Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby make Penguins history on the same night!

Episode Date: October 17, 2024

Evgeni Malkin scored his 500th goal and Sidney Crosby reached 1,600 points in what was an incredible win over Buffalo! Patrick and Hunter talk about how the two reached the milestone on Wednesday night as well as break down the Penguins' chaotic 6-5 overtime win against the Sabres. Then, after enjoying all the euphoria of the victory, they have to bring it down to talk about the elephant in the room...the goaltending issues. What to do with Tristan Jarry, if there's anything the team can do, and the fact that they might just be stuck with this. Finally, Patrick gives an impassioned speech about why it was so important that Sid and Geno not only reached these milestones but reached them as Penguins. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the app or go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.HimsVisit Hims.com/LOCKEDON to start your free online visit. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

500 goals, 1,600 points, and one podcast to talk about it all. Hunter and I are going to break down an absolutely magical night from PPG paints arena on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4Wet.

Joined as always from the road today, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making this your first listener watch of the day because we're your team every day. And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast, as well as YouTube.

and before we dive into the magical night at PPG paints arena, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use promo code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. It was just that hunter, a magical night at PPG paints arena on Wednesday night. I'm still kicking myself for not buying a last minute ticket to go to that game. because even without the big milestones accomplished by Sidney Crosby and of Gennie Malkin, that was about as good of a Wednesday night, fifth game of the season in October type of game that anybody could have asked for. And the penguins, of course, come out on top six to five in overtime.

And this game had a little bit of everything, and we are going to dive into it as best we can. but we have to start with the biggest news of the night. Sidney Crosby gets point number 1,600 on an assist on a Brian Rust power play goal to give him an incredible milestone for his career, continuing to cement his place as one of the all-time greatest to ever do it. And then, Evgeny Malkin, we were all waiting for it all night long, and then it happens. He scores an absolute.

ridiculous goal to get goal number 500 for his career. And I just, I am so happy for both of these guys because they are just the absolute best people you could have representing your team in the National Hockey League. They both have incredible work ethics to go along with a sublime talent. And overall, it was just so awesome. to watch. And it's incredible that all these years later, the both of them are still doing stuff like this. I sincerely have not stopped smiling since last night just with how great of those moments were. I mean, the way that Malkin got his 500th goal, I mean, that pass from Cindy Crosby,

that no look passed from between his legs. That's just typical Cindy Crosby stuff. And then the way Malkin was able to score that from his back, basically, was just awesome. And you know what? It's so poetic, Pat, because Malkin had the primary assist on Crosby's 500th goal, and you knew it had to go the other way around where Crosby getting the primary assist on Malkin's 500th goal. Just a fantastic moment. I loved when all the penguin players came off the bench to Moll Malkin. The fans were just going crazy. And then Crosby getting his 1600th point and just, the way that he was able to work down low, which is his office,

just absolutely toyed with the Sabres there and toyed with the Sabres all night, honestly. And I understand these last couple of years have not gone the way a lot of fans wanted them to just because, you know, when they brought back the Tang and Malkin, that former front office was like, yeah, like, you know, we're going to continue to try and win. That's why you brought these guys back.

And again, I understand they haven't made the playoffs. But I would not trade these moments for anything. It would feel weird. if Evgeny Malkin accomplish his 500th goal with another team. Same with Sidney Crosby accomplishing his 1,600 point with another team. That is one of the main reasons why I just never want these guys going anywhere else and I want them to retire together. And the fact that they're still playing at this high of a level goes to show how great they are overall.

I mean, Fgeny Malkin already has 11 points in five games. He leads the NHL in scoring at age 38. according to Bob Grove, he's never had 11 points in five games to open the season. He's 38, and he's still, he's playing like this. His skating is off the charts. He's bullying everyone in the offensive zone. He is taking the puck, and he's like, okay, you're not taking it from me. I'm just going to toy with you guys all night.

