It could have been worse.

The Pittsburgh Penguins went into Columbus on Friday night to tangle with the Blue Jackets, their Metropolitan Division rivals, and came away with a point in after a 2-1 overtime loss. And playing without Olli Maatta - out six weeks after hand surgery - and a concussed Justin Schultz, it's safe to say Pittsburgh will take the result, especially in a building that's been tough on opponents in 2016-17.

Related: Pittsburgh's top 3 deadline options with Maatta on the shelf

If Friday's game is any indication, it appears Mike Sullivan and the Pens are going to be relying on 25-year-old Brian Dumoulin while Schultz and Maatta are sidelined.

A steady contributor who played more and more as last season went on, and in the playoffs as the Penguins marched to the Stanley Cup, Dumoulin played a career-high 27:59 on Friday, including a whopping 25:03 at even strength. He and Kris Letang saw the majority of action on the blue line, with Letang logging 29:24 minutes.

Letang's used to that kind of workload - he went into Friday's game averaging 25:18 in ice time. Dumoulin's been playing 19:44 a night, so that's a massive eight-minute jump for the young man playing in only his second full NHL season.

The returns, though, were impressive. As noted, Dumoulin logged a ton of ice at 5-on-5, and finished the game with a 56 percent Corsi For rating at even strength (28 shot attempts for to 22 against), according to Hockey Stats.

Dumoulin and Letang have spent the majority of the season playing together, and when they're on the ice, the puck's in the opponent's zone. The pair went into Friday's game having played over 450 minutes together with a Corsi For rating of 53.69 percent, according to Corsica Hockey.

Here's how the Penguins' defense was used Friday:

It's worth noting that Dumoulin didn't see any power-play time, instead logging a team- and game-high 2:56 shorthanded. Columbus went 0-for-3 on the power play.

Looking ahead, the Penguins will play a great deal of hockey over the next six weeks - like seemingly every team in the league. March is especially brutal, with 15 games scheduled in 29 days.

Support may be on the way if Schultz is able to return sooner rather than later, but the Penguins would be wise to add some help on the blue line. If Pittsburgh wants to defend its title, it's going to play another 20-odd games in the spring, and that's a lot of additional hockey for Mr. Dumoulin and Letang.

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