Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can the Penguins force a GAME 7?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pittsburgh Penguins will have the chance to bring the series back to Pittsburgh for game seven tonight when they take on the flyers in game six. Hunter and I are going to get you set for that game on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Wednesday edition of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4 Wet, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can follow us just about everywhere on social media. You know that if you're listening in, but it is a big one tonight in Philadelphia,

Starting point is 00:01:01 Game 6, Penguins and Flyers. Rare new start time for this game. 7.30. Every game in this series has been 7 o'clock or 8 o'clock. This one is 7.30 in Philadelphia. So make sure you are ready for that. And if you're watching us on YouTube right now, you're probably thinking maybe Hunter and I swapped here

Starting point is 00:01:25 because usually he's the one with the curly hair, but here I am with nothing in my hair because that's what I have done. done for the last two games when they have won. And when your backs are against the wall, you stick with what works. But Hunter, you think you got early here by the way. But come on. People that are watching on YouTube. Is that Joe Brand?

Starting point is 00:01:47 No, I don't like Joe Brand that much. I don't know why Pat thinks this, but you got nothing on. But probably beats cut here. But enough about our hair styles. Let's talk about the game. Hunter. I'm going to really dig into my Penguins fan nerddom here. And all I can think of is Tom Barrasso in one of the two Stanley Cup videos from the 90s

Starting point is 00:02:13 when they were talking about a first round series against the Capitals saying they never wanted to be in this game. We knew we had to get to this game. And right now, that is where this iteration of the Penguins is. And here's where I'm going to start with this. I don't want to make this. sound like I'm putting the white flag up before anything happens tonight. But all of the pressure is now squarely on the shoulders of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Starting point is 00:02:41 Because should the Penguins drop tonight's game, the discussion will be, hey, good effort, pulling yourself out, but you can't fall in a three-nothing hole. If the Penguins pull this out tonight, all the talk shifts to, oh, my God, are the Flyers going to blow this. So if I'm the penguins, I'm sticking with what is work the last few games. And I'm not going to say I'm playing loose, but you once again don't really have much to lose because now the pressure is not on you. It is on your opponent. It is. And you know, I'm just going to keep calling it the Wells Fargo Center. I'm sorry. I know it's not called that anymore. I'm still going to keep calling at that. But you know that barn is going to be rocking for this one. It's going

Starting point is 00:03:28 be a crazy crowd. They're going to be nervous, but they're going to be still really excited because they have an opportunity to see their team advance to the second round of the playoffs. If you can get them out of it a little early, put a goal up on the board, make it one nothing help at. You even make it two nothing in the first period. That crowd is going to get annoyed. They're going to get angry, and they're going to voice their frustrations to their local

Starting point is 00:03:53 team. And that's where I'm focused on, and on the Penguins. a fast start. You know the flyers, in my opinion. I think they're going to come out looking for blood. They're going to have, or try to have, excuse me, a really fast start, considering the way that these last two games have gone. You know, this is their third opportunity to close this series out.

Starting point is 00:04:13 And I think you're seeing a young team kind of have some trouble in that area just because they haven't had the experience of, you know, just winning that fourth game. It's called the hardest game of the series to win for a reason. and you've seen them struggle with that these last couple of games. Obviously, the Penguins upping their play has been a big factor as well. But I do think part of it is that the Flyers just haven't had that experience of closing a team out just because a lot of these players are in the playoffs for the first time. So if you can get an early one in the first, hell, even another one,

Starting point is 00:04:47 get a 2-0 lead at some point in the first, maybe even take that into the first intermission. You can have that seed of doubt creep into the fans' minds, but especially the player's minds, because they were looking a bit tight during game five. They were looking a little nervous. I think they're going to be nervous to start the game, but they're also going to come out with a lot of energy trying to get that first goal in the first side of 10 minutes.

