Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can this Penguins power play be fixed before this weekend's back-to-back?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Penguins are looking to get back on track this weekend as they have a back to back with two good Atlantic Division opponents. Hunter and I are going to break down that and more on this edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. You're Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome back to the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Patrick.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4 Wet. Join as always by the illustrious, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can follow the show's Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. And we thank you for making this your first list and slash watch of the day. You can find us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. And today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use Code Locked on NHL for $20 off,

Starting point is 00:01:09 your first purchase. So we deviated from the schedule. Surprise, we're here. We had things to talk about things to say because even though it was a one-nothing loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday, still a lot of things to discuss here. And I just want to get this out of the way right off the jump. Hunter is traveling right now for the holiday. So as you can see, his background's a little different.

Starting point is 00:01:31 There may be some technical difficulties. Please bear with us if there is because sometimes it happens. Hey, it's the unspoken occupational habits. of our business of media. Sometimes you run into technical difficulties when you travel. So we appreciate you guys bearing with us if sometimes it gets a little choppy. But we're going to do our best to keep this one on track. So Hunter, I listened to your solo episode yesterday as I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for all the people who came to visit my place. Shout out to all them. I appreciate you guys for at least humoring me and saying I can cook, but a different discussion, different day.

Starting point is 00:02:07 So I also wanted to hop on an episode today and talk about the power play because It's time for you to talk, Pat. I said what I needed to say about the power play. I roasted it for nine to ten minutes. What do you think about that God-awful unit right now? Here's where I want to start, okay? And I said this on Twitter and I got a little bit of pushback, which is understandable because it was right after the game.

Starting point is 00:02:33 And regardless, if you're a diehard hockey fan, I say this all the time. If you're listening to a show like ours, you're the 1% of the 1% of hockey fans because you're actively seeking out hockey discourse. You're not tripping falling into it. I can't blame it totally on Todd Reardon anymore. I just can't. I'm not going to sit here and say that he's blameless because he absolutely is not. When a unit is looking this poorly, it's everybody's fault top to bottom. If I can cross sports here in our fair city, it's the same thing with the Steve.

Starting point is 00:03:07 dealer's offense. I was a fire Matt Canada guy and I still am and was and it's a good thing that he was, but it wasn't entirely him. Just like this power play, I don't think it's entirely on Todd Reardon. He has blame. It's a big part of it because if you're coaching the unit, you're the de facto leader. So when it's failing, everybody points to you as a problem. Now, the thing I will say, I was in the building on Wednesday night against the Rangers. And I saw all five of those power play opportunities. And I have to blame personnel more than I do coaching right now because the couple of times the second unit came out on the ice,

Starting point is 00:03:49 they got into the zone. They got some chances. They did some work on the power play. Was it great? No, I'm not going to sit here and say flip-flop the units because it wasn't like the second unit came out and lit the world on fire. They didn't. the sad part of it was the bar is so low right now they came out and just looked like an average power play

Starting point is 00:04:09 and everybody was like oh my god they're crushing it and no they're not but the best way i can describe it is that this pop power play unit plays like they are entitled to a goal they play like they're going to take the ice and the opposition is going to go who a lot of talent on that power play we might as well just quit. They don't skate very hard. There's not a ton of hustle. They don't pick up rebounds. They're apparently allergic to going to the front of the net because even a hundred year old Jonathan Quick on the Rangers on Wednesday night looked good. And this goes for five on five as well, but they didn't challenge him. He wasn't screened often. He saw everything that was thrown at him. And there was maybe one or two chances they got where they made him move side to side.

