Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Do the Pittsburgh Penguins have a problem with the New York Rangers?

Episode Date: April 8, 2022

Well, it wasn't pretty again for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They lose their third in a row both overall and to the New York Rangers as nothing is going right now. The game looked to be over before it even began as Sidney Crosby was out with an illness and John Marino was also out. With that said, Hunter welcomed back Rachel Nones to the show as the two recap this one and how the Rangers were again able to shut down the Penguins. Would this be a problem in the playoffs? The two go over that topic before getting into how well the Rangers have played defensively against this team and how they've made it even easier on Igor Shesterkin. Hunter then brings up how while the team wasn't BAD tonight, they again didn't get nearly as much traffic as they should've. He goes into why that will continue to be a problem unless the Penguins fix that, before diving into what went wrong on the Rangers' first two goals. The two break them down and look at how the Penguins could've prevented those chances to keep it tied before crediting the Rangers for taking advantage of those mishaps. They also go into if the physical play will carry over into a potential series, plus how Tristan Jarry had a fine rebounding game but it still wasn't enough. Hunter then ends toe show with what the Penguins need to do to right the ship going into the playoffs.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!HelloFreshGo to HelloFresh.com/lockedon16 and use code lockedon16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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.

make it a third straight loss for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They get shut out for the first time and quite a long time. A 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers and the Penguins played well in spurts, but again, you know, just a couple fundamental issues that I am going to go over. You know, the first two goals, especially with, you know, why the system was just not working at the time. I have a full game recap episode coming up right for you all after this drop with Rachel Knowns of the hockey writers. I'm basically maybe going to ban her from coming on the show after this because Penguins are now always, to and I've been bringing her on.

So look for that episode to come up right after this drop. Your 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 another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honora Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Honor Hodees.

Follow this show's Twitter at L.O. Ernstmore P Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much. for making this your first listen of the day. Joining you now, of course, is Rachel Knones of the Hockey Writers. And as I said in my intro, this is the second time she's come on, the second time the Rangers have won. I think we're just going to have to banish her from the podcast after this

because we need some new mojo in here if these two teams are going to play each other in the playoffs. But let's just get right into it, Rachel. So the Penguins, they lose their third straight to the Rangers. They have only scored one even strength goal against them this year, which is not acceptable to say the least from a person. Penguins versus effective. What were your main takeaways from this game as the Rangers won their third in row against them? I think they pretty much just stuck to the kind of systems that they were playing

to beat the pens in the other three games. So I think that they just kind of knew what plan to execute here. I just think that the Rangers were just faster and they just controlled pretty much every aspect of the game. Once again, I would say. So, um, I just think that they've kind of followed a system where you just have everyone, you know, chipping in offensively. I thought because Abanajad looked really good tonight and he was definitely on top of the pens and definitely was chipping in in all areas. And I think some of the defense for the Rangers slacked a little tonight. I thought some players looked off. So definitely when you're in that kind of situation, you will need the forwards to chip in.

So obviously, Igor's to Sturkin look good too. So when you have him in that, there's not a lot that you need. to do in order to dominate the game. But just another night for the Rangers where they just looked really good. Yeah, you know, it was, you know, going into tonight, you know, I saw the Philip Hollander call up. I'm like, okay, Taylor Haas put out that that was not an emergency call up. It's an actual call because it looks like someone could be hurt or sick.

I'm like, okay, well, penguins have been having the stomach bug. Of course, Cindy Crosby and John Marino and Redeem Sohorn, I have to miss the game. I believe it's at least a third of the team that's had this stomach bug. And, you know, I tweet out before the game. I would have been stunned if they won this game, almost as stunned as O'Vee Knight in Tampa Bay. But, you know, it still wouldn't have ranked above that, to say the least. But, you know, the Penguins, they had some chances, but they really couldn't do anything with them. You know, again, this is another game where they're not putting traffic in front of Shasturkin.

