Penguins' Kris Letang: Unavailable Tuesday

Letang (knee) continues to improve, but will not be ready in time for Tuesday's meeting with the Blues.

Analysis:

Letang with miss his fifth consecutive game with this latest ailment, his third extended absence of the year. The oft-injured defenseman has frequently found his name among the Norris Trophy discussion, but he's failed to secure it given his inability to play a full 82-game season. When healthy, the 29-year-old racks up huge minutes for Pittsburgh -- 25:12 on average -- which includes nearly four minutes of power-play ice time. In fact, 11 of Letang's 23 points have been scored with the man advantage.