Letang back in Penguins lineup after broken toe

Kris Letang. (Jeff McIntosh/CP)

Potential Norris Trophy candidate Kris Letang will return to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pens coach Dan Bylsma announced.

The standout defenceman has been out of the lineup since March 26 after breaking his toe while blocking a shot in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Prior to that Letang missed a handful of games with what the team described as a lower-body injury.

The Penguins have been the hottest team in the league since the beginning of March and went 4-2 with Letang out of the lineup.

Letang has 28 points in 28 games played this season to go along with eight penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating.

The 25-year-old Montreal native is the only defenceman in the NHL with more than one point that has averaged one point per game – Los Angeles Kings’ Matt Greene and Boston Bruins’ Torey Krug each have one point in one game.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.