Starting point is 00:05:03 And I don't care if you're playing Igor Shisterkin or Jonathan Quick or Casey to Smith. If you're not going to challenge a goalie, you're probably not going to score. You watch that top unit and nobody got in front of Jonathan Quick to obstruct his view. Nobody was crashing the net during shots. By the end of the game, they were so frustrated they were just shooting at range. Rangers forwards. Like, everybody was like, oh, my, like, as much as I can't totally disagree with the shoot it crowd, like, by the third period, I was sitting, the people sitting next to me,

Starting point is 00:05:37 we were like, come on, shoot it. And like, they got their wish. And then they were shooting it right into Rangers defenders. So, like, this unit can't continue to exist the way it does. And as we saw from just about everybody that covered practice on Thanksgiving morning, Mike Sullivan and Todd Reardon have. completely put the power plays in a blender. The top unit at one point on Thursday morning was Crosby, Gensel, Hinoistroza, Carlson, Zahorna. And why not? Why not put it in a blender? I have never

Starting point is 00:06:12 been a big proponent of splitting up Sidney Crosby and of getting Malkin on the powerplay. I've always thought it was foolish. But I don't think I've ever seen the powerplay this bad during their tenure here. So at this point, you kind of honestly have no choice but to experiment with them on their separate units. If it doesn't work, okay, you can put them back and maybe make some other changes to that unit. But I have no problem with that, with them doing that right now. Excuse me. I really agree with everything you said during that, Pat. Just too much perimeter play. The shot that they did take were not good enough. They have not had a strong net front presence since, obviously, Patrick Hornquist left. I think that is a big need for the penguins

Starting point is 00:06:51 right now. But, you know, those players are very hard to find. They do not grow on trees, my friends. I mean, the heck. They had to get Patrick Horanquist, they had to give up James, you know, who was a very good goal score. I know he's not that anymore. Obviously,

Starting point is 00:07:03 it's been a long time, but he was still one of the best goal scores in the league at that time. So they're missing that. And overall, it's just a complete failure of a unit. I said during my show on Thursday, when you weren't there

Starting point is 00:07:15 and you were busy cooking up your meal, I said it was 60% of the players, 40% of Ty Reardon. Because I didn't think Reardon has some control over things like the zone entries, who goes out there and whatnot. But I don't think he is telling these people, oh, yeah, let's pass it along the perimeter for the full minute and a half to two minutes when both units are out there. Oh, let's take the war shots imaginable.

Starting point is 00:07:37 No, he's not telling them to do that. I think, honestly, the Penguins top players might be ignoring him a little bit, saying, oh, we're the big guns. We're going to do what we want. And we're not going to listen to you when it comes to this. And you're seeing why they probably should be maybe listening to Reardon a little bit more. I'm not going to sit here and say that, you know, Weirden is not to blame because I do think he should share some of the blame. And if he got fired, I wouldn't mind it. But the bottom of the line is, man, this unit is costing the valuable points and wins in the standings.

Starting point is 00:08:10 And it needs to change if this team wants to make the playoffs. I probably said that 5,000 times during my 12-minute show on Thursday. I apologize. But I'll keep saying it until this unit actually start showing some progress. Yeah, they have to. And maybe it's just, and this is where we'll end it before we move on here and talk about the back to back. But maybe it's a symbolic thing that you fire him, just to send the message that, you know what? You guys, almost to the point where you make him a sacrificial lamb and you say, you guys did that.

Starting point is 00:08:43 You got him fired. We don't think he's that bad of a coach. But if you guys are going to do this under him, he's gone and it's your fault. And you have to pick it up. And if not, you're gone next. And lastly, before we go here, I said this to a couple people just in person when we were talking hockey on Thanksgiving, because nothing says hockey like American Thanksgiving. But if nothing else at this point, like I say all the time, if Bob Aries cured everything was to play physical, my cure to everything is to simplify. At this point, change your power play to a basic overload and just shoot the damn puck.

Starting point is 00:09:21 just put somebody in front, overload them at the point of attack, and shoot every chance you get. And if you start building on that, you start scoring goals, you start seeing progress. Maybe we go back to an umbrella. Maybe we go back to a more passive kind of catch the mismatch systems. But right now, it ain't working whatsoever. So we're going to leave it there. And when we come back. This season on the power play people, three for 31.