And they're making it easy on him, I think, to say at least, you know, to beat a goalie who is this good and has been this good for an entire year, he's going to win the Vezner trophy. You have to put bodies in front of them so he can't see the puck. Even in the last matchup, which was a 50-50 in Pittsburgh, the Penguins lost that game three or two. A couple of the goals that the Penguins scored, Shisdren didn't even see the puck. But tonight, Penguins are getting these decent looks,

but he's seeing it all the way. One of the chances I think was late in the third period. Crystal Tang's on the power play. Nice shot, but that's an easy glove save for someone who, you know, he can see it the entire time. So I feel like that's just been a big issue for the Penguins against the Rangers this year is that they're not doing enough to disrupt him. Because, you know, this is a goalie.

His play has dipped a little bit lately. Maybe it's due to, you know, him playing a lot. Tristan Jari's in that same boat. I kind of think even though I think he was fine tonight. But, you know, the Penguins, they just didn't make it hard enough on him again. And, you know, they paid the price for it dearly. And, you know, that's honestly been, you know, the story of these last three matchups. And, you know, they're five on five play has not been good enough.

against New York. I know I've gone on record and said that, you know, I like the Penguins' Chances Against the Rangers, though, with these last three meetings, you know, I'm starting to get, you know, I guess less optimistic than I was. I still think the Penguins can beat them if they're fully healthy, but that's basically a myth at this point.

But, you know, with how they're playing right now, they have to figure some stuff out these Final 10 games because this is not the team that I think a lot of us have seen all year. And I don't think this was an acceptable performance by them at all. But, you know, cooos to the Rangers, they stuck with it after the first period. They played good sound, defensive hockey. And they were able to capitalize on their chances in the second period.

And, you know, I'm going to get to those breakdowns in just a minute. But, you know, it's always funny, Rachel. Frank Petrono just has to score against the Penguins every time. This is Jordan Eberley stuff at this point. I know Penguins fans, I listen to this show. Know exactly what Jordan Eberley does every time he plays against the Penguins. the last two playoff series with the Islanders. He just always has the number.

Though I think with that play, he took advantage of Brian Dumlin not making a good play. And I think the time might be coming where he might be out of the lineup sooner rather than later. But what did you see on the first couple of goals that really piqued your eye, the Panarin one, and then, of course, the Vitrana one. Definitely. So I think that with the Rangers, whoever they're playing,

they definitely have a long checklist of things that they need to, you know, succeed if they're going to win against this team. So obviously you have to stay on Panarin. I think everybody at this point knows what kind of player he is and he's on a role right now. So not only do you have to stay, you know, on top of Panarin, but you still have to find a way to be Chesircan. So when it comes to the Penguins too, you know, you also have to stay on Vitranos. So I just think that there were way too many things that the Penns would have to be. have had to accomplish and really stay on for the whole 60 minutes. And I just think that at this point, it was just too much. And the rancher is just finding ways to win. That's kind of been their thing

for the past, you know, season or two where they've just been pulling out these wins. Obviously, Shistercans been a huge part of that. And it just may end up being a thing where Pittsburgh's just a team that Chester again, you know, always shows up for and he's putting up career numbers against. So it might just be one of those things. Obviously, as you mentioned, he dipped a little bit. And Ranger fans definitely know what he's capable of. So it's just really nice to see. I mean, he was just on top of the Penguins shutting down every chance that they had.

So he just looked great tonight. And, you know, same thing with him. Yeah. No, I definitely agree with that. And, you know, just going back to the first goal, I think, with what went wrong, I mean, you know, there was that cross-ice pass was there. And, you know, when the Penguins are forechecking really aggressively and they're playing Mike Sullivan's system to a T, that pass is not there.

But it was really passive. And, you know, it's a little concerning to me that those kind of plays are happening this late in the season. These are fundamentals that, you know, are basically, you know, taught day one for his system. But, you know, the back checker was not there. Cross ice pass easily goes through. Latang has cried and he's playing good defense, but then for some reason, Brian Dumlin comes over,

leaves of Toronto, basically unmarked on the other side, and then he's able to stick it. I think it was five, Paul Pass Tristan. At this point, you know, this is, you know, for obviously the Penguins fans out there, this is really concerning with Brian Newman. Aside from a small stretch of this season, I don't think he's been that good.

I think he's going to be trade bait in the offseason and if he doesn't clean this up. I appreciate everything he has done for this franchise. He's always going to be, you know, one of their better defensemen who have come through the pipeline. But right now, it's not working out. And, you know, I don't know if he should be healthy scratch. I know Mark Friedman's actually been playing pretty well.

