Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Despite another shootout loss, Penguins have a SUCCESSFUL road trip!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pittsburgh Penguins are returning home after taking five of a possible six points on a pretty tough road trip. We're going to talk about the shootout loss to the Dallas stars, get you set for the rest of the week, and talk a little bit of international hockey. We're going to do that right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcasts. part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Monday edition of the 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,

Starting point is 00:00:47 joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. You can also find us on Instagram at Lockedon underscore Penguins, and we are also on TikTok at Locked on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube, and if you follow us on YouTube, which you should.

Starting point is 00:01:22 Make sure you've hit that notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we try. drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. This episode is also brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app now, create an account, and use promo code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Stop me, ladies and gentlemen and Hunter,

Starting point is 00:01:46 if you have heard this one before, the Pittsburgh Penguins were losers in the shootout, this time on Sunday evening against the Dallas Stars, a three-two loss. but we're not going to worry too much about the loss itself because the penguins take five of a possible six points on a three-game road trip. And that is just about as good as you can ask for,

Starting point is 00:02:11 especially when you consider the quality of opponent. You've got the Philadelphia Flyers, who the penguins appear to be right back in the mix on a rivalry with. So you can just throw out records, rosters, and everything in between when those two teams get together. Then they get a massive win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, silly as that game was, as we talked about in our recap. And then they play pretty damn well for, I'll say, 57 and a half out of 60 minutes against a really, really good Dallas Stars team. Some bad luck with icings and players getting trapped out on the ice leads to them tying the game.

Starting point is 00:02:52 But then the Penguins pretty much pick back up where they left off the rest of the game. and overtime they unfortunately can't find the winner and again the penguin shootout struggles continue so here we are but on the whole hunter i'll say this i wasn't worried per se going into the dallas game because of how well they've played for the most part this season but kind of the same way i did against tampa bay i go into that game and think okay this is arguably one of the biggest tests of the season, they didn't just pass it. They passed it with flying colors because for the majority of that game, they took it to the stars.

Starting point is 00:03:34 100%. And they were playing a perfect third period until the fourth line was caught out there. icing happens. And then credit to the Dallas Stars coaching staff for seeing that there was a mismatch there. And they were able to put out basically their six man Olympic unit, Pat. That's basically what it is with how much talent that they have with all their star players and they kept moving the puck ground and I'm like okay I feel like it's only a matter of time before they tie this just because the fourth line couldn't get clears hell they couldn't even get the puck because the stars top players had it the whole time and

Starting point is 00:04:06 they did a great job distributing it getting the high quality chances and then they found a tying goal with less than two minutes to go just sucks that that was an icing and the penguins couldn't put out their main guys for the six on five still one of the things I do think they need to work on is defending six on five situations. I think it's not just a one game thing. It's been several games where this hasn't been as strong as it usually is in past years. So that is something to work on, not trying to be too negative on the show because I thought they played tremendous against the stars, but it is something to work on. Outside of that, I agree with you. I thought they were the better team in this one. The underlines would agree. I mean, they held the stars to not even point five

Starting point is 00:04:47 expected goals at five on five in the third period. They were keeping them 100% to the outside. It was one of the best third periods I had seen them play before Dallas tied it in the six on five situation. And by the way, yes, if my voice sounds a bit hoarse today, woke up with a sore throat. I guess it's that time of year, winter starting where people start getting at least a little bit sick. But again, I love the play of the fourth line before they got trapped in.

Starting point is 00:05:11 I thought Achari, his first game back, was really effective, had a nice flight leading to Connor Dewar's goal. Blake LaZot was good, and then of course, Carn Dewer gets the goal. Tommy Novak also had another real-year game. Great deflection off of a rocket from Crystal Tank, when he also thought played fairly well. I do think Sid was a little bit off tonight.

Starting point is 00:05:29 That's now a couple games in a row where his game hasn't fully been there. It's not going to be a long-term thing. We all know he's going to be totally fine, but it's two games where I still, we know the level that Sid can play at and the level that he has played at this year, and he's going to find that form for the, the rest of the seasons, just two games where he wasn't at what we saw in Philadelphia,

Starting point is 00:05:50 which, again, it's, it's fine. But you had the second line, which I actually felt was okay, even with Kevin Hayes filling in for Evgeny Malkin. It doesn't sound like that injury is too serious, but I thought Brazo was totally fine. His first game back, Manta had some good quality chances. Defensively, I liked Carlson and Watherspoon again. Again, I thought Latang and Shea were mostly fine, too. The bottom pairing is what it is, wasn't really good.