Starting point is 00:09:48 That's pathetic. It's terrible. So we're going to leave it there. We got two games to talk about. They're playing the Sabres tonight. And then Kyle Dubus' old friends come to town on Saturday. But first, this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Now, it's that time of year where sun's going down early.

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Starting point is 00:11:39 I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. joined as always by Hunter Hodes on this surprise Friday episode that we decided to sit down and hit the record button. So, as always, thank you for making us your first listen slash watch of the day. So tonight, Buffalo Sabres, they're heading up north to good old Buffalo, New York to take on a young and up-and-coming team that's had its struggles this year. But this could be a good get-right game for this team because Buffalo has been struggling a little bit as of late overall. But, you know, they played well against this team before. And I do think that this is a game where you look at what they're bringing to town.

Starting point is 00:12:14 The big news is that Zach Benson is going to play and he's going to stay up with the big club. So congratulations to him all things considered because that's one pickaway, man. He was one pick away. He really was. I love Brady-Yaguer man. He's off to one heck of a star for his junior team. But I can't lie. I would have been really excited if they got their hands on Zach Benson with how good he's been already for the savers.

Starting point is 00:12:42 Did you see his first NHL goal a couple days ago? Oh, it was unbelievable. The goal to be able to do that as a rookie, just. to say, you know what, say, you know what, I'm going between the legs and I'm just going to casually score my first goal like that. But this is a good team. And, you know, they have, like we talked about before, I think a lot of people, including us, kind of put this team a little bit further ahead than they were. But I always say it with young teams like this. And I want to get your thoughts on the Sabres here in a sec is one of the best things about the NHL becoming a young

Starting point is 00:13:20 man's game now is that rosters like this don't know how to know any better. It's like you talk about that first goal by Zach Benson. Can you imagine 10 years ago some rookie trying that that wasn't a first overall pick? Like they just wouldn't. The game is it's such an incredibly skilled and talented era that you see a guy like Zach Benson just coming to the NHL that is likely going to get sent back to his junior team comes in and says, you know what, no, I'm going to have such an impact. as a rookie that you're going to be forced to keep me.

Starting point is 00:13:53 So again, I think this is going to be another one of those nights where the advantage for the penguins has to be in net. I agree. You know, Alex Adelkevich, he's going to get the start tonight. I think that's what we discussed earlier this week, man, where Delcovich was going to get this one. You go Tristan Jari for the game against the Maple Leafs, a much, well, I guess I'll say it. A much better team.

Starting point is 00:14:15 No offense to Buffalo. They've been fine this year, but let's face it. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a much better team than this. them at this point so far this season. So I have no problem with that goalie schedule for this one, especially in Dadelcovic coming off a really strong start against the Vegas golden nights this past Sunday, got the shutout, and he had one heck of a weekend, I should say, down it looks very obviously, then comes up to the Penguins.

Starting point is 00:14:36 If he can provide them with strong goaltending in this one, penguins will obviously have a great chance of winning it, but this will be a Sabres team and no Tage Thompson in this one, that is massive, one of the best goal scores on the planet, a penguin killer. He always scores it feels like against the Penguins outside of the game earlier this year, where the Sabres were shot out. And of course, thank you to the Penguins schedule makers for that one, because the Sabers had played the night before, so they were a bit tired, I think, coming in.

Starting point is 00:15:01 But outside of that one, it feels like he always scores against the Penguins. He's going to be out for a little bit, had six goals, 12 points and 16 games this year. But you always have to be out on the lookout for Rasmus Dahlene, one of the best defense in the league. He has 16 points in 19 games. J.J. Paturka, really good player for the Sabers this year. Eight goals, 15 points, and 19 games. see the middle stats been more to playmaker this year, 12 of his 15 points or assist.

Starting point is 00:15:24 Jeff Skinner's playing well. You get Alex Tuck, Dylan Cousins, all those good players and such. But for the Penguins to win this game, I honestly want to see them do what they did this last game against the Sabres a couple weeks ago where they did a good job keeping them to the outside. I mean, yeah, the Sabres had 11 high danger chances at 5-on-5. But I don't really feel like when I was at that game that they were all that threatening. and honestly for the entire game, all situations-wise, they only had 11 high-danger chances.