Rachel doesn't like to hear that because she's not a Mark Friedman fan over here. But I'm not saying to put Freibon on the top pairing, but, you know, maybe try something else at this point out there with Latene because I think he's suffering playing next to Brian Dooman when that's really never been the case. at least in my opinion. And then for the Panarin goal, too, the same kind of thing happened. You know, Jesse Marshall, the athletic was talking about it on Twitter. A cross-ice pass, which you never really see is there.

There's usually a penguin forechecker right there to pick it off. It goes by. And then Panarin, you know, he's able to go cut to the center of the ice. All the four-checkers are well behind the play. And there's just no resistance. He's able to bury it. Backhand top cheese. And, you know, that's those are the main differences in the game.

going into the third period, I didn't really think the Penguins had a shot at even coming back at that point. So, you know, those were the main two differences for me. Still have a lot more to get to for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. We're going to get into more thoughts about the game too. But before we get to that, Betelline.net is your number one source for all of your sports betting needs and sports info. You can find all the latest sports developments, including this week's Masters Championships, Odds, podcasts, and reviews for all the different leagues this season. Benline is your continued source for all of your sports wagering information,

including live betting, e-sports, and scores. You can head to the website today or use more device and learn more about the trends and action. That is bet online where the game starts. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodees. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hode's Fall, the show's Twitter at L-O-N-Square Penguins. So, you know, Rachel, I think, you know, one player,

I know you're going to appreciate me for saying this, you know, a player that, you know, continues to catch my eye. I think you've been basically banging this drum as part of Rangers Twitter. You know, Schneider looks pretty good again tonight. Now, obviously he's a really young kid. This is really his first NHL experience. You know, do you see him contributing more down the stretch and into the playoffs? Or do you see this as just a flash in the band?

Because personally, you know, I think, you know, he should be playing on an every night basis over someone like Justin Brunion. He was making a couple of the Penguins tonight, Penguins players tonight, excuse me, look pretty silly to say the least. Yeah, I think he'll contribute to keep up the pace. I think he's been pretty steady. I don't really think that many people would have thought that he would have jumped in this season and performed the way that he is. He's playing like a veteran at this point.

He's very reliable. There were just a couple times tonight when I thought, you know, he looked a little bit shaky. But I also thought, you know, Kianne Miller looked a little bit shaky. You know, it would be a good time for him to get a little bit more. more physical, which I could say the same thing about Schneider. Obviously, he had his first fight against the New Jersey Devils a couple nights ago. From what we've seen in his career earlier, we know that he can get physical. So I think that, even though he's playing very reliably right now, there's still another level of his game. And I think that physicality is going to be

another part of it. So I think he's going to keep continuing to play well. I'm really excited to see what they do in the postseason, you know, regardless of how far that they go, I think it's going be a really good learning opportunity for him. And I just think his confidence is so high right now, and he's just kind of really using that to his advantage, which is what you want to see for a young player. Yeah, you know, again, you know, if he's not in their top, well, if he's not in their top six for defense at least,

come playoff time, I do think there is some sort of issue there because, you know, he's definitely, these last couple of matchups, he's played really well against the penguins. You know, keeping with that, you know, the top line for the penguin, tonight was not that good. And I know Evgeny Malkin on the top line with Jake Gensel's and Brian Rust, it's a different story. Say it is more comfortable playing with them.

Even though Malkin and Gensel put up some pretty good numbers together that are expected goals for is always around, I think, 60% or something like that. Their high danger chances score is always right around up there too. But, no, the Rangers I thought did a really nice job of shutting down that line. And, you know, when you shut down that line, especially without Cindy Crosby, you know, there's really not much else the penguins can do it, at least lately. I mean, the depth scoring, it came back up a little bit.

But then these last couple of games, it's just, it's kind of gone away a little bit again. And tonight, when the penguins badly needed some of their depth to step up and, you know, try to get them a point or two. It just didn't happen. You know, Danton, you know, he had a couple of good chances. Just Sturkin made some nice saves. Teddy Bluger had almost a half-md-net. He shot it up high.

