Kris Letang Injury: Updates on Penguins Star's Recovery from Foot Surgery

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup title Sunday with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 6, but it was revealed in the aftermath that defender Kris Letang underwent foot surgery before the series started.

Continue for updates.

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Letang Had Infection Under Foot

Sunday, June 12

Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reported the defender “had to go under the knife” because of an infection underneath one of his feet after the Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.

The Stanley Cup Final may have turned out differently if Letang wasn’t able to play, especially since he was brilliant for the Penguins during their closeout victory Sunday. He scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the second period, less than two minutes after the Sharks tied it at 1-1 on Logan Couture's goal.

The Penguins shared a replay of his goal, which came after some impressive individual stick-handling:

In addition to the game-winner, Letang posted a plus-two rating and three hits during a team-high 29 minutes, 23 seconds on the ice Sunday. He finished with 15 points in the postseason, five of which came against the Sharks.

“If that wasn't the best game Kris Letang has ever played, it's certainly right up there,” Ken Campbell of the Hockey News opined.

That is high praise, considering Letang is a two-time All-Star and tallied a career-high 67 points this season on 16 goals and 51 assists. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has been with the Penguins for his entire career and will not be an unrestricted free agent until after the 2021-22 campaign, per Spotrac.

Even if there were any lingering effects from the surgery, Letang was one of the critical pieces in Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup title run. Now that the series is over, he will have plenty of time to heal before he returns to help the Penguins begin their title defense in 2016-17.