Starting point is 00:06:15 And then about overtime, Tristan Jari, let's, well, kudos to him, man. I mean, he was tremendous all game long, another high quality start from the Penguins number one netminder right now. He made a couple of saves on Jason Robertson that you just shouldn't be making. I mean, these were insane level saves. And hell, he gave them a shot in the shootout, man. First two saves. It's not his fault of the Penguin shooters throughout nothing original. and pat let's just get into that right now it is beyond time for dam news and the rest of the staff

Starting point is 00:06:50 to put out new shooters in the shootout brian russ is two for his last 12 in shootouts he does the same move christ let's hang he does the same move like if it's not the forehand a backhand which he usually does it's the backhand of forehand i don't need to see it anymore man i don't know why he keeps even getting opportunities and shootouts anymore said i get why when you look at the history, but he also has not been converting on any shootout attempts for the most part recently and also just does the same thing. A lot of these are the same moves. Give me something original, man, because these attempts were just honestly laughable. It was a joke. And even putting aside my take that, and I think you saw it with everybody involved on both teams once again, and you've been

Starting point is 00:07:36 seeing it throughout the league, that it looks like players are just over this. They're just done with it. they don't want to do it anymore, but you, you're right. At this point, it can't hurt to try other players in the shootout, especially some of the newcomers and the young players just see what they have. Because if there is one thing I will say, even though I do still feel that the players are over this and just done with shootouts, the footage is out there on those three guys. Goalies know what they're going to try and they know how to counter it. So it's both a matter of those players having to adapt and put some new tools in the toolbox,

Starting point is 00:08:13 but also the fact that the book's been written, published, and it's probably on the New York Times bestseller list at this point of what moves they're going to try to do. So you really just have to find different moves, different personnel, and try this a different way. I also want to add this about Crosby. I liked his game against the stars a lot more than I did against. the lightning. I compare the two this way. I thought his game against Tampa Bay was off. I said it as much on the show. I look at his performance against Dallas and that's a game that Sid has had so many times in his career where it's going to pop. He did a lot of really

Starting point is 00:08:56 good things that just didn't either result in a chance or didn't result in a goal. And you look at it and go, all right, it's going to pop here soon because he's doing the right thing. he's in the right places, he's making good decisions, he's doing the things that only 87 can do. That was kind of the opposite against Tampa Bay. Against Tampa, he was just a step behind. He obviously took the penalty. He played frustrated. I didn't see that against Dallas.

Starting point is 00:09:22 Against Dallas, it was just a night where it wasn't there, and you'll have that. And finally, fourth line, man. They're going to get dinged because they were out there for the tying goal. And I also, I'm not going to talk. totally disagree with what you're saying about they need to get better at six on five. I think they do. But I also think last night was more of a bad luck scenario. They get an icing.

Starting point is 00:09:48 They're trapped out there. It's the end of a long shift. Dallas, like you said, essentially has an Olympic level top unit that good luck countering that no matter who you are, let alone the penguins. But if they're able to get a clear, they're able to get a change, I think they're going to be able to get a better unit out there and probably survive it, but prior to all of that, that was one of the best games. I have seen a fourth line on the Penguins play in a long time. And it was vindication for your boy because that line of Dewar Lazot, Achari was making

Starting point is 00:10:23 things happen all night long. And that is a really good fourth line if they can keep this level of play. Yeah, I thought Achari was especially really good in his first game back. I thought Lazot was great too. All three of these players on the, a fourth line of a Charlie Lazot endure, they feed off one another. So it's also why I don't envy the coaching staff. We all know it's probably going to be haze when Malkin comes back from this injury. Again, I don't think it's anything serious. They cancel practice today, which is unfortunate because I wanted to see if he was

Starting point is 00:10:54 going to be a practice today, but they're home for the next five games. So I'll be up at Cranberry this week. I'm sure Gino will be back to practice some point this week. But it's probably going to be haze when he comes out when Gino comes back, right? But when Raquel comes back, I am really curious to see who comes out of the lineup. Is it someone like Tommy Novak, who has been really heating up for the last couple weeks? Is it Achari, who, again, he's been fitting in really well with Connor Dewar and Blake Lazott. So I don't know if the coaching staff would break up that fourth line.

