Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Crossover special with Locked On Rangers...can the Penguins keep it going?

Episode Date: January 21, 2021

With two massive games against the Rangers coming up, Hunter joins Jon Chik of Locked On Rangers for a special crossover to preview these games. They both touch on how their respected teams are doing, as Artemi Panarin continues to be lights out, as does Pavel Buchnevich. Hunter then gets into the obligatory Jack Johnson question and asks Jon just how bad he's been in only four games. Should the Penguins put a tribute video up for him to show his worst plays of the last two years? They also make predictions for these two games, as Hunter thinks this could be the moment when both Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker break out of their funks. All that, plus much more on this special crossover episode of Locked On Penguins!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. All right, welcome back, Ranger fans and Penguin fans. We've got a very special crossover edition for you guys today. This is John Chick with Lockdown New York Rangers, joined by Hunter Hodes of Locked-on Penguins.

Hunter, how are we doing today, buddy? Knock T-Tee bad, man. You know, it looks like the 2021 couldn't save the Penguins injury, We'll touch on that later in this episode. But other than that, I'm doing pretty good today. Yeah, we'll definitely talk about it. And, you know, it's funny because I believe last season, you know, the Rangers and Penguins had kind of an early season matchup, I believe, like early November. And you were actually the first crossover episode I ever did with any of the other locked on hosts.

And, you know, it went great. And I'm thinking like, yeah, you know, we'll have to do this when they play each other again. And then, lo and behold, that's the only Ranger Penguin matchup of the entire season. We get all these games canceled because of the pandemic. but good to be talking some hockey again here for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I feel honored that I was your first ever cross-ever during that season. Yeah, yeah, it's been 14 months.

I checked it today, 14 months since the last Ranger Penguin matchups. So I think we're both definitely looking forward to this. I'm sure both fan bases are looking forward to it. And, you know, so far this season, a little bit of a mixed bag for both of our teams. You guys start with two straight losses in Philly. You bounce back with two straight home wins against the Capitals, one in a shootout and one in overtime. broad question here, but how are you feeling about this team so far, two and two, four games into the season here?

You know, I'm not really sure what to make them just yet. They're kind of a conflicting team. They'll start off the game, you know, playing the 20 minutes of just pure garbage. And then in the second and third period, they just wake up. And then the third period of the last couple games, I mean, they've smothered the capitals pretty well. I mean, in the Sunday game, 11 shots in the last 45 minutes, only 7 and 5.5. and the Penguins played the last game with only four defensemen in the last 25 minutes of the game. And I don't recall the Capitals having a single good look on Casey this minute.

It was just a testament to how great defensively they were. So if the Penguins can play a full 60 minutes and get average goaltending, they're going to win a lot of games. But, you know, they actually have to start the game on time. So we'll see if they can do that on Friday against the Rangers. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, for the Rangers, it's kind of a similar story, although it's weird with them because they start off.

with kind of a flat performance on opening night in Madison Square Garden against the Islanders, arguably their greatest rival. They lose that game 4-0-0. And then they bounce back, and they just look like a completely different team a couple of nights later. They absolutely slaughtered the Islanders 5-0. And then in this last game, you know, I thought the Rangers actually had the better a play,

especially if you take the first 10 or 12 minutes out of the equation. They did start a little slow in the game against the Devils. But I thought they overall played better than the Devils did for the rest of that game. It was just kind of the McKenzie Blackwood show. He made a lot of really great saves, 47 saves, and all, and just kind of stole one from the Rangers there.

But, you know, you mentioned your goaltending as well. And I noticed that Tristan Jerry off to a tough start this year. And, you know, I realize it's only two games. But are you at all nervous about him or are you think he's capable of bouncing back and, you know, being the goalie that you guys all expect him to be? It's kind of a bit of both. I'm definitely nervous about it. There was always a big risk going into this season with two unproven goaltenders.

I mean, Jari doesn't even have 50 games of a sample size for his resume coming into this year. the same was kind of be said about Casey Smith. A lot of people in the offseason argued they should have went after a veteran. I wouldn't have minded it, but, you know, what were the options out there? There weren't, like, too many pretty good ones. They still may do it if they continue to struggle,

but I would expect Jari to start tomorrow. Sullivan said of the media did the other day that they just wanted to get some kinks out of this game, get his confidence back up. And Jim Rutherford also echoed as such in a piece on the athletic today, just speaking to another reporter, and said, yeah, I'm not really concerned just yet. I wouldn't play and put the blame on in for those first two games as much.

