Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was released from a hospital Sunday but has been diagnosed with a concussion as a result of a scary hit he received Saturday from Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan.
"Like anything else, we'll just take it as a day-to-day thing and we'll see how he reacts and recovers from it," coach Mike Johnston said.
Letang, third among NHL defensemen in scoring with 54 points, left with 4:45 to play in the second period after the hit from Doan. Letang, in the corner behind his net, was shoved backward by Doan after flipping the puck out of the zone.
"I just went to make sure I got a piece of him so he couldn't jump by me and he obviously went into the boards awkward," Doan said. "You never ever want to see anyone like that, especially a guy with his caliber and everything he's went through in the past couple years.
"You feel awful as a player when something like that happens."
Letang, who has a history of concussions and suffered a stroke last year, fell awkwardly with the back of his head hitting the end boards. He remained on the ice for several minutes with the trainer and team doctor before he left the ice with help from teammates Steve Downie and Rob Scuderi. Downie stuck up for his downed teammate when he and Doan fought soon after.
"I have nothing but respect for [Doan]," Downie said. "That's hockey right there.
"[Doan] is not like that. I don't think that was dirty. I think [Letang] fell the wrong way and the distance from the boards and everything. We talked about it and I said, 'Hey, it's kind of got to be done,' and he's not going to shy away from that."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