A lot of shots from some of the other debt players just went either way wide or way above the net. you know, what did you, how did you assess just what the Rangers did to neutralize the Penguins, you know, new look top line and how that was able to, you know, dictate how the game went? So definitely not even like tonight's game, but I think the Rangers should get a lot of credit for shutting down Brian Rust in particular, this whole series. I think Brian Rust is a really fun player to watch. I think he can really come up with some clutch goals. And I think he's a little underrated.

I don't know if people of other teams really pay enough attention to him. Personally, I think that he's a really fun player to watch. But I think that he's a sneaky score, and he hasn't obviously scored at all on the Rangers. So this season. So I think that they should get a lot of credit for that, especially Jake Gensel as well. Obviously, we know that he's good at drawing penalties and things like that. And, of course, the Rangers didn't stay out of the box. But that's to be expected.

It's a physical series. But given that as well, it didn't really get that scrappy until probably the halfway mark. With the previous games, there was like a lot of, you know, pausing and fighting and things like that. But I think it calmed down. It was still a physical game, but it wasn't really as scrappy this time. But I just think the penalty kill for the Rangers was great again. That came up big as always. Power play obviously wasn't anything crazy, but that's fine.

So, yeah, I just think that they deserve a lot of credit. The Rangers obviously did a lot of things well. It wasn't like that they were catching the pens and like an off night or anything like that. So they're just doing a lot of things where, again, with Igor and that they're a hard team to be. Yeah, no, I totally agree with that. You know, Brian Rossi, I like your point with that because honestly, throughout these four games, he really didn't get a lot of chances, which is definitely not the norm for him, because he usually crushes a lot of teams every season.

I mean, he is on his way to getting a boatload of cash from either the penguins if they can make it work or some other team that's going to throw a lot of turn at him as well. And he rightfully deserves it. He is a very good player of getting him all. And, you know, he was definitely a bit more of a ghost tonight. I wanted to see more of him because, you know, he usually goes into beast mode when Cindy Crosby is not in the lineup tonight. Definitely was not the case.

If there was one player on that line that was actually getting chance, is it was Jake Gensel. It was just, he was struggling a lot more than he normally does. He had a couple wide open looks that are usually goals for him nine out of ten times. And I've been saying a lot lately because, you know, he does have another 30 plus goal season, but he could have even closer to a 40 goal season right now if some of these goals that usually scores would just go in the back of the net. And tonight there is around, I think, two to three to even four chances where he would

usually score them, but, you know, either Shasturkey made a heck of a save or he just flubbed on the chances. So definitely give the Rangers credit for shutting Jake down just because he's one of the best goalscores in the league to say the least. I also think, you know, if these two teams do play in the playoffs, and it's still training that way even though the last I checked, I think Carolina did win tonight. I think they came back against Buffalo. So it would still be Penguins Rangers, you know.

But, you know, it's from the Penguins perspective with the Golden. name. Tristan Jari, you know, he's really only outplayed Igor Shasturkin once during these four games. And in a seven-game series, that's not good enough. You know, he needs to be at a, I hate to say this because it's going to sound like I'm a hater, but I'm not. I've always praised Shish and Jhani on this podcast when he's, you need to be praised, and I've always dumped on him when he's played bad.

But I feel like in order for the Penguins to win a series against his team, he has to be at Matt Murray, 2017 level when he was at 937 and was just shutting every team down on a nightly piss. Heck, even Mark Andre Fleury level before, you know, he was replaced by Murray. Heck, even 2016 level, Matt Murray, I think he was right around 923, 924,

if my memory serves me, right? And, you know, no one was always doing anything to him. And, you know, and if he is at that level, the penguins are going to be that much harder to beat if they can turn some stuff around. But right now, I just, I don't know if I'm confident enough in Tristan to, you know, match what Igor can do just because of how he's played against the penguins this year. What would you be your thoughts on that?

Definitely. I mean, we haven't really seen play O'Sha Sterkin yet. So I don't really count the qualifiers against Carolina a couple seasons back. So I think especially with the fact that it's the penguins likely to be the matchup, I think that that's just going to bring another level to his game. especially being his first playoff series. So, yeah, I mean, I just, I'm just curious to see how it is. Obviously, you have a couple of guys who have the playoff experience, like Chris Kreider, and of course he's in that big leadership role.

