Kris Letang and Sam Girard Post 67.52 CF% in Penguins Surge

kris letang found a better fit at the right time, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rode it back into their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. After losing the first three games, they won Games 4 and 5 to force a Game 6.

Letang And Girard Drive The Shift

Letang, 39, has been paired with Sam Girard since February after the Olympic break, and the two have been noticeably cleaner in the last two playoff games. The numbers back that up: among defense pairings with at least 30 minutes together on ice in the playoffs, they own a 67.52 CF%, with 79 chances for and 38 against.

That pair also ranks 12th out of 40 playoff defense pairings in expected goals share at 56.26. For Pittsburgh, that is the kind of split that shows a defense tandem tilting more shifts toward the attacking end than it did early in the series.

Penguins Rally After 3-0 Hole

The turnaround came after a rough start against Philadelphia. The Penguins were down 3-0 in the series before winning back-to-back games, and Letang's stronger play was part of that change.

Artūrs Šilovs backed it up in goal, stopping 46 of 50 shots across the two wins for a.920 save percentage. Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins with five points in five games, but the recent push has come from a defense group that finally settled in front of him.

Letang’s Long Penguins Run

Letang has spent two decades with Pittsburgh and has seen the right-side mix change often. Earlier in the season he skated with Ryan Shea on the second pairing, then spent about two months with Brett Kulak before Kulak was traded away in a swap with the Colorado Avalanche.

His career numbers remain strong: 178 goals and 806 points in 1,235 regular-season games, plus 25 goals and 92 points in 152 playoff games. But the current story is narrower than the resume. Pittsburgh needed cleaner work from its top defenseman and a steadier partner, and Girard has given him one while the series stays alive for at least one more game.