Starting point is 00:05:08 That's what I'm going to be looking for here, man. You've got to at least survive those first side of 10 minutes, and if you can get a goal or two, even better. But we see them play with the lead these last three games. That's going to continue to be a key for me in this one. But if you can take that crowd out of it early, that's huge. Discipline is the biggest factor for me going into this game because I'm going to give myself one of these little pat on the back because I was listening to the sheet with Jeff Merrick. And when they do, I only really listen to it when Wosinski's on for my throwback Merrick versus Wyshinsky days.

Starting point is 00:05:45 And Wyshinsky's on the Penguins Flyers beat for ESPN this series. And guess what Wyshinsky called Philadelphia. The same thing I have been calling it. a Roman Coliseum. That crowd wants a nasty game. They want physicality. They want to annoy the other team. So for the Penguins tonight, you cannot get sucked into that.

Starting point is 00:06:09 You know that the Flyers are going to try. It's human nature. When you get that positive reinforcement loop that anytime you throw a hit, anytime you get in a fight, anytime you start the post whistle scrums, that crowd loves it. So if you're the penguins, you cannot get sucked into that tonight. Along with that, I want to build off what you said. The first five to seven minutes are going to be a storm.

Starting point is 00:06:36 That place is going to be deafening. We have our rivalry and our chirps back and forth with Philadelphia, but that is one hell of a place to play. And those fans bring it every single time. So you know the flyers are coming out. fast. They're coming out furious. And I know that we'll have comments and say, oh, just push back. Listen, it's going to be difficult.

Starting point is 00:07:01 They're going to be shot out of a cannon. You have to play very simple, mistake free for the first five to seven minutes. Let the game settle in and then get to what you're doing because that first five to seven minutes, the first shifts everybody in Orange will get. They are going to be flying. They're going to have that energy. They're going to have that adrenaline, but it wears off. So for the penguins, everything has to be simple in the first five to seven minutes.

Starting point is 00:07:28 You're not trying complex breakouts. You're not trying anything crazy in the neutral zone. Gain the line, put it in, go to work. And as you said, take the crowd out of it. Yeah, it's got to be very similar to what they were doing in the third period of these last three games where they're just locking it down, keeping the flyers to the outside. they gave them a couple of looks in those third periods, but, you know, nothing huge. Like it wasn't every shift or every other shift. It was, oh, a shift here and there, and that's really it.

Starting point is 00:08:04 That's what you got to do to start this game in the first five to seven minutes. The first five minutes I always kind of refer to as, you know, the quote-unquote vibe check. I want to see how they play, see how they settle in. If they're scrambling in their own end, if they're having trouble breaking the puck out, if Artie gives up a soft goal, I'm like, okay. You know, the vibes are really bad. But if you know, if they're settling in, they take an early lead or, heck, they're pushing the pace of play to start even though there's no score.

Starting point is 00:08:28 I'm going to be like, okay, they are passing the vibe check. And speaking of already, I want to see him have another strong start here. I mean, he's played very well in these two games. Even in game five, the flyers came out really hot. They had seven of the first nine or tenish shots in the game. But he stood tall. He made a lot of big saves. You're going to really need him to stand tall in those first five to seven minutes for game

Starting point is 00:08:49 six, because you're going to be tall. you know Philly's going to come out with a lot of energy. They're going to try to fire more pucks onto the net, just because that's something that Rick Talkett has continued to talk about over these last couple of games. They're going to try to get to the middle of the ice a little bit more, and that falls on, A, already making the saves that they come through, and B, the Penguins' defenseman trying to keep them still to the outside,

Starting point is 00:09:08 not surrendering those high-slot, high-danger areas. That's going to be huge. And not just in the first five to seven minutes. That's going to be huge all game. The Penguins did. a really, really good job in game five, shutting down the middle of the ice in their own end. If you look at the heat map on natural statric from five on five play in game five,

Starting point is 00:09:33 the flyers were not often in the middle of the ice. There were a lot of perimeter shots. There were a lot of hope shots where they were hoping for a rebound, a tip, a deflection. And the penguins uncharacteristically, I might add, did a good job making sure she, Leavs can see the puck, making sure that the second chances were cleared to the corner or cleared out of the zone or behind the net.