Starting point is 00:11:25 It's definitely a great problem to have. I'm just curious to see what happens. But they were all over the ice in all three zones. Outside of the six on five, I thought they were good defensively. Lazotte was a hound on the puck as usual. Connor Dewar, really nice one-timer to open the scoring. I still think he is the straw that stirs the drink on the fourth line. And then Achari, we all know that he can be physical.

Starting point is 00:11:47 But he was also making a couple of nifty little plays with the puck that. I was like, ooh, jot that back down. So I thought as a whole, the fourth line was very strong in this one. And even though they only got a point, it stinks that they didn't get the regulation win, because that also would have been big. you look at the east right now. They are third in the conference in points percentage, 630, only behind the capitals and the hurricanes.

Starting point is 00:12:12 If you go to the rest of the standings, they are in the first wild-front spot right now, Pat, but they have games in hand on virtually everyone, three games in hand on the islanders, one on the hurricanes, three on the Washington Capitals, and they have four games in hand on the New York Rangers. Obviously, the only thing that matters is that you win these games in hand, but the fact that they continue to get points,

Starting point is 00:12:33 4-1-1 in their last six. This can hopefully mean good things now that they're going to get healthier and they're playing a much better brand of hockey than what we saw for most of the month of November. But I'm getting really close to saying that this is a legitimately good team. I think I have arrived at the point where they're going to be in the playoff mix all year. I'm very confident in saying that as of this time on December 8th, 12.30 p.m. Eastern Time. This team will be in the playoff mix all year.

Starting point is 00:13:01 but I'm getting closer to saying that this is a legitimately good team. I want to see how the rest of this month goes. But so far, I am a really big fan of the way this team is playing. They passed both of these tests with flying colors. I know the Tampa Bay game, that's a game they won that they should have lost. But then the Dallas game, Pat, that's the game they lost that they should have won. So you got to get a little bit of a hockey karma in there, don't you? Hockey karma and the hockey gods always balance things out.

Starting point is 00:13:28 It's, you can set your watch to it. It always happens. And a big part of the penguin's success this season so far has been the goaltender. Tristan Jari, he is playing some of the best hockey. We have ever seen him play. So I'm going to ask this question before we go to break. And I'm going to let Hunter ponder it while I read some ads before we come back. But should Tristan Jari be in the mix for Team Canada?

Starting point is 00:13:57 I've got some thoughts on that. We're going to talk about it. when we come back right after this. But first, I've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is game time. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994, and with 48 teams for the first time ever, it's going to be absolutely massive. But let's be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part, not just for the World Cup, but for any event out there.

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Starting point is 00:16:20 and I'm just going to say it. I think Tristan Jari should be getting considerations for, Team Canada. Now, allow me to add the asterisk. I don't think he makes it. I don't think they take him. But if I'm Doug Armstrong and Kyle Dubus and the rest of Team Canada's management team, it's getting a little bit more difficult for me to at least not consider him. Let's put it this way. You look at Tristan Jari and the work that he has done this season with the Penguins in the games he has played. It's been a true bounce back season. for him, 13 starts, nine wins, 2.54 GA, 913 save percentage this season, which is pretty

Starting point is 00:17:07 solid for his career. And then, if you dive into the analytics of this, I went with minimum 10 games played since against the stars. That was his 13th. I wanted to put a little bit of weight behind this. According to Moneypuck, minimum 10 games played in this season among goalies. Tristan Jari sits seventh in goals saved above expected per 60 with 0.874. The only Canadian goaltender that is better than him this year is the man who is probably going to be Team Canada's starter and that is Logan Thompson at 1.114. At this point, I think he's got a case to be considered for Team Canada. He definitely has one. I just, I agree with you though. I don't think he's going to

Starting point is 00:17:57 take it because they're definitely going to take Jordan Bennington for as bad as he has been this year. Team Canada has been and be like, you know what, Pat, he won us to Four Nations. He is going to be there. I would be stunned if he wasn't. Logan Thompson, I a million percent agree. He should be starting for Team Canada, but in the back of my mind, I want them to Galaxy Brain it and kind of play Bennington just because he hasn't been good this year at all. But yeah, Thompson's going to be there too. You know, you look at in terms of pure goals he above expected, Jari is 11th with 11, tied actually with Scott Wedgwood, who is also getting into consideration now for Team Canada. He has been awesome for Colorado this year. So when you have those three, Pat,

Starting point is 00:18:37 again, for as bound as Bennington has been, he's still going to go. I would be stunned if he didn't. Wedgwood, he's now getting consideration. Thompson is definitely going to be there. I just think it's going to be a bit tough for Jari to get on there. And also, it's still only been a couple of months compared to, you know, his overall career. And yeah, he's had good stretches during his career, but it's also been very up and down. I think he'll maybe get a little bit consideration. I don't think he is willing to get on the roster, though.