He did that all night against Buffalo, and I was so happy they were able to come back in the final minute, get that six on five goal before winning it in overtime, because it would have been such a downer if they lost. that with so much history that both of them accomplished, you couldn't lose that game. And that's why I was so thrilled that they were able to find a way to tie it before winning it in overtime.

But congratulations to Abgeny Malkin and Cindy Crosby. And I can't wait for so much more history between those two. I mean, you look at, you know, points all time right now. Evgeny Malkin has 1,307 points. That's 36th all time in NHL history. He only needs 47 to tie Brendan Shanahan for 28th all time. And with the way he's going, he's definitely going to hit that this year if he stays healthy. And then Cindy Crosby now one of only 10 players in initial history, he hit 1,600.

And if he didn't have that concussion, buddy, he probably would have 1750 to 1,800 points by now. I definitely don't disagree with you. And we're going to talk more about the milestones. If you're watching here on YouTube, our last segment will be about these milestones so we can focus more on them in its own segment. but let's get into the game itself. The biggest standout thing to me from last night's game is that this team battled their asses off last night because this is the kind of game from the last two seasons that this team would have crumpled like cheap printer paper when all of this happened.

If Gennie Malkin gets goal number 500 to put the team up, for the first time in the game. And then immediately they surrender two goals in under a minute to surrender the lead again. And you look at the teams of the last couple of years. And that would have completely deflated them. It would have completely ended the game. They would have gone out with a whimper. But this team kept pushing all night long.

And then they get the six on five goal. And you could just feel it in that moment. that as soon as Rust or Raquel, depending on how many more corrections they're going to issue for that goal, that they were going to win this one. It was going to go to overtime or they were going to get another quick one and they were going to win this game outright. And then as soon as I saw Buffalo take the penalty in overtime, I thought, you know what, the way this team is battling tonight, they're going to find their way to win this game.

and this was one of the big standouts for me in this. Eric Carlson was god awful last night, but it's amazing how one single play can reverse all of that. His pass to Sidney Crosby on the back door for that one time deflection, incredible pass, and it shows the value that he has. Was he good last night? No, where near it. He was damn near a liability,

but that is why you have an Eric Carlson on your roster because there are only a handful of players that can make that play and he sure did in the most clutch moment of the game. I can only think of three defensemen in the lead. I can make that pass outside of Eric Carlson. Cam McCar, Quinn Hughes, and Adam Fox. I don't think any other defenseman in this league outside of those three and Eric Carlson can make that pass.

And you're right. That is probably the worst game I've ever seen Eric Carlson play in a penguin uniform. He had some stinkers last year, but they weren't like that where he was missing easy take-to-tay passes. When he was getting the puck in the offensive zone, it was somehow going under his stick for some reason. The Penguins had to regroup constantly because he wasn't able to corral the puck on his stick. He was out to lunch defensively numerous times. One of the main reasons why the Penguins were giving up so many odd man rushes and breakaways in this game. Poor U.L Blumquist had to face so many of them after coming in relief for Tristan Jari.

Thankfully, he was able to make this aid. is but Eric Carlson was just terrible. Heck, even earlier in the game, Pat, he was one of the main people responsible for Buffalo's second goal, totally out to lunch in his own zone. But this is what great players do. Even when they have an absolute stinker, he can make a play like that where it's like,

where in the heck did that come from? And then Cindy Crosby, you said it, going down to one knee, you might as well tell any goaltender in the league to disconnect his controller. It is flat out over when that happens, man. Like when he goes down to one knee, you are not stopping that. And, you know, he's been working on, he's not even working on that play. He's been acing that play throughout his entire career.

Once I saw him go down to one knee and I saw Carlson pass that to him, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is game over. Sure enough, it did. And hey, my very bold prediction of the Penguins finishing the season with an above 500 record and overtime is off to a good start. I know, only want to know, but I will gladly take that. But the way that they were able to battle back, especially on the six on five, because that six on five was not looking good for a while.

