Empty thoughts on the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime win against the Flyers:

On the surface, it looked like a really good effort for Kris Letang on Thursday.

The veteran defenseman logged a season-high 28 minutes, 55 seconds of ice time on 30 shifts, four shots on nine attempts and, by the way, he scored the winning goal in overtime:

By any measure, it was an outstanding performance for the six-time All-Star. But when you consider he had just been released from isolation for covid-19 protocol earlier in the afternoon, what he offered is even more remarkable.

But Letang will always have his critics.

For example, himself.

“I don’t think I played my best game,” Letang said. “I thought I need to improve a lot. It was a long time, 10 days (in isolation). I have to be better.”

Letang’s own evaluation of himself seems kind of absurd. But it kind of makes sense after what he said he dealt with earlier in the week in trying to regain some conditioning.

On Wednesday, he outlined that process a bit.

“As soon as I stepped on the ice (Tuesday), you feel it, like in the lungs,” Letang said. “The fact that I coughed a lot during those days probably didn’t help either. But I felt like (Tuesday), I cleared all the bad stuff inside of me and today, I felt really good. I wouldn’t say I’m where I want to be, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to get there pretty quick.”

He appeared to arrive at that point pretty quickly on Thursday.

Beyond the obvious on-ice attributes Letang offers, his mere presence benefited this team at a pretty vulnerable juncture considering the Penguins were missing the likes of captain Sidney Crosby, veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin and even their head coach, Mike Sullivan, who tested positive for covid-19 a few hours before the game then was immediately placed in isolation.

Letang, an alternate captain with 16 years of experience, provided a badly needed veteran presence in a dressing room that is missing some of its most established voices, including the likes of injured forwards Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust.

“He does it all,” forward Jake Guentzel said. “It doesn’t look like he missed a beat. Just the guy does it all for us. To see him get rewarded with that goal was pretty special. Just a leader for us and a guy that we can count on in all situations. He definitely brought it all night. We’re really happy to have him back.”

Statistically speaking

• The Flyers had a 38-36 edge in shots.

• Flyers forward Travis Konecny led the game with six shots.

• Defenseman Travis Sanheim was the only member of the Flyers who did not record a shot.

• Forwards Evan Rodrigues, Kasperi Kapanen and Jason Zucker — who currently compose the second line — as well as Guentzel and Letang each led the Penguins with four shots.

• Letang’s 28:55 of ice time led the game.

• Defenseman Ivan Provorov led the Flyers with 23:53 of ice time on 33 shifts.

• The Penguins led in faceoffs, 31-26 (54%).

• Penguins forward Jeff Carter was 13 for 22 (59%).

• Flyers forward Sean Couturier was 8 for 15 (53%).

• Guentzel led the game with four blocked shots.

• Defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Nick Seeler each led the Flyers with three blocked shots.

Randomly speaking

• One of the Penguins’ other all-stars in the lineup, goaltender Tristan Jarry, was outstanding in this game. After the Penguins took a lead all of 16 seconds into regulation, the Flyers really pushed back hard, putting 17 shots on net during the first 20 minutes. Jarry was up to the task most of the game.

Perhaps his finest moment came at 13:56 of the second period. The Penguins had just reclaimed a lead 2-1, and Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk got loose on a breakaway and his backhander was snuffed out by Jarry.

Jarry was (and remains) under heavy scrutiny after the playoffs last spring. But he’s been one of the team’s most consistent players this season.

• Getting a lead early and playing with it for most of the game was pretty vital for the Penguins as they’re presently deployed. They’re fully capable of playing a strong game as long as they stay within the schematics of their system. But comebacks from deficits appear to be beyond the capabilities of this group.

• Guentzel got his first goal since his first game of the season on Oct. 14. His body language as of late has been ugly given his offensive futility. He looked like a very relieved man after scoring an important goal Thursday.

• As for the Penguins’ other snake-bit winger, Kapanen continues to frustrate. He had some great chances on Thursday but just couldn’t get one past Flyers goaltender Carter Hart.

His line with Rodrigues and Zucker played well, all things considered. This could have been one of Kapanen’s best games, admittedly among few qualified candidates.

• After being recalled earlier in the week, Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph made his season debut. Primarily deployed on the second pairing with John Marino, Joseph logged 17:02 of ice time on 25 shifts. He also had one shot (on one attempt) and took an interference penalty.

• This was kind of a classic game for defenseman Mike Matheson. He had a great play to set up the opening goal then a crummy play to let the Flyers score their final goal. In between, he was pretty solid while being teamed with Letang for the first time this season.

• Forward Danton Heinen had the primary assist on Guentzel’s goal and now leads the team with seven points (four goals, three assists) in nine games. He’s been a great value so far this season.

• Forward Zach Aston-Reese recorded a secondary assist on linemate Brock McGinn’s opening goal of the game. After going scoreless in his first five games, Aston-Reese now has three assists in his past two games.

• Beyond acknowledging that he got a win in his “debut,” it’s difficult to figure out what exactly assistant coach Todd Reirden, filling in for Sullivan, did well from a tactical standpoint. But he kept things pointed in the right direction when it could have gone all catawampus. He deserves a lot of credit for keeping this group focused through so much chaos.

• With Crosby, Malkin and Dumoulin all sidelined, veteran fourth-line center Brian Boyle wore an “A” as an alternate captain. It was a poignant gesture as the Penguins recognized the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative and Boyle won his battle with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2018.

Historically speaking

• The Penguins’ last overtime win against the Flyers was a 4-3 home victory on Jan. 31, 2020. Crosby scored the winning goal on goaltender Brian Elliott.

• Guentzel (262 points) surpassed forward Robert Lang (261) for 31st place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Carter appeared in his 1,100th career game.

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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