Starting point is 00:15:51 I will take that any day of the week. So if you can bring that same game plan up to Buffalo that you had in Pittsburgh against the same team where you were limiting their chances to the outside, you were winning the battles in the neutral zone, we were winning the special teams battles, and you were getting the edge in that because Pekeleukinin, especially had a big softie in that game from Drew O'Connor,

Starting point is 00:16:09 if I remember correctly, you can get that kind of balance, get the good goaltending on your side. I think the penguins can definitely win this game before coming home to play the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. This is still a really big game for them. Yeah, and Oka Pekalukinen has had a nice little bounce back since then. He's up to his save percentage to 9-11. He's got a 7-4-3-0 record 4-3-1 OT there.

Starting point is 00:16:34 But at the same time, you know, like you said, this is a team that you have to play. They don't have as much depth. as it seems just yet. Because a lot of these guys are still developing. They're still figuring it out. You know, like you said, Rasmus Dahlin, four goals, 12 assists and 19 games for 16 points. He's looking like the real deal.

Starting point is 00:16:57 You still have Owen Power who looks pretty good. Jeff Skinner's Jeff Skinner. Like he has decided to remember that he's Jeff Skinner again, which is great news for Buffalo. So this isn't going to be an easy one. Buffalo is no longer a laughing stock team. They are a team on the come up. And, you know, you look at their record, you look at the standings and you're like, you know, they're eight, nine, and two.

Starting point is 00:17:22 But they're in a very good division. They have played some fairly good hockey. And like we said, when they played them last month, their biggest issue that they were having was that they couldn't get a save. They could score some goals, but they just couldn't keep them out. So if they start to find some goaltending in Peckalukinen or even Devin Levi or, yeah, Devin Levi, like maybe this team turns it around. So we'll see.

Starting point is 00:17:47 But, you know, for the Penguins to win this one, they kind of have to do what you said they did last time is just keep this team to the outside. And if they do get a high danger chance, it's got to be a one and done. You can't let them sustain it. You've got to clear the zone. You got to clear the front of the net. And you got to keep, you have to keep Nadelcovic, not so much sheltered, but you have to keep him in a position where he can make the easy saves.

Starting point is 00:18:12 I agree. Yeah, you don't want to have to rely on him to make all these high danger chance saves. And, you know, for the high danger chances that he saved against Vegas, he did a really good job on them. But the Penguins, I thought, also did a great job of limiting Vegas's chances in those games. And obviously, Vegas, with how potent they are offensively, that's a job well done by the Penguins and their staff. And, of course, that was, you know, five shoutouts in 17 games,

Starting point is 00:18:35 which is crazy considering the Penguins only had two last year. But I agree with you overall. And it will be Peckalukinen in net tonight for the Sabers. it's not going to be Devin Levi. So Penguins have another crack in him. They did well against him a couple weeks ago. Obviously, they got that soft. He passed him.

Starting point is 00:18:50 Curious to see if they can do that in this one, too. But, you know, I'm really excited for this one. Again, I know I'll keep saying it. I had this Sabres as a playoff team this year. But I think with the record right now, this just goes to show how hard it is to take that next step in the league, man. Like, oh, like this team is, you know they're coming.

Starting point is 00:19:08 They have a lot of young talent. They got some good offensive players, some good players on the back end. They have a young stud in net who looked really good towards the end of last season. But it's so hard to be like, you know what? We're ready to take that big leave and play, I guess, with the big dogs. You know, for example, Detroit, they had that red hot start to the season. Now they've fallen back down to Earth again.