They were missing easy passes. I thought, honestly, when Carlson missed the puck at the point, he had to regroup, I'm like, oh, this actually might be over, but they were able to finally have a nice zone entry with the puck around, really good movement. And then Malkin let an absolute blast of a slap shot go. Poor Ucapeka Lukanin had no chance on that rebound. And both Russ and Raquel right there to crash the net, boom, tie game. And it was awesome to get that extra point because you need.

those points, especially later in the season, if you want to, you know, obviously be in the race come March, come April. And especially with the schedule coming up here, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, you needed that extra point in overtime. You really did. And like you said, that that point is so important. And the point I always make is you can only play the game in the team in front of you. Yeah, we can sit here and talk about how outside of the Rangers in Toronto, it's been a little bit of a soft. schedule for the penguins to start off the season in the first two weeks, but you can't sit there and say, please, sir, can you give me harder competition? You can only play the teams that are on your schedule. So if you beat those teams and stack those points, it puts you in a better position once you get down to the nitty gritty of the season. And we know that there's going to be a lot of

heavier competition once we get closer to the stretch run once we get to February and March. So putting those points in the bank is extremely important right now. And if we're going to take away some negatives, which we're going to have to, we're going to have to do that in our second segment. And yes, it's what you know we're going to have to talk about once again. And that is the goaltending. But we will do that when we return right after this. And that is after we tell you about our first sponsor, which is Fandul.

NFL fans, you can start the season with a big. return on Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, say when you're watching Sunday night football from Accrashire Stadium, when the New York Jets come to Pittsburgh for a primetime showdown, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets, guaranteed. When you place your first $5 bet, that's fandul.com, America's number one sportsbook.

All right, welcome back to a victory Thursday episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp, joined by Hunter Hodes, who is on the roadies today. And unfortunately, after a lot of the good vibes of the first segment, we got to bring this thing back down to earth. And once again, we have to talk about Tristan Jari. and I don't want to do what we did last week where we just tear into him for seven to ten minutes. I think it's pretty obvious what the issue is. The goals are soft.

The decision making is just not there for him. And it's cliche and I know it feels like a cop out, but eventually you're allowed to make a save. You referenced the second goal in the first segment that Buffalo scored where Carlson was absolutely out to lunch. But it's another example of a shot from essentially the bottom of the circle with no screen. And he just gives it up. You have to make that save. And the same thing can be said about the third goal as well.

It was not great defense. It was a reckless pinch and a bad decision that leads to an odd man rush. And yeah, it was a great shot. but again, you need a save there. And you saw that from Blumquist when he replaced him. There were moments that bad defense led to breakaways, bad defense led to more odd man rushes, and he was able to make the save.

There was even a moment where the broadcast thought that Buffalo scored, but Blumquist made a great save. And you eventually can ask your goalie to make a save. And before I hand it off to you, Hunter, this is the one point I wanted to make. and I think it is a little bit of a silver lining, but maybe not one for Penguins fans. I think at this point,

there is just some kind of mental block with Tristan Jari in a Penguins uniform. He has shown so many flashes of being a very good goaltender, but it feels like whatever is going on in his head in his psyche. Now, again, I'm not a mental health professional. I don't have the ability to diagnose him with anything, but it just feels like for whatever reason, he's unable to get it done here

because there's just something blocking him from being able to be consistent. And it feels like a change of scenery is going to end up being his best route. I think we've reached the point of no return with him at this point. And you saw recently, Vili Huso of the Red Wings was placed on waivers because he was struggling to start the season.

I think we might be just about there with Tristan Jari and the Penguins where they might place them on waivers, see if anyone bites. I don't think that's going to be the case. And when he probably clears, they're going to have to figure out something because, I mean, I don't think any team is willingly going to take on his entire contract with the term that he has on it, the money that he has on it. You're going to have to get, I think, pretty creative if someone doesn't really help you on waivers here. But, I mean, I remember I talked about this earlier this week during the Montreal game,

because those first 40 minutes, I even tweeted. And after I did that, we recorded. I honestly thought I was maybe being a bit irrational when I said he looked broken. Because then he had a good 20 minutes in the third period. I'm like, okay, well, maybe he can build on that a little bit in this game against Buffalo. Well, he went right back to doing what he was doing against Montreal and honestly playing worse than he did in this game than in Montreal. And now I'm just like, okay, I don't, I definitely don't think I was overreacting.