But they still need better goaltending. I mean, I think they have the least worst 5B5 goaltending right now. So if they can just get back to the average level with the way that they're playing just to start the game on time. I said, man, this team will win a lot of games. So I'm not concerned yet, but if it continues like this, you know, after maybe about five, ten games, well, more than five games, maybe a lot of ten games, I'll probably start to get pretty nervous. Yeah, for sure, man. And with the Rangers goaltending, it's kind of touching.

go right now. They have announced it's going to be Igor Shisterkin making his second start of the season. And I think Ranger fans, you know, most of us think that he's going to be the man going forward in the short term and in the long term. But I will say he definitely had a hiccup on opening night against the Islanders, letting in four goals. And, you know, it's a situation where he didn't

get much help. I mean, basically nobody played well on the Rangers on opening night. But they ended up going to Georgia for the next game. He, of course, pitches a shutout. And then did not quite play as well against the Devils in this most recent game. But definitely an interesting situation to keep track on both of these teams' goalings. situations because I think it's a situation where, you know, it's a little bit of an open competition

for both. I mean, I think with you guys, maybe Jerry is probably has a stronger hold on the starting job. Would you agree with that? That it's pretty much going to be Jerry over to Smith for the season? Yeah, it is. They were just giving to Smith another start because he came in and provided a big spark in the Capitals game. But it will be Jari's net for most part moving forward. They gave him that nice contract over the off season. I think it's like $3.2 million per year, something like that for a few years. So, I mean, they're going to ride with him for a while, I would think. That makes sense.

And, you know, I was watching the NHL network the other day, and they have this segment on there. It's called patience or panic. And it's basically just what it sounds like. You know, they'll look at some early season storylines and ask each other, do you have patience with this player or are you a little bit panicked about it? And one guy that they brought up was actually of Guinea Malkin. He was off to a slow start after three games. He did get the game time goal against the caps in the most recent game. I saw that.

But, I mean, I'll ask you the same question. that these guys were asking each other. Patience or panic with Havgeny Malkin as far as, you know, somewhat of a slow start for him, at least by his standards. Just a little more patience. You know, I am kind of getting a little bit worried, but I'm not going to push the full-gone panic button yet. He did have a goal in the last game against Washington and then in the third period. You know, I just, I saw that, that classic Malkin just galloping just galloping through people, knifing through defenders like it was nothing, you know, just like the long strides with his skating. That was, that's like the

peak of Gennie Malkin that were all used to. seeing. So, we'll see how he does on Friday. He's been a bit lazy a little bit in the first three games. I mean, he couldn't keep an easy, on the power play, I think there was an easy pass to the point and he couldn't keep it in. You know, he was barely shooting the puck. I think he took them until a third game of the season to register his first shot on

net. And even then, he looked a bit hesitant to do it. But, you know, he had a beautiful slap shot goal against the capitals on Tuesday. So, you know, I'm not really sure what to think yet, but, you know, I'm still in the patience for right now. I think we could see a breakout coming from Gino soon. Yeah, I think it's just too early in general to hit the panic button on just about anybody because, you know, we're only three games into the season in the case of the Rangers,

four games into the season in the case of the Penguins. And, you know, you look at somebody like Evgeny Malkin. That goes doubly true for him because, I mean, you look at the track record that this guy has. I mean, he's been at least a top 10 player in hockey for, what, about a decade now, maybe a little bit more than a decade at this point. Yeah, yeah, honestly, probably since like 2008 or something like that. So, I mean, I'm not super worried yet. I and some others in the fan base have kind of ragged on him a little bit,

just because we all know he has a much higher level to his game. But there's only a week and a half of training camp. They've only played four games. We'll see how he's doing, you know, at like the 10 or 11 game mark. Gotcha. So anybody who's kind of impressed you in the early goings, anybody who's maybe exceeded expectations, and again, I know it's very early, we're just four games into the Penguin season.

But anybody who's kind of jumped out, maybe giving you a little bit more than you would have expected this season so far. Yeah, there's a couple. Mark Jankowski on the third line, side for 700K. Never thought he was going to do anything offensively. He's a lot of the game at the expectation. He already had three points in the team's first four games. John had seven points in like six games last year with Calgary. So he's already basically got more than almost half to that of this year. So him playing with Brandon Tannab. Tannib, he's just, he's a minute.

