 The Penguins benefited from the success of several players who were called up from the team 's American Hockey League ( AHL ) affiliate , the Wilkes @-@ Barre / Scranton Penguins . Forward Tyler Kennedy was first recalled on October 27 . Defenseman Kris Letang was recalled on November 13 and immediately contributed to the Penguins shootout , scoring on all of his first five attempts , including during the Winter Classic on January 1 . Of his five shots , three won the game for the Penguins . Kennedy and Letang were selected to compete in the YoungStars competition for rookies during the All @-@ Star break . 