Starting point is 00:19:05 I don't either. I think you're right about Bennington. He's going to get the historical nod because in the, and you can roll your eyes at that, but that's not just the team Canada problem. That's an international hockey problem. Hell, that's a hockey problem, period, is that a lot of guys who have certain.

Starting point is 00:19:22 categories will get more than one chance, even though at this point, if I'm just looking at this objectively, I don't think Bennington should be on Team Canada. Even though the blues are woeful, he is a big reason why they are woeful this year. He has not been very good. But then you look at a couple other goalies, Darcy Kemper, McKenzie Blackwood, and those are all guys who this year are playing a little bit better than him. I will say when I look at the Blackwood and Wedgwood part of it, It's kind of the opposite of what I said about Bittington, where the Colorado Avalanche are just a cheat code this year. And it's not, you know, you still have to play the game in front of you. You still have to perform.

Starting point is 00:20:04 But you look at how good that team is and you go, all right, it's not because of the goaltending that they're very good. It's because their roster is stacked. It's all that. Their goaltending has also been a lot better this year. It's ever since they changed out their goaltending from last year. You know, it's been better. But that overall roster as a whole is just destroying teams basically on a night. basis in a good pull on Kemper, by the way. I almost forgot about him. He's also getting a lot of

Starting point is 00:20:27 team Canada consideration as he should be. He's been great this year again. And on the opposite side of what I was just saying, it is team Canada. So team Canada is going to also be stacked. So hey, this goalie who plays well on a stacked team, maybe he can do it again in Italy. So at the end of the day, though, I think he should be getting consideration. But I don't think he's going to make the cut just because of everything else in the people in front of them. But it's been a hell of a year for him. Another player, I just want to touch on quickly because we also have some other international hockey penguins related news.

Starting point is 00:21:05 That's a weird way to say that, but I digress. Brian Rust, I'm kind of in the same spot I was last time we talked about this. I think he's got an outside shot to be an extra for Team USA, but it's not an anti-Bryon Rust. or I'm saying Brian Rust is cooked kind of thing. It's again a numbers game. He's maybe if they would have gone four years ago, he would have had a better shot.

Starting point is 00:21:32 But there's been so much better up-and-coming young talent that has surpassed him in the United States program that I think he gets squeezed out, which sucks for him because he has been a really good American-born player, but I don't see him going to Italy. I agree. And I loved what Jake Gensel said about him. this past week when he was asked about Brian Rust and Team USA.

Starting point is 00:21:55 You know, that said, he's not going to be there. I'd be fairly surprised. This is the deepest talent pool Team USA has had of my lifetime. And there's going to be other players left out, for example, that are better than Rust that should be there. So very outside shot for me. As for a couple other news and notes when it comes to international hockey, Ben Kindle, not going to the role juniors, logic prevails.

Starting point is 00:22:18 I got very nervous, Pat, when Cam Robinson tweeted out that, Kindle was going to go to the rule juniors. I'm like, Kyle, can't be doing that man with where the team is, standings-wise. His logic would probably be like, well, it's for development purposes. I think for development purposes, you need to keep him here with the way that he continues to get better in each game, the way that his line continues to live in the offensive zone each game. He's been a big part of the penguin success this year.

Starting point is 00:22:43 You're fighting for a playoff spot. You keep him here. So it looks like logic is prevailing. It just would make no sense if he went to the world juniors, God forbid, he got hurt there, for example. As for Harrison Brunich, he is going to go to the World Juniors. He was named to the Team Canada roster on Monday. It's the training camp roster, but he's going to be there once they start playing the games in a couple weeks, and that's the right call. He just finished up his conditioning stint in Wilkesbury, five games, three points,

Starting point is 00:23:13 get him some games at the Royal Juniors, and then you can make a decision on him after, whether you're going to send him back to Camloops or if you are going to keep him here. Right. And you hit on a pretty important point there that if say this penguins team was not really in the mix, maybe like a little bit out or even outright bad and Kindle was playing fine, but not playing to this level or even if he was playing to this level a little bit, I could see the logic of sending him and saying you are going to play a crucial role for team Canada in very important high stakes hockey. we want you to get that experience. But that's not what's happening. What's happening is the penguins are in the thick of a playoff race. And if they keep playing the way they're playing, they might be in the thick of a divisional race.

