Penguins encouraged by progress of injured defensemen; Kris Letang approaches 1,000th game

As the Pittsburgh Penguins continue to battle for a spot in the playoffs during this last leg of the regular season, they do so with a still-decimated defensive corps.

To be sure, getting back the services of Jeff Petry, who returned to action Tuesday in Detroit after being sidelined for close to two weeks, certainly helps.

The 35-year-old averages 17 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time in addition to running point on the team’s second power-play unit.

But the Penguins continue to navigate multiple injuries to their defensemen that have piled up at an inopportune time.

Trade deadline acquisition Dmitry Kulikov played in just a handful of games with the Penguins before landing on long-term injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury earlier this month.

On March 25, he was spotted at PPG Paints Arena wearing a boot on his left foot. The earliest he could return to the lineup would be April 6, when the Penguins will have four regular-season games left.

Marcus Pettersson remains on long-term injured reserve and with his designation being retroactive to March 18. The soonest he’d be available would be April 13, the day of the Penguins’s finale at Columbus.

Pettersson skated on his own ahead of the team’s full practice Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

“He’s making progress,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think he’s feeling pretty good, and all reports I’m getting from our medical team, the fact that he’s on the ice once again suggests progress and that’s encouraging from our standpoint. We’re hopeful it won’t be too long here (before) he joins the team.”

In a dose of good news, Jan Rutta practiced with the Penguins on Friday, albeit in a noncontact sweater, but for the first time since an unspecified ailment that’s prevented him from playing since March 16.

“It’s great,” Sullivan said. “It suggests progress (and) his next step obviously is to participate full capacity, but the fact that he’s joined the team is real encouraging. I thought he looked pretty good for not seeing him here with the team for a little while.”

Rutta, 32, has three goals and six assists in 53 games this season.

Letang closes in on 1,000

After seeing longtime teammates Sidney Crosby (Feb. 20, 2021) and Evgeni Malkin (Nov. 20, 2022) play in the 1,000th game of their careers, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is set to play his 1,000th career NHL game Sunday against Philadelphia.

Of course, more pressing business remains Saturday, when the Penguins play the NHL-leading Boston Bruins, but Sullivan and players have taken a step back nonetheless to honor Letang’s upcoming achievement.

“It’s a privilege to coach him,” Sullivan said. “His care factor, his compete level, his professionalism, I think (are) off the charts. I think he’s one of the guys that has really personified what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin. We witness it every day with his work ethic both on the ice and off the ice. That’s the biggest thing I admire about Kris.”

Letang, 35, has 154 goals and 532 assists in 998 career games with the Penguins. He has served as an alternate captain for the team since 2017.

While Letang has been no stranger to tribulations and overcoming injuries throughout his career, this season with the Penguins has been perhaps the most difficult.

Letang suffered a stroke, the second of his career, at the end of November, only to make his way back to ice less than two weeks later.

Then tragedy struck when Letang’s father, Claude Fouquet, died Jan. 2.

Letang had been battling an injury at the time of his father’s death, and the ailment combined with attending to personal matters sidelined him for nearly a month before his return Jan. 24.

Through it all, and despite having watched Crosby and Malkin play their 1,000th games, Letang remains uncertain of the emotions he’ll feel when he takes the ice.

“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “It’s something I never thought I would do in my life.”

Lines and pairings

The Penguins utilized the following lines and defensive pairings Friday:

59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust

16 Jason Zucker - 71 - Evgeni Malkin - 67 Rickard Rakell

43 Danton Heinen - 25 Ryan Poehling - 64 Mikael Granlund

10 Drew O’Connor - 77 Jeff Carter - 15 Josh Archibald

8 Brian Dumoulin - 58 Kris Letang

73 P.O Joseph - 26 Jeff Petry

52 Mark Friedman - 2 Chad Ruhwedel

19 Alex Nylander - 44 Jan Rutta