I know he only played in one games. You see because it was visa issues. He was their best skater against Washington in that game. He was the direct cause of that first goal, just because he came in the offensive zone with such a burst of speed, fired the puck on net, and then the goalie Vanadject just couldn't handle it, and then two of the penguins are right there to just put the rebound back in

and clean up a garbage. So I'm really excited to see how he does moving forward, playing with Cindy Crosby. You all know what you're going to get from Sid. He's been great, too. Other than that, though, I mean, those are the big players, I think, that have stood out. I mean, we all know John Marino is going to keep getting better,

but yeah man it's mostly just been then i mean i would also i guess to finish up chad ruydell came in for cc these last couple games and cc didn't play bad by any means he actually looked fine as a number six guy but you know i don't think chad rewiel deserves to come out of the lineup for how he's played the last couple games i know talking about chad rewiedel can be fun for this fan base but it is time to talk about bet online there's only one place that has you covered in one place we trust that is betonline dot a g you can sign up today for a free account and use that promo code law on for your 50% off welcome bonus. Don't just sit on the sidelines anymore, guys, get in on the action.

Don't forget to use that promo code locked on to receive a 50% off. Welcome bonus with your first deposit. Bet online, your online sports book experts. It's funny you mention that because right now the Rangers are kind of dealing with a similar situation with their defensemen. They've got seven guys for six spots. And, you know, on opening night, Brennan Smith was the odd man out. He was the healthy scratch. And then Tony DiAngelo did not play well.

Again, nobody played well on opening night for the Rangers, with the possible exception maybe being the fourth line. I thought they had a pretty good night. But nobody played well for the Rangers on opening night for the most part. And Tony DiAngelo took a holding penalty and then made the situation as he's going off the ice. He said something to the ref and also slammed the door of the penalty box and ends up getting an unsportsman like conduct penalty on top of that. So as a result of that, David Quinn makes him a healthy scratch for the second game. And then the Rangers, they're fantastic in the second game.

They win the game five to nothing against the very same Islander team that just embarrassed them a couple nights before. And so as a result of that, they keep DeAngelo as a healthy scratch for the third game. as well. I think for this game against the Penguins, I mean, sooner or later, you've got to put Tony DeAngelo back into the lineup. I know his defense can leave something to be desired at times, but he's enough of a force offensively that I think it's worth it to have him out there. And, you know, it's tough because do you take Brennan Smith back off the ice? I wouldn't really want to do that either because I think he's played very well in the two games that he's been out there. I personally would pull your old buddy, Jack Johnson off the ice and make him the

healthy scratch. And you know, I got your old, your best friend, right? Your favorite player. Yeah, I was going to ask you about that, man. How has it been watching him so far? Because, you know, us Penguin fans, we had to go through that hell for two seasons. So I saw he was also trending on Twitter after that last game, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, people were not happy with him. I don't think it's been a complete disaster, but that's about the nicest thing I have to say about it. Because he has not been good.

I think that's fair to say as well. Apparently, Jacques Martin has a pretty big say, you know, your old assistant, coach about which defensemen are dressed on game night. And for whatever reason, he seems to be a huge fan of Jack Johnson. Johnson, on opening night, had a play where he tried to dump the puck into the attacking zone. And it hit the linesman. And the next thing you know, the Islanders are going the other way on kind of an odd man rush and they score a goal. And on one hand, it's like, all right, well, you know, stuff happens.

You know, every now and then you're going to hit one of the officials with the puck. It takes a bad bounce. It is what it is. But on the other hand, it's like, man, this is a pretty simple play, you know, just dump the puck into the zone. don't hit the official. So that was kind of an inauspicious start for Johnson there. But I don't know. I mean, again, I don't think it's been a complete disaster.

I don't hold my breath every single time that he's on the ice. But he hasn't been great either. You know, there was a, he had a turnover in this most recent game against the devil. As I mentioned that sluggish start that they had the first 10 minutes or so. But he was trying to skate the puck out of the Ranger's zone. And somebody basically just snuck up from behind and just took it right away from him. So he has not been great. He has not been great.

but I'm still hopeful that he can at least exceed expectations if for no other reason than the fact that the expectations are so low to begin with. Yeah, I don't really know what the expectations were for him to begin with there. I mean, I know he's only signed for one year at like $1 million, but even then, you know, I don't know what you really expect him to do. Yeah, I see a couple of my Rangers buddies just always complaining about him. I'm like, you know what? That's basically what we were doing for the last two years.

