You’re involved in everything. You see the whole ice.”
Let Kris be Kris
The Penguins would like Letang to sacrifice his body less, but the last thing they want to do is stifle his emotions.
“You have to play with emotion,” Rutherford said. “I wouldn’t want to suggest to him to change his approach for how he goes about his game.”
This also applies to Letang’s training. His work ethic is second to none, and that’s not going to change. Even if it seems like Letang sometimes flirts with overtraining.
Being maniacal about his workouts always has been a great source of pride for Letang.
“It started when I was probably 10 years old — when I started doing a lot, on my own,” Letang said. “After that, my first trainer, I was 14 years old. I just liked to push myself at every level in my life. Not only in hockey. Everything I do. I feel like you’re building yourself, how strong you’re going to be. If you have to face adversity on the ice, it’s easy to accomplish because you have that training behind you.”