He seems like someone who is broken right now just with his game and that he needs to play on a new team that's maybe a bit better defensively in front of them. Obviously, we got to talk about that as well. The Penguins have been out to lunch defensively all season. I don't see that changing a lot unless Sullivan makes tweaks to his system, which he needs to. They're way too aggressive. They get pinned in their own zone way too often. The expected goals against for 60 minutes is in the bottom third of the league so far this season. that all has to be better, but you are allowed to make saves.

That first one on Tage Thompson, for example, he goes behind the net. He seems so unsure of what to do because he seems just so unsure about his play in net. He needs to be more confident overall. And then it looks like he's not even really, I guess, trying to make a save on that goal. And then the second one, yeah, as we said, Eric Carlson was really bad, but that's still something you need to save. And then the third one as well, I feel like you need a save. there as well. And someone tweeted me last night, I believe his name was Matt Snyder,

just like asking what his state percentage is in his last 20 starts. And I was able to look that up a little bit. And I can tell you, Pat, for his last eight starts going back to Mark, so almost half of those 20, he has not been above 900. It is that bad. It has gotten to this point where he needs to have quite a bit of time off. Alex Ndilkevich has been reassigned to Wilkesbury on a conditioning loan. So I'm sure he's going to play one of the two games in a Wooksbury on Friday or Saturday. And then once he plays that game, I'm sure he's going to get activated, brought back up to the Penguins and be brought out to Western Canada for Winnipeg, Vancouver, all that.

But you also need to have Yowell Blumquist in this rotation. The Penguins do not win this game without Blumquist play, especially with his timely saves on the breakaways, the two-on-ones. Heck, the save that he made with his glove with all that traffic in front in the third period after the Penguins took the lead with Havgeny Malkins' 500th goal, that was one heck of a save. I know it's only three starts, but he seems so calm, so poised, so confident in net. He seems NHL ready at least through three starts. You need to keep giving him reps and seeing what he can do at the NHL level.

I think I've gotten to the point where I wouldn't say I'm like 100% confident in this tandem, but I do think it would be better to run Nadelkovich and Blumquist over one of them in Tristan and Jari just with the way Jari is playing right now. He needs to be, you know, sitting on the bench practicing a lot more because he's been a liability almost every time in net going back to early March. And again, you know, I don't want to keep piling on him, but he's the penguin's biggest issue right now. And it needs to be figured out ASAP.

Yeah. And you said something there right at the start that I tweeted last night, which was at this point, I think you have to waive him. And I got a lot of responses of with that buried of a cap hit, that's not a good idea, whatever, whatever. Listen, guys, that's sunk cost fallacy. At this point, you are going to, unless somebody saves you from it, a Casperi Kappanin and the St. Louis Blues, this money is here because I don't see a team

trading for this contract, at least not without having to take junk back. because that's just how this is going to work. So at this point, you pretty much just have to put him on waivers. If somebody bites, hey, congratulations, that's your problem now. Good luck. And thanks for helping us out. But I highly doubt that. And no one's going to trade for it.

So you have to send a message. You have to tell him that you are losing your starting job. You are losing the net if you haven't lost it already. because you can blame a lot of defense for this. And I agree. Their defensive system is terrible. I have been advocating for it to change all summer, but they clearly aren't.