Then you have Braun, if he is playing. And who knows what the defense pairing, that third pairing is going to look like for the Rangers. Hopefully, like we mentioned, it's Schneider. I would prefer to see him with Justin Braun. I think that they played really well the other night. So you're definitely going to need to help Igor in the playoffs. You're definitely going to need to have those three sound deep pairs in front of him. So hopefully that's sorted.

And then you just have Igor playing. I mean, he just looks incredibly calm every game. And you rarely catch him out of position. He just tracks the puck so well. So I don't see any reason why their performance wouldn't transfer over. the only thing that would scare me a little bit would be the even strength scoring and just hopefully the depth is there in the postseason. I think that if you were to consider if the rangers would be beating the penguins prior to the trade deadline and those acquisitions

obviously make a huge difference, you got to actually kind of be thankful that the schedule was set up the way that it was just because I don't know if the rangers would be beating the penguins in this situation without the acquisitions that they made it. the trade deadline, obviously, but Trenna was huge. So especially COP, too, you know, he got an assist tonight. So I just think all those factors, you know, they're just working really well together. The fact that all the acquisitions are playing really well before they head into playoffs with these final games coming down to it, I just think it's really good timing. So obviously, we know playoffs are a completely different story, but I feel pretty good going into it.

Yeah, and speaking to your point about, you know, Igor in the playoffs, you know, I think it's the same with the Penguins defense. I know the easy thing for some of the fans is to always blame Tristan for what happens, especially with tonight if people want to say he wants any of those goals back. But, you know, the reality of the situation is, you know, some of the defensemen in front of them failed. And again, you know, Chiro Liedel on the second goal, he's kind of just sitting in no man's land watching Artemian-Penar and do his thing.

The first one, Brian Duhlin, is caught way out of position. You know, those are the differences in these very tight games. because this was a zero-zero game going into the second, you know, who knows what could have happened. If the Penguins defensemen, you know, they actually play those two plays right. You know, it's probably scoreless. And again, you know, I don't know what happens. But, you know, it's just it's the small things like that that can really, you know, either turn a game in a team's favor or even turn a series in their favor.

And I think the Penguins, you know, their blue lines is going to have to be a lot better in front of them to actually give him a shot, you know, at making some of these saves, to say the least. But still a little more to get to for this episode coming up in the last segment. So stick around for that right after this commercial break. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm not going to follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at LNR Square Penguins. So, Rachel, you know, I'm not usually a big physical person when it comes to hockey.

You know, I always like a clean hit every now and then, but, you know, I'm not a big proponent of fighting and all that. but I couldn't help but notice. It definitely got a little bit chippy there in the third period. I think the penguins were just a bit pissed off with how the result was going. You know, I've seen that. I've seen teams do that against them. And, you know, Igor was basically, I think, I think Schisturkin was either waving goodbye to them or he was just yapping. I think that was a motion to Mark Friedman because he was running his mouth a lot to Chris Crider.

And that's what the chaos boy does. He just likes to troll people and run his mouth. You know, do you see any of this physicality carrying over? to the playoffs as well. Definitely. So we saw Kreider get involved at the end, too. Yeah. It seems to be another one contributing to the little mouth hand gestures.

But yeah, I definitely think that'll carry over. You know, the Rangers are in a position where they're finally going to be in the playoffs again. I think that that's just going to be an emotional series for them. So I think that they are going to, you know, step up and be physical again. Especially if you have Ryan Reeves out there, as always, you know, he's definitely going to be contributing to that. But, yeah, I'm not a fan of those agitators. So, especially when we just saw, you know, Brad Schneider right, the other day, I think that's going to appear again.

So he just wants to keep making a case to stay in the lineup. I think that he's already proved that case, but I know he would definitely take it further if he needs to. So I definitely think that's going to carry over. I know when the goaltenders. kind of jumping in on that when the final period is done, then that kind of gives you an indicator, too, as to the motions with the series. Yeah, and the Penguins, again, I've said this about 5,000 times.

They're not really a physical team. It's not their M.O., but, I mean, I saw Gennie Malkin. He was barking at Barclay Goodrow there a few times. I think even during the game, I think Josh Yew was putting this on social media, that he was barking at the Lionsmen, some of the officials about stuff. And that usually means he's going to snap. And eventually, you know, he did.