I don't think he's going to get a tribute video in Pittsburgh. I think it would be funny if they did give him one. But, you know, I'm excited to see how he looks coming back to Pittsburgh. What they ought to do is, and I think teams everywhere should do this. If you have a guy who used to be on your team and it didn't go well there, put a tribute video of him on the board before the game, but make it like all of his low lights and just show him like screwing up and just try to get in his head before the game.

Yeah, that would actually be hilarious. I would honestly do that during the game, too, just to screw with him a little bit. Yeah, why not? I mean, it's a very mental game, you know, If you get off your game just a little bit, you know, that can be the edge that the other team needs. Yeah, exactly. I was going to ask, how also has Panarin looks pretty good so far? I mean, I know he had one of the best 5V5 seasons last year.

I mean, I think he should have won the hard trophy. I also saw Zabbanajad battling a little bit of injuries, if I'm not mistaken. Tell me about that. So, yeah, with Panarin, I mean, he's just being Artemmy Panarin, basically. You know, he got a couple of goals against the Islanders and the second. second game and a couple of assists in this most recent game against the Devils. And he just, he's so explosive. There was actually a play, or Brennan Smith, who I just mentioned, who I thought has played

well when he's been in there. He went down and blocked a pass for the Islanders and then got back up all in one motion and just passed right through the neutral zone. Artini Panarans behind the defense, he's flying in all alone. And what he actually did was, and there was a Ranger analyst, Steve Valica, who had great analysis of this. But some goalies in the NHL now, what they're doing with their glove hand is they're kind of cheating up because they expect everybody.

to go top shelf. And Panarin seemed to recognize that, that the glove was already kind of moving up from, I think it was, no, it wasn't Varlamoff. It was their other goalie. His name escapes me right now.

But he saw the guy basically cheating up with his glove and shot underneath the glove for the goal. So just a beautiful goal there. He's just such a great facilitator. His passing is so good. He's put it right on people's tape a couple of times. And it's going to be interesting to see what happens going forward with him because they've kind of retooled that line a little bit.

He's still out there with Ryan Strom. Strom's off to a bit of a slow start to the season. But it looks like on Friday, Pavel Bouchnavich, who's gotten off to an outstanding start for the Reuters, it looks like he's going to be out there with him. I know Pinaran and Bouchnavich are very close. And like I said, Buccanevich has looked really good to start this season. So I'm definitely interested to seeing what that line can do together. And for Zabanaad, you know, with the NHL, they're always so secretive about these injuries. You never know exactly what's going on.

But he was held out of a recent practice yesterday's practice due to what they were just calling a maintenance day. But he was doubled over in some pain during the last. game against the Devils on the bench. So we'll see. It's kind of touch and go. I do believe I remember seeing that they expect him to play, but I don't think anything set in stone just yet. And Mika's Mika, you know, he's going to go out there and he's going to make things

happen. So obviously, fingers crossed that they have him on Friday and he can go out there and, you know, help the Rangers put their best foot forward against a tough opponent here. Yeah, yeah. I always love watching Panarin, man. He's one of my favorite players to watch around the league. I also, you know, I love watching the Banerjadette, too, because he just really can come into his own ever since leaving Ottawa.

I mean, he had that outstanding season last year. I don't know if he's going to have that same kind of season this year. I think he would progress a little bit because I think his scoring was at a pace where it was just like, I don't know how sustainable it was. But I just, those obviously are going to be the two biggest players for the penguins to watch tomorrow. And defensively, it's going to be a big task because Duman and Lattang are going to have to eat a lot of minutes for them.

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And, you know, you mentioned Sabanajad, seeing him come into his own with the Rangers ever since leaving Ottawa. The thing that I love, and I love this about any player in any sport, when you've got somebody who just gets better and better and better, every season that goes by, I mean, that's just so much fun to watch. And, you know, I think we've talked about the five goal performance

that he had against the Capitals on. here in previous crossover episodes that we've done. But that was the night when I think everybody realized just how good this guy really is. I mean, Ranger fans were kind of aware of it because we watch him every night. But that was when I feel like just the whole league took notice. It's like, Loudman. This guy really is like an elite player in this league. Yeah, yeah, he really is.

