RALEIGH, N.C. -- Oh, Kris Letang won the game, all right. Just not how you might think.
Pull up a chair, and let me share a little tale, one that took place several hours before the Penguins' 2-1 shootout victory over the Hurricanes tonight at PNC Arena, one that might well have decided more than the outcome of this single game.
It was the morning skate, and the top power-play unit was working the puck around the perimeter, as it's done effectively for weeks now under Mike Sullivan. It went from Sidney Crosby to Chris Kunitz out to the point to Letang and, finally, across to Phil Kessel.
Zing!
Lasered, top-shelf, over Marc-Andre Fleury's glove. A thing of beauty.
That marked the end of the power-play drill, and Kessel and his mates skated back to center red, Kessel grinning and having a bit of playful fun with his fine shot, as is commonplace. None of it was a big deal. Skates are fun. They're loose.
But it was then that Letang skated swiftly to catch up to Kessel and barked out, loud enough to be heard around the empty arena, "Hey!"
Kessel swung around, as if he knew it was being aimed his way.
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