"It seemed, at the time, to be a completely unnecessary penalty. Looked that way in hindsight, too.

But Kris Letang saw things a bit differently from ice level Saturday as the middle of the third period in the Penguins' 2-1 victory against Boston at TD Garden approached.

He figured he was doing something that might help the Penguins to preserve their one-goal lead.

They were up, 2-1, and on a power play when Boston's Daniel Paille tripped Letang in the neutral zone. That could have put the Penguins in position to score an insurance goal on a 25-second two-man advantage, but, as Letang sprawled on the ice, he picked up the puck, then dropped it before shooting it toward the Boston end."