Starting point is 00:24:01 I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but it's not out of the cards. It's not like this is a year where the team at the top of the Penguins division is so far ahead that everyone else is just jockeying for the positions below them. And he's the third line center here. So he's getting that meaningful experience. He's getting that significant experience. You don't have to send them to Team Canada to get it.

Starting point is 00:24:24 He's getting it right here. And the opposite goes for Brunich. He got some time. He had some moments. He struggled a little bit. Now you go put him on Team Canada. You have them play in a more high stakes, more high pressure environment where he is going to be with more comparable talent.

Starting point is 00:24:43 And he can really show that he is still on the right track. And if he goes over with Team Canada, to the world junior that came and say over it's in minnesota so uh if he goes to team canada and he's a dominant force on their blue line you can go all right let's give him another game let's see what he does let's see how he operates and if we want to keep him here great if not camloops doesn't stink anymore camloops is having a solid season so you're not sending them back to a rotten team, which means he'll very similar to World Juniors, play a crucial role on a team that's playing meaningful hockey at a level that's more comparable to where he is right now.

Starting point is 00:25:24 And then we revisit in training camp. So totally understand the logic here. And I was like you. When that report came out, I was sweating that they were going to send Kindle to World juniors. But thankfully, cooler heads, logic prevails. and the kid will remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins where he should be. But unless you've got anything to add about international hockey hunter,

Starting point is 00:25:50 I think that's going to do it here for our middle segment. Penguins are back in Pittsburgh. They ain't going to go in anywhere for a little bit. We're going to get you set for this week when we come back right after this. But before we do that, we've got one more sponsor to get to, and that is our friends at Fandul. NFL Sundays, they move fast, especially when you're watching an AFC North showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. It always lives up to the hype.

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Starting point is 00:27:40 So visit Fandle.com and place your NFL live bets all season long with Fandul where the game moves fast and so can you. All right. Wrapping up the Monday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp running right alongside my pal Hunter Hodes. And big week coming up for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hey, you got hockey pretty much every other. day this week. It's bliss. It's fantastic. We love having this much hockey at our disposal.

Starting point is 00:28:15 And it starts on Tuesday, all games this week at PPG Paints Arena. Tuesday, tomorrow, the high-flying young Anaheim ducks come to town after taking the wood to the Chicago Blackhawks this weekend. Then another young up-and-coming talented team in the Montreal Canadians come to town on Thursday. Then you've got a week. weekend back to back. A young team that's going through it a little bit right now in the San Jose Sharks are here at 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Good news for me.

Starting point is 00:28:49 It means I can watch John Cena's final match on Saturday night, but I digress. And then on Sunday afternoon, the Utah Mammoth come to town, both of those weekend games, three o'clock games. Hunter, not as big of a test this week, but it's a test in the sense that your first two games are young teams who are really starting to surprise. And while the habs are going through some injury troubles, the ducks, kind of like our penguins,

Starting point is 00:29:18 it's a team that a lot of people didn't have high expectations for and they're surprising everyone. Me, Pat, like I'd sit on the show countless times. I thought it was a year too early. I might look like a complete moron by the end of this season. This duck's team is so fun to watch. Not only are they fast, They are deeply skilled.

Starting point is 00:29:38 They have a bunch of great young players throughout this lineup. But they also have some good veterans who are also having good seasons like Chris Kreider. But Cutter Gochier has been great. Mason McTavish. Bennett Seneca has been great. I mean, Leo Carlson is the top playing center has been awesome. They have gotten great play out of their forwards. Fortunately, Pat, Lucas Dostal is hurt right now.

Starting point is 00:29:59 So it doesn't look like he is going to be playing in this game on Tuesday. That is a big break because I think he is one of the better young goaltenders in the NHL. We'll do a full preview on the Ducks for our Tuesday edition of the show. That is going to be a big test to start this week. Montreal, you said that they have a little bit of injury problems. Their offense is also usually good. Defensively, though, that's where I think they're vulnerable. I think the penguins can definitely get a good amount of high quality looks

Starting point is 00:30:23 against this Canadian's team. They had that fast start. They faded, you know, a little bit. I mean, they're still top three in the Atlantic right now. They're 15, 10, and 3. good for 33 points, but, you know, they're five and five in their last five games. Again, their level play has dipped a little bit. Utah, they just got some really unfortunate news while we were recording, Pat, Logan Cooley,