He was obviously upset that the game was not going their way and he wasn't capitalizing on their chances. So it will definitely be, you know, I'll be curious to see how much of that does carry over because, you know, after all, this is a rivalry. Now, Rachel, you know, last thing before I let you go, there's about 10 games left for each of our teams. You know, what are you looking forward to seeing for the Rangers here as they close out the regular season and, you know, head into next month playoffs?

The two things I would say are I just would like to see the defense continue to play well. I just think that they deserve a lot of credit for how well they've really jelled in such a short amount of time. Obviously it helps when you have a Norris trophy winner, you know, on your top pairing. So I think that Ryan Lindgren deserves a lot of credit as always as well. He's definitely not a flashy player, so I think that he goes a little under the radar for the most part. but everyone like that, I mean, Miller and Truba, they're a really good pairing. I think the way that Miller has matured so quickly, really allowed Chuba to fight his school game. And there's no type of babysitting or anything like that.

It's a really young defensive core, obviously. And when they went out in the trade deadline, obviously they wanted to pick up a couple options just to have that versatility and some depth in all areas of the roster. So the dev leave options, which is nice. You know, you get a fine pairing with Nemith and Schneider, but I think if you're going to go Braun and Schneider, you're obviously going to get a stronger defense in total. They would just like to see that the defense just continued to do well.

I think a lot of the pairs have such good chemistry. But I think that says a lot about Schneider's game, too, not to keep harping on this. But I think that says a lot about his game too, is that he's still performing. pretty steadily in his working season with whichever partner he's with. We've seen him with, I think, at least three different partners this season, one also being a rookie Zach Jones. So I like to see defense. And I think just seeing the depth that they went after in the trade

deadline, I would like to see COP continue to perform the Toronto. I would like to see Tyler mock at his first goal. Hopefully he's okay after the hit. With that, obviously, there's no update this far. But yeah, I would just like to see them continue to get on the score sheet. Obviously, you don't need to get on the score sheet to do your job and do it well. But I think all three of those pickups have done that really well. So, and would like to see Kreider get 50 goals. Well, I'll pass on that last one, Rachel, that's for sure. But, you know, from a Penguins, perspective. You know, I know a lot of the fan base is definitely up in arms right now.

I get it. You know, the team's lost six to date, three in a row. They're not playing well. First and foremost, they've got to get healthy. They got to stop the stomach bug that's going around and giving a bunch of the players diarrhea or whatever the heck they're throwing up or whatever. Sid has to come back. I'm sure he will.

John Marino is going to be back. I think Jason Zulker and Brock begin will hopefully be back this weekend. Brock is eligible come off of IR, a long-term I-R, that is on Saturday. would not be surprised if he's back then, and hopefully Jason is too. That's the most important thing. B, you know, they've got to clean up defensively, get that four check going again, and, you know, hopefully sooner or out of the way, they'll be able to run four lines and, you know, start dictating the pace

and taking over games like they were when they were mostly healthy, even just as, you know, as recent as about a week and a half to two weeks ago. So those are my main things. Again, you know, this team is right now very safe in the playoffs. I know some people are going to be fearful that they're going to slip down to the wild card and have to play Florida in the first round. But, you know, let's just, let's see what happens. These next two games, the back-to-back this weekend against the capitals and the predators.

I know the schedule has been very tough on the penguins. I get it, but, you know, these are games that you got to win at this point. We'll see if the penguins can snap this losing streak on Saturday afternoon against the Washington Capitals. But Rachel, thank you so much for coming on. I will think about bringing you back on for the playoffs. This will only be after they win a game. if they plays because i need to get this bad mojo out of here but um tell everyone where they can follow you on social media if they have not already and tell them where they can find your work

yeah so hopefully it will be a playoff series um which would be interesting so obviously um i would be on twitter covering that series at rachel nchel um and at the hockey writers where i cover the rangers as well. So both of those are where I'd be. Yeah, go follow her there, go read her work. Always she posts, I think, a couple articles every week. She does a tremendous job, excuse me. I am back on Friday for a full preview episode. I'm going to look at the games against both the capitals and the predators,

see what the penguins can do to break their losing streak against those two teams. And we'll also have practice updates if the team does practice on Friday. So thank you all so much for listening. And I will talk with you all tomorrow. Thank you.