I just, I love watching them, man. Even though, you know, I'm not supposed to hate the Rangers, but, you know, they have some players there that I absolutely, I love watching. I will go out of my way to always watch Artemey Panera and Zabanajad. know, even Adam Fox, we haven't even got to yet. He's going to be, I think, a top-10 defenseman in this league one day. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of the same deal with him as a lot of Rangers. I thought he had a rough opening night, but, I mean, you'll rarely hear me saying anything bad about Adam Fox

because, I mean, he's just vastly exceeded expectations. I think people knew the offensive parts of his game were going to be there at the start of last season, but he's been very good in his own end as well. I just looks like the total package. I feel like Ranger fans for like 20 or maybe even 25 years. We've always kind of been looking for that next Brian Leach. you know, and I don't know if I don't Fox is going to get there. Brian Leach was a phenomenal player, and Fox is just in his second season.

So he's got a long way to go. But does that upside exist? I think it does. You know, I think he has a chance to be that kind of player. And just, uh, I think so too. Yeah, and just to kind of change gears here a little bit. I wanted to get your thoughts on just the entire season in general. You know, we got this 56 game sprint.

You've got four separate divisions. There's no crossover between the divisions. What do you make about this? Are you into this? Just division matchups this year? Yeah, I actually am, man. I really do think for the division games next season, when they probably go back to being like conference-wide and like league-wide,

they should do these little couplet games like with Washington, with New York, like with the big rivals, just because it will reduce travel and I think it just like ignites the rivalries even more. Playoffs, though, different story. I hate, I mean, you know, do penguins and capital fans really want to potentially face each other 15 times during the season? No, I'm saying with flyers and the penguins,

I mean, would you guys want to face the Islanders 15 times in season? Probably not. Yeah, it's pushing a little bit. I mean, I think eight times, it's a lot. You know, I don't think fan bases can't even handle four or five games against each other. But it's still cool. Like I said, it gets rivalries to another level. But the playoffs, though, I really wish they would have done something different, though.

I do like the playoff format for the last two rounds, like the Stanley Cup semifinals and everything, where they seed them one through four. I mean, for all we know, John, we could have like a Tampa Bay pitch. Pittsburgh Cup or something or a Washington Pittsburgh Cup or, you know, some like Colorado, Vegas Stanley Cup or something, you know, that that is a matchup. You'll probably never see in a Stanley Cup final again. So I do like how the league did that. But, you know, 56 games, obviously there's not going to be any fans for basically all the season

for most teams. But, you know, a lot of the rivalries will really get, I think, much more heated for this season going into next year. Yeah, it's going to be crazy, man. You know, the Rangers just played the Devils. And, you know, the schedule drops. And I'm looking through it. and okay, we got a lot back-to-backs.

This is interesting. Yeah, we're only going to play teams in our division. And then the one thing that just jumped off the page to me was the Rangers and Devils are going to play each other four times in six days. And that's in April. So it's getting toward the end of the season and into the playoff, you know, the push for the playoffs there. And it's like, is anybody going to be left standing when this ends?

I mean, is there anything like that on the Penguin schedule that you've noticed? I don't really think so. I think they have a New York trip coming up where they play. I think they have the Islanders for one. Then they go to New Jersey. Then they go back to the Long Island for, to play the Islanders. So it is a bit, that's a weird one.

I don't really think they play any team three times in row. It's mostly just, I think, all couplets for the penguins. After this, I think they go to Boston. I think they have Buffalo coming. I have to double check the schedule, but it's nothing like, you know, four and six against like Philadelphia or Washington. I don't think they play Washington again for another month. Wow, okay.

Okay, cool. And I figure, you know, we might as well go ahead, give our predictions for, I mean, I guess not just Friday's game, but they play each other on Sunday as a month. well. How do you see this shaking out? I mean, you could give final scores. Anybody going to get on the score sheet for Pittsburgh? What do you expect from these two games here? I think it'll probably be a split. I mean, I know the only just came off two wins against Washington. You know, more deserve, I think they deserve to win both of those games. But, you know, I'm not really sure if they'll get two more wins.

I mean, if they do sweep them, it'll be because Tristan Jari played a lot better and that the defense cleaned up some of the breakdown. So I'm not really sure about the latter one. Marcus Pedersen is out longer term because of that dirty hit from T.J. Oshy, I'm still not over that hit a little bit. Yuselika. He will be also out longer term with, I don't really know what injury he got. I have to go back and watch that game again because I don't remember seeing a replay with his injury. Toby out, that means P.O. Joseph will make his debut, and he came over in the full Kessel trade. That means also Cody Sisi will be in a top four role. So if you want to take advantage of the penguin's defense, this is the weekend to do it, John, because Cody C.C.

