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Tuesday, 26 April 2011 13:00

Written by 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.)

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:"

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:

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)

Comments (11)

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written by Disgruntled Goat, April 26, 2011 - 02:40 PM

The problem, in my opinion, with the duo of Lovejoy and Niskanen is that the whole is much less than the sum of the parts. Neither is a particuarly bad defenceman, but as a pairing, their shared weaknesses are magnified. I'm sure the Lightning are well aware of the fact that they will face little difficulty heading straight for the front of the net when they see #2 and #6 on the ice. This would not be the case if one of them was paired with Engelland. They both are superior skaters and move the puck well, but as a tandem lack the physicality provided by Engelland.

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written by Okel Dokel, April 26, 2011 - 03:00 PM

*t certainly looks like they are worn down, especially Letang. Engellund is a better alternative than Niskanen at this point IMO.

The bolts seem to own the space in front of the net at both ends of the ice.

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written by canadian_bacon, April 26, 2011 - 04:07 PM

Sooo based on Niskanen/Lovejoy being a major Pens weakness, that affects the top 4 pairings as well...

The question is: would you rather have Goligoski (paired with Engellend) and NO James Neal?

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written by tennpen, April 26, 2011 - 06:50 PM

according to Dejan Kovacevic, Niskanen and Lovejoy are still in for game 7. maybe we see Tangradi, but no Engelland. this coaching staff has burnt up a lot of credibility with this Pens fan due to their stubborn refusal to change anything in this series. the PP is still a joke, the PK has been torched, but they dont change anything - its all puppies and rainbows behind the Pens bench. the only reason this series has lasted this long is the 3rd and 4th lines stepped up. if the Pens win tomorrow it will be in spite of this coaching staff, not because of anything positive they have done.

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written by eman41, April 26, 2011 - 07:06 PM

Take a look around at other teams that are in long playoff series. They aren't changing much either. No matter what happens, sometimes what you have is exactly what you have.

Philly's powerplay is 1/31 and they certainly have far greater talent than the Penguins, despite facing Ryan Miller and missing Chris Pronger.

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written by eman41, April 26, 2011 - 07:07 PM

I don't really understand how you can't trust a coaching staff that has steered your team to home-ice advantage and almost 2 two straight division titles.

They are a good coaching group and judging them on a playoff series where they've been stripped of their two most fierce weapons is incredibly unfair.

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written by tennpen, April 26, 2011 - 09:48 PM

points taken but any series is a game of adjustments, and that isnt just systems and tactics, its who is playing and how much icetime they get. i dont see how doing the same things over and over and keeping the same personnel is doing anything to counter what the other team is doing. the lone PP goal the Pens scored was when Tangradi was standing in front of roloson, yet he hasnt played since. the same players that are 1-30 on the PP are trotted out without fail for every PP - give someone else a chance, what can it hurt? the lightning forwards are vacationing in front of the Pens net, i would like to see if a bigger, stronger, more physical defenceman such as Engelland could do something to change that. doing nothing but crossing your fingers and hoping for the best without at least TRYING some different personnel is crazy to me.

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written by jethro, April 26, 2011 - 11:06 PM

Seth--looking for some help/advise here. With Montreal winning, Versus is saying they will show the MTL-BOS Game 7 starting at 6:30. Do you have any idea if Versus will switch to the Pens game when it starts? Or will they show the entire MTL-BOS game before switching over? Need to plan where I am going to watch the game. Thanks! (I'm not in-market for Root Sports, obviously.)

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written by jethro, April 26, 2011 - 11:13 PM

Got my answer from Puck the Media:

"According to VERSUS, they will air Game 7 of the Bruins vs. Canadiens series tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. ET, with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. VERSUS will air in progress coverage of Game 7, Lightning vs. Penguins at 8:00 p.m. ET once the Bruins/Canadiens game is over."

Guess I am going out tomorrow night.

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written by shifty1jl, April 27, 2011 - 03:49 AM

The issue in this series has been special teams. The Lightning have 8 power play goals, to the Pens 1. The Pens have dominated 5 on 5 play this series. However, it seems that whenever they take a penalty it ends up in our net. When we get on the "power play" we can't even gain the zone. I think we leave the D as it is, but they need to find a spot in the lineup for Tangradi tonight.

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written by guino27, April 27, 2011 - 05:35 AM

Don't forget that you need context with this analysis. Teams often have a PP or PK specialist in their 3rd pair which bumps up their ice time even if they aren't being used any more at even strength. Niskanen and Lovejoy get very little of either PP or PK, so their numbers will be very low. A guy like Bergeron on TB is a known PP specialist and will pick up sometimes as many minutes on PP as at ES (which is crazy if you think about it).

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