Cross post. Saw this comment in another thread, and decided to post it here as well. Not sure what implications (if any) this has on how our D are perceived and what impact this might have on them going forward into the future.
After reading this comment, decided to go have a look at the TOI of some of our blueliners. Was a little surprised - especially with these three. I thought Schultz was getting more TOI then this, and was surprised at how many minutes Cole and Lovejoy were getting - especially with how meh Lovejoy has been in the last two games I've been able to watch (vacations/road trips are hell when it comes catching games).
Letang playing so well is probably a huge reason for the other guys doing well. He takes so much pressure off of them and allows them to be sheltered. If Cole/Schultz/Lovejoy were playing 17 minutes a game I doubt they would look so reliable.
Just an FYI. Cole over his last 7 games has played: 16:59, 16:39, 20:16, 16:02, 16:14, 21:41 and 16:28 for an average of: ~17:45.
Lovejoy over his last 6 games (since coming back from injury) has played: 18:56, 21:06, 19:05, 16:00, 19:30, 20:26 for an average of: ~19:14.
Schultz despite how well he's been playing, has been playing very limited minutes. Less than 13:13 in 4 of his last 5 games, and only averaging about 14:15 over his last 8 games (Mar 20).