We're playing with John Marino, I think, in the penguin's second pairing. But, yeah, I see a split happening. As for some goal scores, I think Sid will get on the score sheet. Obviously, I think Gino will continue to play well. I mean, I'm hoping so at least. And I think you finally see Brian Rusk at his first goal this season. He's been kind of a sleeping giant. He's firing a lot of pucks on net.

And, you know, his time is coming where I think you're going to see a break out from him. And Jason Zucker, too. He's been firing a lot of pucks. I think he's going to get his first goal this season two. Final scores, I think maybe Friday. I think the Penguins will take that one, three to one. And then I think the Rangers on Sunday. maybe three to two, I think.

Yeah, I'm thinking it's probably going to be a split as well, although I have the Rangers winning Friday, and then maybe the Penguins taking Sunday's game. I just feel like, you know, Igor Shus Thirkin's getting back in the net. He actually subbed in for Georgiev in the third period of their most recent game. Again, Georgiev just didn't have his A game against the Devils, and I think they saw it as an opportunity to, you know, give Igor Shus Thirken a little bit of work before, you know,

getting back into the net here against the Penguins. Otherwise, it would have been more than a week since his last game action. But I think he's going to play well. I see the Rangers maybe picking up like a four to two type of win on Friday. And then on Sunday, I mean, I think something similar. Maybe like four to two penguins, three to two penguins, three to one penguins somewhere in that vicinity. But it's tough, man. You know, this is such a tough division that we're in.

And it's almost like to make any headway, you know, you kind of have to split. You kind of have to sweep teams because, you know, there's just, you know, there's so many back-to-backs. And if you just keep splitting and just keep splitting, then you kind of just stay right in the middle there. Yeah, it's the only way to do it, man. I completely review with you. You're going to have to sweep your rival teams if you want to make the playoffs. You know, I mean, that's exactly what the Penguins just did with the Capitol. They got back to 500.

You know, you can't be like just splitting teams because if you keep doing that, I mean, you're like 500 your whole season. So if you want to make playoffs in this division, you've got to sweep a lot of these couplet series. Absolutely. And I wanted to ask you something because, you know, we're all aware that it's a 56 game regular season. Like we said, it's basically just a sprint to the finish. But the penguins, you know, they obviously start with the two losses. or 0 and 2. And then you're in overtime, twice with the Capitals and once going to a shootout.

I mean, did it feel big to you? Did you almost feel like, man, the Penguins have to win these games because, I mean, imagine if they lose both of those games in overtime. Now you're winless and you've only got two points after, you know, four games. I completely, yeah, I completely agree with what you're saying, John. Those were must win game for Pittsburgh, especially in the first game on Sunday. You lose that game in regulation or honestly in a shootout. I mean, you're 0 and 2 and 1, 0 and 3.

that's equivalent to an 0 and 5 and 1, 0 and 6 start in the 82 game season. How many teams make the playoffs after like an 0 and 6 started in an 82 game season, not fully many at all. And then they had to win that one on Tuesday. So they kind of, in a way, save their season with those two wins. It's weird to say that, but in the 50s game season, you need to bank as many points as you can. So now that they're back in it, they're back to 500,

if they want to keep being on a trajectory to make the playoffs, you know, it's got to be another sweep against the Rangers who, you know, they've kind of struggled at times this season, but, you know, they still have a lot of elite players on their team. Yeah, it's funny. You know, calling that a must win, it might be like a slight exaggeration, but it's not a big exaggeration because like you just said, it's the equivalent of starting like 05 and 1 in a normal season.

And, you know, you cannot afford to dig yourself a hole, especially in the Eastern Division, which, you know, for my money, looks to be the best of these four divisions, these four realigned divisions in the NHL. Yeah, exactly, man. I totally agree with what you're saying. You know, there's some other teams, I think, that have started a bit slow as well.

I think St. Louis has also started slow. They got to pick it up. Yeah, just for all the teams that basically started slow, you know, now is the time you got to start banking points and start sweeping some of these teams in your own division. Totally agree, man. So, yeah, listen, Hunter, this is a ton of fun like it always is, and we will definitely have to do this again.

I mean, we've got eight matchups this year, so we'll have to do a couple more crossover episodes. Yeah, absolutely, man. We can definitely do one the next time these two teams play or, you know, if that one doesn't work, we can do it the time after that, for sure. For sure, man. So, Ranger fans, Penguin fans, thanks for tuning in. And we'll see you guys next time.