Starting point is 00:30:47 out for the foreseeable future, really sucked at the Pittsburgh-born kid. He's not going to be able to play in this one. He's one of my favorite young players to watch. And that Utah team, really nice start, but they have fizzled out a little bit. Like, they're still in the race, of course. Like, you know, you look at the Western Conference endings right now, 14 and 13 and 3, for 31 points, time for that final playoff spot. And speaking of that, the San Jose Sharks, of course,

Starting point is 00:31:10 we'll come here later this weekend. And hey, this is a different Sharks team than what we saw a couple months ago where the Sharks were looking for that first win. They were completely out to lunch. They have really improved their play since that Macklin-Sillabrani has just been on fire this year. And I think he has a great shot at making Team Canada. If he doesn't, he'll be on the next one.

Starting point is 00:31:32 But he's giving the Team Canada decision makers quite a bit to think. about him and Connor Bedard, especially. I would love to see both of them there. One of them may only go, though, but he has been awesome. I love watching Will Smith when he's healthy, too. So that's a very fun team. And then even after that, Pat, Edmonton comes to town. And the Oilers, we all know how they've struggled defensively this year. Their goaltending has been rotten, but this is a massive homestand. Penguins haven't played much at home this year. You look at a lot of the games they've played. Good chunk of them have been on the road. So this is a really, really, great opportunity to not only play some games at home, but to bank these points against teams

Starting point is 00:32:12 that, you know, are kind of right with you, standings-wise, you know, points-wise. So this is a big week. And you look at the schedule as a whole every other day, basically for the next 10 days. Like, we can go beyond this week, Pat, after the Oilers game. You know, tomorrow against the ducks, Thursday, Canadians, Saturday sharks, Sunday, Mammoth, next Tuesday, Oilers, and the next Thursday they go to Ottawa. It is literally every other day. That's where December, it's the gauntlet baby. And you're right. It's, it's every other day all the way through the end of the year, with the exception of the Christmas break. They'll be off from the 24th to the 27th, but you look at the rest of the schedule, like you said, next Tuesday, Edmonton, next Thursday. They're in

Starting point is 00:32:56 Ottawa next Saturday. They've got a home at home back to back with Montreal. They'll be in Montreal on the 20th, then in Pittsburgh on the 21st, they play their Christmas Eve Eve game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs at 4 o'clock. Then they come back from the break. They go to Chicago on the 28th, and then they finish the year at Carolina against the hurricanes in Pittsburgh. I've worded that horribly, but you get my point. Carolina at home on the 30th. So it's pretty much every other day for the rest of the year with a couple of back-to-back, squeezed in. But back to the focus on this upcoming week. I look at this schedule. These four games coming up. I want six of eight. I want six of a possible eight because you know

Starting point is 00:33:47 that Tuesday is going to be a big challenge with Anaheim being as high flying as they are. You said it about the habs. They're not great defensively. The penguins have shown against teams that aren't good defensively this year, they can make them pay for that. San Jose, it's still a young team. They're exciting, but there are a lot of holes still in that lineup. You have to take advantage of that. And then Utah, they're reeling right now with the injury situation and kind of coming off that fast start. So realistically, at the end of this week, I want to come back here on Monday the 15th and say this team got six of a possible eight. I like it. The last time you said something like this, they basically hit slash exceeded your expectation. So,

Starting point is 00:34:32 let's try to go two for two here. But, you know, why not go for all eight? I mean, that's obviously going to be tough just because, you know, it's hard to go on these long winning streaks. But, you know, with the teams that they're playing, I think there's a good chance that they continue this nice little streak that they've had since Muse Carop a team. Again, they've won four of their last six. I think the Ducks game, even though they were playing really well, is extremely winnable. The Penguins could have won that first game against the Ducks, if not for that late power play goal from Chris Kreider, Montreal, they've struggled a little bit as of late. Utah is doing with the injuries. San Jose still very young. They're better,

Starting point is 00:35:06 but they're still very young, a lot of holes in that lineup. I think every game this week and even going into that next game against Edmonton, every game on the five game homestine is extremely winnable for this team. Absolutely. So that is going to do it for us on the Monday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Hunter and I are going to be back. on Tuesday to preview the Ducks game and go over any news that might break between now and then. So for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp, thank you as always for tuning in, and we will be back on Tuesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Despite another shootout loss, Penguins have a SUCCESSFUL road trip!

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