Starting point is 00:09:57 So that has to continue for the whole game tonight in Philadelphia because they have shown, they showed us in the first three games. If you surrender the middle to this Flyers team, and I know I'm not breaking any new ground or crazy analysis, most NHL teams, you surrender the middle of your own end, they're going to make you pay. but they gave up the middle of the ice a little too easily in the first three games, and it led to them being in a three-oh hole. They cleaned up that part of their game in the last two,

Starting point is 00:10:31 and what do you know they found some success? So you brought up Archer Sheelovs, but let's park that there for now and bring that up in the second segment because I do want to talk about the goaltending matchup going into tonight's game. So hang with us. We're going to talk about that when we get back. right after this. But before we do that, we have got a couple of sponsors.

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Starting point is 00:14:00 We're back here on the Wednesday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And before we jump back in, if you were an everyday listener of this show and you never miss an episode, it's time to make it official. It's time for you to join the Locked-on Everyday. Club where you'll get ad free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and so much more. It's all built for you, our most loyal fans. Just head to Locked-on Podcasts.com slash everyday or club to learn more.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Hunter, this to me tonight is the biggest matchup to watch in this game. It is the battle between Archer Shilovs and Dan Vlodar. I said it on our Tuesday episode. This is a bit of a goofy matchup when it comes to goalies. And it included when Stuart Skinner was still starting for the Penguins. These are two goalies, three goalies, I should say, where neither of them are going to steal you a game. They might play really well.

Starting point is 00:15:10 They'll be solid performances. They'll be mostly consistent. But every game for all of these goalies, there's usually one where you go, he probably should have had that. So while I'm not going to complain if Archer Shilovs tonight puts up a 35 save, shutout performance and steals the game,

Starting point is 00:15:32 I'm not expecting him to do that, but for the Penguins to force game seven and send this back to Pittsburgh, he is going to have to be their best player. He's up there. He's got to be up there in terms of being one of your best players. I'll know if he has to be your best player. but I think he has to continue doing what he has been doing for these last two starts.

Starting point is 00:15:51 He is a 920% percentage in these last two games. Three of the four goals he allowed, he had no chance on. I didn't like the first goal to he allowed in game five. However, he more than made up for that with a handful, probably more than that, of huge saves down the stretch and throughout that game, especially the one on Martone with less than a minute to go in the third period of game five. huge save there. It seems like as the stakes have gone up, he has played better hockey,

Starting point is 00:16:22 and that needs to continue tonight in Game 6. We've seen him play very well in high stakes moments, even before he was here in Pittsburgh. You go back to that series when he was with the Canucks against Nashville. He took the Oilers to Game 7, had a couple of really nice games in that series, played well at the World Championships, played well for Aventford in the HL last year. So he has a history of playing really well when this takes are high. And you've seen it here these last couple of games.

Starting point is 00:16:52 It's got to continue tonight. For Vladar, obviously he was great in the first three games. And I don't think he's been bad for these last two. I think shaky at times is probably a better description for it. Like, you look at game four, had the bad goal to Ricardo O'Kell. Very weird bounce in game five, not much he can do there. But still, he's looked a little tentative at times these last couple of games. I don't know if he still banged up from that potential injury that he had, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:20 that whole situation with Brian Rust earlier in the series. But he's just looked a little tentative in these last couple of games. And, you know, let's see if the penguins can continue testing him from those high danger areas. That was something that I really talked about for the Tuesday edition for recapping Game 5 was game 5, I felt was the first time they really tested him from a high danger perspective. They were getting to those high slot areas and they were making him work. for those saves. They weren't doing that a lot in those first three games. He was playing well still, Pat. Don't get me wrong. But I still don't think they were testing him enough. Now, they're starting to do it a bit more. And yeah, he's made some saves, but you've seen him be

Starting point is 00:17:59 also human at times too. Like, you know, he's not a machine. So if you can keep doing what you've been doing at five on five as of late, getting to those high danger areas, those areas in the slot, testing him, you'll also have a pretty good shot at winning this game. Another thing for me, in, you know, we've seen the penguins, you know, they're grinding these winds out. But I'm also kind of waiting for that big explosion, third most goals in the league. Is that going to happen at some point in this series? Game six, Pat, that'd be a hell of a time for it. Like, we saw this team score a lot of goals throughout the year.