So this is what you got to do. And if Yoel Blumquist as a young kid can come in with this level of poise and make saves, in this team's stated goal is to get back to the Stanley Cup playoffs, I don't care of Yoel Blumquist goes down the same road as Matt Murray and now Tristan Jari. in the here and now, he's making saves, he's keeping this team in games, and that's who you have to play. And if Alex Nadokovich repeats what he did at the end of last season, even though it was kind of the same as Tristan Jari,

they just remembered how to score. That's what you have to do. So this is going to be a problem. We're going to have to keep our eye on for the rest of the season, but that's enough of the negativity after such a great night at PPG paints arena. When we come back, I have a little bit of a rant that I need to. go on. It's more of a stream of consciousness, but I'll appreciate you guys sticking with me on it anyway. But before I do that, before we do that, we've got to tell you about a couple

sponsors. And our next one is game time. You guys know it's the absolute best time of the year for sports with football, hockey, baseball playoffs, NBA is right around the corner. And there is absolutely no substitute for catching it all live. And game time is your play. to get those tickets. Game time has a new feature called Game Time Picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier. Game Time filters out the fluff and shows you only incredible deals on getting great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. They also have plenty of other great offers and sections that you can check out on their app, including All In Pricing. When you toggle that on, you'll get the total up front so you're not hit with any of those

annoying fees at checkout. There's also the seat view feature where you can get a panoramic view of your seat in the app before you buy your seat. And GameTime ticket coverage gives you the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime, download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-O-N-HL for $20. off. Download game time today. What time is it? It's game time. And we're not done. We got to tell you about our next sponsor and that is prize picks. Prize picks is the best place to get real money sports action with over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings. Prize picks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick more or less on two players for a shot to win up to 100 times your cash. Run your game all season long with prize picks. You guys know if you've been listening to this show long enough,

I'm terrible year-long fantasy, but daily fantasy, whole brother, that is where I cook and I have been cooking on prize picks. You can now went up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. And prize picks is the only real money daily fantasy platform with injury insurance.

So your lineup stay in play, even if one of your players gets hurt. If your player leaves in the first half and doesn't return, prize picks keeps your lineup Live. Sign up today and you'll get $50 instantly when you play $5 and you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed.

If you think Sidney Crosby, of Gennie Malkin, or any other NHL players are about to go off, then you can cook up hot takes with your friends and win real money this hockey season and run your crew on prize picks. Download the app today and use code locked on NHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Use code locked on NHL and to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game.

All right, welcome back to the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. And I told Hunter this this morning when we were getting this episode planned and I said, listen, I got to rant, a little bit of a stream of consciousness, I got to go on. and Hunter, you kind of stepped on a little bit of it in the first segment when we were talking about the milestones achieved last night. Gino's 500th goal, Crosby's 1,600th assist. But there's one thing I have to admit to everybody right now.

When the TNT broadcast said at one point that his 500th goal and who gets the primary assist, who else but Sidney Crosby. I started crying. I absolutely started tearing up because I want to put it this way. I'm 34 years old. So Sidney Crosby and Hvgeny Malkin and Chris LaTang and back way back when Jordan Stahl, Mark Andre Flurry, all those guys started coming up and becoming a part of the penguins right as I got into high school.

And then they have been a part of my life since then when I went to, through college and then getting into the real world and everything else in between. So these guys in this team means so, so much to me and everything in my life. And you can call me a fanboy. You can call me on serious. You can say whatever you want. But remember, at the end of the day, despite the two of us doing this podcast and being analysts and being writers and everything else that we do, we still root for this team.

We still root for this team's success. We want them to succeed. Yeah, sure. People are going to tune in when we rant and rave after they score on their own net in Arizona. But I would much rather this team be a contender. And all of that, I want to take everybody through a scenario that you quickly mentioned. imagine just a couple of years ago when Chris LaTang and Hvgeny Malkin were free agents and it looked like they might not return and they go somewhere else. And then right after that, the team says, you know what?

This rebuilds on. Let's get everything in the world for Sidney Crosby and trade him somewhere else. And let's say all that happens. When that would have happened, that would have been two years ago. So the rebuild would have been on. And this team would stink right now. Yeah, they haven't been good. I'm not going to pretend they have.

