Kris Letang's penalty-box moment with official has fans talking after Penguins escape Sharks
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Kris Letang went to the box in the final minute of overtime, but the Pittsburgh Penguins held on and beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday.
Kris Letang took a holding penalty with 43 seconds left in overtime Wednesday night, and the Pittsburgh Penguins still left SAP Center with two points.
They killed off the San Jose power play, then beat the Sharks 3-2 in a shootout.
The Box and the Buzz
A post on X about Letang's reaction from the penalty box has fans talking.
What he said has not been confirmed, and lip-reading from video is guesswork.
The verified part is simple: he was sent off for holding Sam Dickinson's stick.
Why 43 Seconds Felt So Long
Regular-season overtime is played 3-on-3, so a minor in the final minute hands the other side a 4-on-3, a dangerous setup in the extra frame.
It also came right after Pittsburgh let a two-goal lead slip.
Samuel Girard scored on a first-period slap shot and Ben Kindel added a power-play goal early in the third, but Macklin Celebrini scored with 8:28 left and set up Mason Marchment's tying goal at 4:11.
One more mistake could have turned a lost lead into a lost game.
Sergei Murashov made 34 saves through overtime and stopped Will Smith in the third round of the shootout.
Kindel scored on the first attempt and that proved to be the only shootout goal.
That gave Kindel two goals on the night, one in regulation and one in the tiebreaker.
Yaroslav Askarov stopped 33 shots for San Jose.
Pittsburgh escaped with the win, but the third period is the part worth cleaning up.
A team that builds a two-goal cushion is not supposed to need a penalty kill and a goalie in overtime to keep it.
The Penguins host Ottawa on Saturday night, while the Sharks head to Utah that same night.
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