Starting point is 00:18:34 And I understand, playoffs are a different animal. The games are tighter. Teams prepare for you, you know, and all that stuff. but could we see an explosion of goals for the penguins? I've been waiting to see it for this series. No guarantee that we're going to get it. But it's something that I have had in the back of my head. We haven't seen that dominant victory from them yet.

Starting point is 00:18:59 And they're starting to play a bit better these last two. Are we going to get that one, though, where we saw it a lot during the regular season where they would blow some teams out. Again, just throwing it out there. No guarantee, but it's something that I've thought about. I want to flip that on its head a little bit because I agree with your point that there were several moments during this season where the offense just absolutely exploded. And they did it against Colorado at one point, a team that is arguably, I don't even think you can say arguably, is the favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

Starting point is 00:19:35 and that was a team that looked invincible for the majority of the year. They had some slips and stumbles, but for as good as they were, it was rare, and one of those stumbles was against the penguins. But I think with the team that the Flyers are in the way that they have been playing in this series, a six or seven or eight goal explosion, I think, is kind of out of the realm of possibility. just because they even in these last two games, they have still been somewhere between really good and adequate defensively. There hasn't been any real cracks in that armor.

Starting point is 00:20:15 The penguins have just found a way to respond to it better. I don't think they've truly broken it, but they have adjusted well enough to almost neutralize it. But the way I look at it is I don't think the author, needs to explode per se. I don't think they need to go out and put up a seven spot on the flyers, though, much like I said about Sheloves, you won't find me on this podcast complaining the next day if they put up seven goals. They just need to be more opportunistic. That means hitting the net more often than they have because they have missed the net a lot in this series. They need to take

Starting point is 00:20:58 advantage of the chances they get. They need to leave no doubt to quote, remember the Titans. They have to put the puck in the back of the net when they get their chances. That means Igor Chinikov. That means Anthony Mantha. It means the fourth line when they get opportunities. It means that second line of Novak, Malkin, and Chinikov. They have to find the back of the net. And obviously, your first line of Rust, Raquel, and Crosby, you know that they're going to play that grinding game against the Flyers defense. But whether it's Rust getting that mini breakaway thing that he got in game five

Starting point is 00:21:33 where Vladar made a big save. He buries that. It's a whole different game. Crosby on a couple opportunities. If he can bury one, the thing is, and I'll just wrap it up here with this part of the podcast, is when you get your chances,

Starting point is 00:21:51 make no mistake on them. Because if you can put up three or four, the Flyers as talented as they are, the way they're playing this series, if they've got to chase you down on a multi-goal lead, it's going to lead to them making mistakes. It's going to lead to them having to break their own system a little bit, and that plays into your hands.

Starting point is 00:22:12 I agree. And going off that, again, like the penguins have played with, you know, the lead a lot more recently. And, you know, you had that two-goal lead in game five. Yeah, I know they blew it for a little bit before the penguins quickly took the lead right after. And then they close it down in the third period. You all know the rest of the game.

Starting point is 00:22:28 the game with how that went. But the Flyers, you know, they're not built to really play from behind just roster-wise, in my opinion. So again, you get up by a couple of goals. Hell, maybe you go up three-nothing for the first time. You're going to have them uncomfortable, and they're going to try to take risks that you could potentially punish in transition, because we have seen the Penguins transition offense do really well this season. So again, that's something that I'm looking for as well. Pat, again, Again, if the power play gets hot, that's another thing that I'm looking for. I said it on the Tuesday show, I'll say it here.