Starting point is 00:19:27 And it's like, oh, are they ready to take that next step? You know, same with, you know, Autowoc, all these couple of these other teams, Atlantic, you can go to the Western Conference as well. It's just so hard to take that next step. And it's why you've seen the Sabres a little up and down so far this season. They're coming off a four three loss of the capitals. and the capitals continue to win, even though their underlying numbers are atrocious,

Starting point is 00:19:45 but when you have good goal tending and when Dylanstrom is playing really well, I guess you can get some wins there. Before that, maybe the Blackhawks 3-2. They lost to the Winnipeg Jets, lost to the Bruins, and then obviously the Penguins. So they are reeling at least a little bit right now, but still, despite that, with how offensively potent the savers are,

Starting point is 00:20:04 this is going to be a tough game for the Penguins. Yep. And lastly, but not leastly, we learned this morning that Brian Rust will not play tonight, but he has been skating and progressing. We could see him tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafs. We'll see how that goes. But we're going to talk about that Toronto game right after this.

Starting point is 00:20:22 But first, we have to tell you about game time. Now, I have told this story on the podcast before. It is one of my favorite game stories ever. It's when a friend of mine and I went to a Penguins game at the old Mellon Arena. We bought tickets from a scalper. They worked. They scanned and ever. everything.

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Starting point is 00:22:09 HL for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. We're back here on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you so much for tuned in to this one. I'm one of your host Patrick Damp, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. And, oh boy, a little bit of drama. A little bit of drama on Saturday. The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming to town. Kyle Dubus's old squad. Yeah, it's not that big of a deal. because if you read Chris Johnston's piece today in The Athletic about it. Let's say the drama for when they go to Toronto and then you hear the booze for Kyle Davis.

Starting point is 00:22:49 That's going to be the real drama here, people. But still, it's going to be a fun game, but continue. But if you read Chris Johnston's piece in the athletic today, who if you're not reading his work, I don't know what you're doing, he's fantastic. But it's kind of a ho-hum kind of thing for everybody involved. The Toronto Maple Leafs outside of Captain John. Thavaris, who even kind of said, you know, I loved the guy, loved playing for him, loved everything you did, but this is business.

Starting point is 00:23:17 You kind of move on. And Kyle Dubus is outside of just a couple of things, hasn't really talked about the departure from Toronto. So just kind of a fun little narrative that people can talk about, but it's not going to play that big of a deal. If we talk about the team on the ice, it's the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's a great hockey team. And I know that they're constantly meme.

Starting point is 00:23:40 because they can't get it done in the postseason. But at the end of the day, we're not anywhere near the postseason yet. So we're playing a very, very good Toronto Maple Leafs team. But I will say they are starting to have some of the issues the penguins are having right now. Their top six right now is tremendous. Matthew Nyes is one of the better young players in the NHL. Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nielander, just absolutely. elite talents.

Starting point is 00:24:12 But two of their big acquisitions this offseason haven't exactly panned out all that well yet. And that's Tyler Bertuzi and Max Domey. Now, it looks like they're starting to get it together. They're starting to find a little bit of a rhythm here. But I do think for the penguins and Maple Leafs right now, if you put age to the side, you're looking at two teams that are very similar in the way they're built. Yeah, man, I agree. And as to your point about, you know, Domian and Pertuzi,

Starting point is 00:24:41 eight and nine points, respectively, in 17 games for them so far this season. Not good enough, but you said it. They're starting to wake up at least a little bit. I feel really bad man for John Klingberg. He looks like he was placed on LTIR. I don't know if he's going to play again this season. At least that's what Elliott Freeman and a couple of the other insiders are reporting.

Starting point is 00:24:59 And that's a shame because I do think he brings quite a bit of offense when he is healthy. It's just his defensive game is not usually there. But this Maple Leafs team, man, they have been quite a bit of fun to watch. You know, Nealander, he's in the Heart Trophy conversation, 27 points in 17 games. Austin Matthews, we all know how good of a goal score he is, 14 goals in just 17 games. Mitch Marner's been great. You know what you're getting from John Tavaris.

