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The Penguins, hockey and more, by the PG's Seth Rorabaugh. |
(Note: Game 7 is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.)

Late in the regular season, one NHL coach repeatedly called Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek the best group of top four defensemen in the league. Few would argue that point given how much the Penguins defense improved statistically in 2010-11.
And judging by how he has used them so far in the postseason, Dan Bylsma has validated that notion. All four have played a ton of minutes thus far in playoffs.
But is it too much? Are Letang, Orpik, Martin and Michalek being worn out? We saw all six pairs of defensemen - including Ben Lovejoy and Matt Niskanen (above) - get beaten for goals.
Thus far, the Penguins have used their top four defensemen the most in the postseason.
(Note: For the sake of our list, we designated a team's "top four" in these playoff as those who have the highest average ice time.)
| Team | Top Four Defensemen |
Average Ice Time |
Cumulative Average |
| Penguins | Zbynek Michalek Kris Letang Brooks Orpik Paul Martin |
27:28 26:34 24:49 24:37 |
25:52 |
| Bruins | Zdeno Chara Dennis Seidenberg Johnny Boychuk Andrew Ference |
29:02 28:25 22:30 21:10 |
25:16 |
| Rangers | Marc Staal Dan Girardi Michael Sauer Ryan McDonagh |
28:01 27:01 23:16 22:49 |
25:16 |
| Canadiens | P.K. Subban Hal Gill Roman Hamrlik James Wisniewski |
29:32 25:04 23:24 21:34 |
24:53 |
| Flyers | Andrej Meszaros Kimmo Timonen Braydon Coburn Matt Carle |
26:28 24:50 24:07 22:30 |
24:44 |
| Capitals | Scott Hannan John Carlson Karl Alzner Jeff Schultz |
25:11 25:09 23:35 23:15 |
24:17 |
| Kings | Drew Doughty Willie Mitchell Jack Johnson Rob Scuderi |
27:03 24:17 22:42 20:49 |
23:42 |
| Blackhawks | Duncan Keith Brian Campbell Brent Seabrook Chris Campoli |
26:59 26:02 22:49 18:55 |
23:41 |
| Canucks | Dan Hamhuis Kevin Bieksa Alexander Edler Christian Ehrhoff |
24:36 24:35 23:33 22:18 |
23:30 |
| Predators | Ryan Suter Shea Weber Kevin Klein Jonathan Blum |
27:28 26:29 20:27 17:55 |
23:04 |
| Sabres | Chris Butler Tyler Myers Marc-Andre Gragnani Jordan Leopold |
24:35 23:44 21:45 20:06 |
22:30 |
| Sharks | Dan Boyle Marc-Edouard Vlasic Douglas Murray Jason Demers |
27:10 21:20 20:02 19:54 |
22:06 |
| Ducks | Francois Beauchemin Cam Fowler Lubomir Visnovsky Toni Lydman |
23:32 22:13 21:21 20:09 |
21:48 |
| Lightning | Eric Brewer Victor Hedman Mattias Ohlund Brett Clark |
25:48 22:16 20:18 18:50 |
21:48 |
| Red Wings | Niklas Kronwall Brian Rafalski Brad Stuart Jonathan Ericsson |
22:24 21:19 20:50 19:36 |
21:02 |
| Coyotes | Keith Yandle Michal Rozsival Adrian Aucoin Rostislav Klesla |
25:50 19:54 19:17 17:43 |
20:41 |
And not surpisingly, the Penguins haven't used the bottom pairing of Lovejoy or Niskanen a great deal. Here's how they stack up against the other 15 playoff team's "bottom two:"
| Team | Bottom Two Defensemen |
Average Ice Time |
Cumulative Average |
| Capitals | Mike Green John Erskine |
21:00 15:39 |
18:19 |
| Sharks | Ian White Niclas Wallin |
17:32 17:10 |
17:21 |
| Red Wings | Nicklas Lidstrom Ruslan Salei |
19:34 16:18 |
17:56 |
| Lightning | Pavel Kubina Mike Lundin |
16:54 15:08 |
16:01 |
| Rangers | Bryan McCabe Matt Gilroy |
19:13 15:40 |
17:26 |
| Bruins | Tomas Kaberle Adam McQuaid |
20:13 14:33 |
17:23 |
| Blackhawks | Niklas Hjalmarsson Nick Leddy |
18:44 14:53 |
16:53 |
| Canadiens | Jaroslav Spacek Brent Sopel |
17:58 14:52 |
16:25 |
| Sabres | Mike Weber Steve Montador |
16:45 15:45 |
16:15 |
| Coyotes | David Schlemko Ed Jovanovski |
15:54 15:24 |
15:39 |
| Ducks | Luca Sbisa Sheldon Brookbank |
16:29 14:35 |
15:32 |
| Kings | Matt Greene Alec Martinez |
16:44 13:29 |
15:06 |
| Canucks | Sami Salo Keith Ballard |
15:27 12:52 |
14:09 |
| Predators | Shane O’Brien Cody Franson |
15:24 13:00 |
14:12 |
| Penguins | Matt Niskanen Ben Lovejoy |
13:12 11:07 |
12:09 |
| Flyers | Sean O’Donnell Danny Syvret |
13:47 7:35 |
10:41 |
A few of the names on the "bottom two" which obviously stand out are Lidstrom and Green, both all-stars. Their teams have been able to limit the minutes for the 41-year-old Lidstrom and Green, who has dealt with head injuries. Coincidentally, the Red Wings and Capitals won their first-round series in four and five games respectively.
To break it down even further, here's the difference in average ice time for all 16 teams "top four" and "bottom two" defensemen:
| Team | Top Four Average Ice Time |
Bottom Two Average Ice Time |
Difference |
| Flyers | 24:44 | 10:41 | 14:03 |
| Penguins | 25:52 | 12:09 | 13:43 |
| Canucks | 23:30 | 14:09 | 9:21 |
| Predators | 23:04 | 14:12 | 8:52 |
| Canadiens | 24:53 | 16:25 | 8:28 |
| Kings | 23:42 | 15:06 | 8:36 |
| Bruins | 25:16 | 17:23 | 7:53 |
| Rangers | 25:16 | 17:26 | 7:50 |
| Blackhawks | 23:41 | 16:48 | 6:53 |
| Ducks | 21:48 | 15:32 | 6:16 |
| Sabres | 22:30 | 16:15 | 6:15 |
| Capitals | 24:17 | 18:19 | 5:58 |
| Lightning | 21:48 | 16:01 | 5:47 |
| Coyotes | 20:41 | 15:39 | 5:02 |
| Sharks | 22:06 | 17:21 | 4:45 |
| Red Wings | 21:02 | 17:56 | 3:06 |
We have to imagine the Flyers' numbers would be more to the middle of the pack if all-everything defenseman Chris Pronger was completely healthy. With that assumption, the Penguins would have the most imbalanced defensive workload in terms of ice time.
Can the Penguins keep on leaning on Letang, Orpik, Martin and Michalek? Or do than need to rely on Lovjeoy, Niskanen or even Deryk Engelland more?
The real question might be, can they rely on the bottom two?
(Photo: Abelimages/Getty Images)

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