Starting point is 00:23:06 If the power play is average in this series, I think the Penguins are the ones up three to right now with a chance to close out. Obviously, that has not gone according to plan. The Penguins Power Playwright has not been very good in this series. And yeah, the Flyers Power Players Power Play has also been abysmal so far as well. But if the Penguins Power Play can finally figure things out a little bit, you know, that ups their chances as well to get this series back here for a winner take all on Saturday. That's another unit that I'm really going to be watching carefully tonight. They do have to step up.

Starting point is 00:23:38 And I'll echo what I said on Tuesday. They need one or two just because their confidence is hurting. And you could see that in game five. I don't think it was so much a lack of process or a lack of talent or even a lack of will. they're just their second guessing themselves they're playing not to make mistakes rather than to score and that is strictly a lack of confidence and for a unit that talented i'll reiterate it again i know we have made the suggestion on this show especially myself that they need to move some personnel around and all of that but upon watching the way they played in game five that's a unit

Starting point is 00:24:21 that has enough talent and did well enough in the season that you have to, unfortunately, because it's another do-or-die game, you've got to let them try to work through it. Because if you're trying to switch too much up, it's just going to throw more wrenches into the system. So you've got to hope that they can get a goal or two, get their swagger back, and that'll make a real difference for them as they look to push this to game seven. But that's going to do it for this middle segment. When we come back, we're going to talk about a couple of more players who need to step up.

Starting point is 00:25:00 And you know what? We're going to ask the question. Can they do it? So stick with us. We're going to get into all of that when we come back right after this. But we've got one more sponsor to get to. And that is Kalshi. The hunt for the Stanley Cup is on.

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Starting point is 00:25:58 So for a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10. That's K-A-L-S-H-I-Col-She trade on anything. We're back here on the Wednesday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And you just know you got to say it. You just have to say it. Number 87, Sidney Crosby needs to do what he has done for 20 years when he goes into Philadelphia. He needs to bury this team.

Starting point is 00:26:40 He needs to have a monster night because not only does he look absolutely locked in right now, he gets a goal or two in that building with what is at stake. that place is going to get quiet really, really fast. I agree. And you saw the look that was captured on Sportsnet, Pittsburgh last night. Colby Armstrong was going crazy about it on the broadcast. He even posted this still shot on social media. You know what I'm talking about.

Starting point is 00:27:11 It was Sid's very serious look, his locked in look, if you will. He's ready. He wants to try and make penguins in initial history. because the penguins, they have never done this before. They have never come back from three games down in a series before. They are halfway there. There's still a huge mountain to climb. Like, you're starting to get yourself out of it, but you still got two more games.

Starting point is 00:27:40 You focus on the game in front of you, as I keep saying. The only thing that matters is tonight. You win that one. You live to fight another day. You can keep chilling with your teammates, having fun before you have a winner-take-all. for game seven. But the focus, the singular focus, has to be on this game. You keep seeing, damn you just talk about it. The players talking about it. You know, we got to win this one game. Said it for game four, they want it. They said the same thing for game five. They want it. Now they're

Starting point is 00:28:05 saying the same thing for game six. And, you know, Sid, he's found his legs. He's going to work down low. He's been really good in his office. He's been a solid playmaker, especially these last couple of games. You saw him score that goal in game four. If he has another big night here, you know, again, it's going to be, you know, that much tougher for the Flyers to close this series out on home ice. This is the toughest game of the series so far for the Penguins, and it's not really close. Now, if you win this one, Pat, game seven will probably get toughest game just because, you know, you're trying to close out the team that you, you know, came back to at least tie the series with. But right now, you're down 3-2.

Starting point is 00:28:42 You're going back to a building that's going to be crazy. We all know it. This is going to be your toughest game of the series. And it's got to start with the big guns leading away. I also want to see another good game from Gino. I thought game five, really quiet. He still had a really good series, but he was quiet in game five. I want to see him have a really good game six here.