Starting point is 00:25:22 You know what you're getting from Morgan Riley. Matthew Nyes has also been good. Heck, Callie Yarncrook is producing this year. He has four goals and nine points. This is a super deep team, even without the Ryan Reeves drama. And yes, I still find it hilarious that they A-signed him and, B, they're just continuing to make a meme out of themselves when they talk about, oh, he wasn't on the ice to be a deterrent and all this stuff. It's like, whatever. I find that whole thing absolutely hilarious. But this is still a team that is built to go for in the playoffs. They broke their curse in this past season in the playoffs. Now can they take that next step? Obviously for the penguins, got to shut down their top guys. I mean, that's the obvious thing here. But the Maple Leafs, they are just such a lethal team. And I will say again, depth-wise,

Starting point is 00:26:07 they're also pretty solid as well. I mean, again, Max Domey's starting to wake up. Young Kruk has been pretty decent this year. You got Nick Robertson, the young player. You got David Kempth, who was signed over the off season. Noah Greger defensively, you have T.J. Brody, who I once thought was one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL. He's still pretty decent, not as good as he once was,

Starting point is 00:26:26 but I still think he's fairly underrated. You got Jake McCabe there, Mark Giordano, Connor Timmons, and then Annette, you know, Joseph Wol, Ilya Samsonov. I actually thought Joseph Wall was just a regular run-of-the-mill call up last year and then I got ratio by Leifes fans saying like he's going to be really good. So I was like, okay, I was probably wrong about that. And so far this season, he has been at least decent. So we all know how tough this game is going to be, especially on the second half of the back to back. So the penguins are going to have to, I think at least really simplify things if they

Starting point is 00:26:54 want to come home with the victory. Yeah, this is going to be another game that we've talked about ad nauseum where they have to be disciplined. They have to be willing to play defense. Otherwise, if they try to make it a track meet, they're going to get out. absolutely slaughtered. And listen, if I can compliment the Toronto Maple Leafs real quick. And it isn't really so much of a compliment as it is just something that I think is astounding. Austin Matthews at this stage of his career is on a faster goal scoring pace than Alex Ovechkin was. That's scary, man. It is scary that if he keeps this up, and obviously it's a big if, considering how productive Alex Ovechkin was or has been throughout his career.

Starting point is 00:27:39 Could he break Alex Ovechkin's goal record at some point? I mean, we might have to start asking that question. If he keeps producing at this level for the next, I don't know, three, four, five, six, seven years, even more than that because he has been, as you said, super productive, but keep going. Yeah, it's in, I absolutely outside of, you know, the Ryan Reeves drama, because like I said before, that's the arrested development meme of, we're going to sign Ryan Reeves to be a deterrent. I should say it's on Alex Lavechkin's record for second most goals all time.

Starting point is 00:28:11 And obviously, he still has the most. Apologies. You know, as the U.S. development medium goes, you know, we're going to sign Ryan Reeves to be a deterrent. Other teams have done it. Did it work out for them? No, but it just might work out for us. But anyway, yeah, this is a really good team.

Starting point is 00:28:26 And I do think that the penguins historically, at least the last couple of years, have struggled against this Toronto Maple Leafs team. So between playing a younger team that you can get yourself back on track against tonight in Buffalo, then you can play a legitimate contender in the Atlantic in Toronto. Two games would be really nice to get at least a point out of. One of them you would like to get two clean wins, but we'll see. So again, tonight, a little bit of an earlier start because it's the Thanksgiving showdown, 6 p.m. in Buffalo. you can catch that on TNT or Max.

Starting point is 00:29:04 Used to be HBO Max if you want to watch it on streaming. And then tomorrow night is a Sportsnet, Pittsburgh game again. So if you're looking for it there, you may, and you don't get that channel. You may have to hit the high seas and find it somewhere else. But I think that's going to do it for us on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We will be back next week. We will recap the weekend and get you ready for the week ahead on Monday. For Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:29:28 Thank you so much for listening. And we will talk to you next week. Thank you.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Can this Penguins power play be fixed before this weekend's back-to-back?

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