But they'd be much worse than a bubble team or a middling team. They would be like San Jose, like Anaheim, like all those rebuilding teams right now. And it would be difficult to watch. And those three guys would still be playing somewhere. And are you going to tell me that if you watched, if Gennie Malkin score his 500th goal in a different uniform, or Sidney Crosby scoring his 1600th point in a different uniform, that it wouldn't feel like your heart got ripped right out of the center of your chest

because it would hurt. And listen, these guys have set a standard in this town for victory, for success, for excellence. And I love them for it. And we love them for it. And it has level, it has raised our expectations. to a point where we expect nothing less.

And I get it, man. There is no better feeling than winning. It's the best feeling in the world. But for 20 years, these guys have been near or at the peak of the National Hockey League. And they have given us everything of themselves. They have spent more than half their lives as Pittsburgh Penguins. And with everything they've done, the championships, the milestones, the action, the accolades, the deep playoff runs, if this is how they want to end their careers, playing together

in Pittsburgh, and staying together until they retire with everything they've given us, we should be happy for that. That's not to say you shouldn't critique them. If they're going to come out and say, we want to make the playoffs, hold them to that standard. But just keep in mind that for two decades, these guys have been the class of the national Hockey League. So yeah, it sucks that they're not a contender anymore. But I don't want to see that sports jeopardy bar trivia fun fact that's like he played 20 seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but many people forget he spent one year in Montreal. So I know it sucks. I know it's

frustrating. But damn it, I don't want to see these guys in any other uniforms. No, I agree. And I obviously was wanting them to resign for plenty of reasons, Malkin and Lattang that is a couple of years ago, number one being because I wanted them to keep going for the playoffs, trying to squeeze one more last deep run. And that's what the front office was saying at the time, the Romackstall, front office. Like, yeah, we wanted to bring these guys back. We want them to, A, retire as penguins, and be, we want to build a competitive team and try to do this one more time and get them another Stanley Cup. That was the main reason. But another reason, at least for me, was because I wanted these big three players to hit

all of these milestones throughout their careers before they called it quits. And yeah, you can say to me, oh, yeah, you put them above the team, blah, blah, blah. You can say that if you want. I don't care if you say it, to be honest. Because you know what? Yeah, I kind of do. I mean, I grew up with these three. They came into the league when I was in elementary school well before I graduated fifth grade.

I'm going to be 27 in a month. And they've been in my life for over, again, two-thirds of my life at this point. and I want to keep seeing what they can accomplish, even though they're at the end of their careers, I want to see them accomplish everything they can until they're ready to retire. Does that mean they may not make the playoffs this year or in future years?

Yes, there's a very good chance that happens. But you know what? I'm just happy that all of them are going to go out together after accomplishing so much with this team, with three Stanley Cups, and continue to accomplish individual stuff overall these next few seasons. I'm just so happy after a night like last night.

And you're right, it would have hit very weirdly if Hvgeny Malkin accomplished that with a different team, saying with Sidney Crosby if he wanted to be traded, for example, after this season and accomplish other stuff with another team and all that stuff. They deserve to go out like they came in. And I'm just super stoked. And also, we should shout out a couple other players from this performance. Drew O'Connor and Yassi Poo-Yarvi. Two great goals last night.

Yes, he pulled Yardvi. What a backhand that was and what a season he's having. And Drew O'Connor, the way that he was able to wade out Oukapeculukinan. That, to me, was superb. Two really nice goals for them last night. But that was a really great inspired speech. And I wholeheartedly agree with you. And I'm right there with you, man.

Yeah. I just want to make sure there's that perspective just because I get it. It's frustrating. You want them to win. And those emotions can overtake. people, but just remember we have been beyond spoiled to have these guys in our city. But that is going to do it for the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We will be back with a new episode for you on Friday. We'll get you set for the weekends games when they take on Carolina and

then the Winnipeg Jets. But Hunter needs to get out of here because he's got to go watch his Hokies get a win over the Eagles. And I have taken up way too much of his time at this point. I got to get rid of him here because he's busy. But thank you, as always, for tuning into the locked on penguins podcast. For Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. We will talk to you once again on Friday.