Starting point is 00:29:01 He didn't look like he had his legs too much for game five. I'm hoping that's going to change here for game six. Chris Letang, you and I have talked a lot about him these last couple of games, how good he has played after three really rough games. Him and Gerard need to continue to have a really, you know, solid. They obviously had a couple last good games, but they need to continue that momentum into game sex. Sometimes words are hard here, people.

Starting point is 00:29:28 But another player, Pat, and we talk about him a lot, Igor Chinokov. It's got to be Igor Chinokov time here. I know he struggled in this series. He's still getting chances. He's just firing the puck either wide or high of the net. I want to see him have a big goal or two here in this game. It looks like he's getting close to breaking out.

Starting point is 00:29:47 If he can pot one here, that's also going to help quite a bit as well. So those are just a few of the players that I'm hoping that really step up. And Eric Carlson, I don't think he's been bad in this race. That's not really fair to say. But I know there is a much higher level that he can get to because we saw it to end the regular season. We get playoff EK here. That's also going to be really tough for the Flyers to stop.

Starting point is 00:30:10 So again, let's see how they do here, man. I'm excited. Either way, win or lose, this has been a blast of his season. Also a really fun series. I want everyone to embrace this game. This is what you live for this time of year. A chance to tie up a series after you were down 3-0, a chance to send it back to Pittsburgh for a Game 7

Starting point is 00:30:33 to try and make history in the NHL and as a franchise. Just embrace it and have fun with it. These opportunities don't come around very often. You took the words right out of my mouth. is stressful as watching these games have been. When the adrenaline wears off, when you're looking at it a day after or the day before another game, this has been a ton of fun because it's a new chapter in what is

Starting point is 00:31:04 I'm going to put my flag in the ground and say the best rivalry in hockey. Penguins Flyers is the best rivalry in the sport. in these two teams through five games and hopefully through six and seven will continue to deliver on that. So let's be sports talk radio for a quick second to end the show. Hunter, plain and simple, do the penguins do it tonight. I'll say this. I'm not going to make an official prediction because every time I do this, it goes poorly. My soccer team plays at 3 o'clock today. Whenever they do poorly, I sometimes get a little bit of weird vibes.

Starting point is 00:31:50 Hopefully that doesn't change for today. They have a huge first leg for their semi-final against Athletico Madrid. I'm going to see how that plays out and see how the vibes are going into the penguin game. It may sound very weird, but I've just noticed a pattern when Arsenal plays well. So do the penguins. Again, it's going to sound weird to everyone listening to this slash watching this. it's just something that I've noticed. Every time I make a prediction, it goes the other way.

Starting point is 00:32:13 So I'm going to pass this off to you. I'm also not going to go full prediction, but I feel more confident going into this one than I have the rest of the series because I do think the penguins have successfully shifted the pressure back to the flyers. Oh, yeah. And just the way that this team is kind of focused on one game. And even though they're saying singularly, focused on the game in front of them, they're not tense. You looked at all the reports from

Starting point is 00:32:43 the practices, the morning skates, the plane rides. And I don't want to say that they were having fun, but they weren't wound up. They weren't worried about, oh, my God, what happens if this, this, this, and this happens. They're focused on playing hockey. And I think that the way they've played the last two games, they've gotten their confidence back over. overall. They look like the team we expected to see going into this series. So I feel confident that they have as good a chance as any to do it. So really, really looking forward to this one tonight. Remember, as I said at the top of the show,

Starting point is 00:33:27 7.30 tonight in Philadelphia, Penguins, Flyers, Game 6, with a chance to bring this series back to PPG. Paints Arena for game seven. But that is going to do it for this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Hunter and I will be back with a new episode on Thursday, recapping this game and maybe getting ready for game seven or talking about the end of the season. Regardless, we will be back on Thursday. So thank you, as always, for tuning in to the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:34:07 we will talk to you once again on Thursday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can the Penguins force a GAME 7?

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