Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Is this the start of a turnaround?

Episode Date: February 15, 2021

The Penguins have not only won two in a row...but they got a power-play goal and a multi-goal lead in the same game! Pittsburgh won their third straight game over Washington and got to 7-5-1 on the season. Hunter recaps the game, starting with the Tanev line and how it's much better than a "competent fourth line." He also dissects how the power-play was able to break through and talks up Bryan Rust as he's been on a heater. Hunter also talks about the play of Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci as they're playing their best hockey right now, especially Ceci. After that, he gets into Jarry's play and how he slammed the door in the third period. Finally, the third segment brings back listener takeaways from the win!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.IndeedWant your QUALITY short-list FAST? You need Indeed. RIGHT NOW, our listeners get a FREE SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/LockedOn 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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hey everyone, welcome to this Monday afternoon episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins.

Just want to remind everyone that today's show is brought to you by Bill Bart. You go to Billbar.com right now, He's Promocode locked on and you'll get 20% off your next order. But so before we do get into Pittsburgh's game, will their win against the Washington Capitals 6 to 3 on Valentine's Day on Sunday? I do want to touch on one thing. Happy birthday to Yarmir Yager today, I believe, is his 49th birthday. The fact that he's not 50 yet is a pretty big surprise to me.

I thought he was already 50 by now, but, you know, he's still going strong. One of the five greatest players to ever play this game. And, of course, a Pittsburgh Penguins legend. I have said it on the locked on Penguins' Twitter account. I said it on my Twitter account. I've always said this. The Penguins would not be in Pittsburgh right now if it weren't for Yager back in 1999 against the Devils. If you don't believe me, go watch that performance against the New Jersey Devils in Game Six

where they were facing elimination, score the tying goal with just minutes remaining in the third period and then won the game in overtime. And then in game seven, they were able to win the game thanks to Yager as well. He put the team on his back. I mean, if you just listen to the roar of the crowd when Yager steps on the Yager. in game six. I mean, just everyone loved him. I know he is universally loved by this fan base. And when his jersey is eventually retired and that number is in the rafters, hopefully in the next couple of years, he is going to get one hell of an ovation. It's going to be something that

he's probably never seen before. And honestly, I think he's going to cry when he gets it. He's not going to expect the amount of applause and cheers that he is going to get. You know, people are going to set aside, you know, whatever happened, you know, with the flyers in 2012 and playing with other teams just because of how much joy he brought so many diehard fans of this franchise during the 90s. And, you know, it sucks that I couldn't, I wasn't hardly even alive for most of it. I mean, that 1999 series, I was basically one or two years old, so I don't even remember watching that. But still, happy birthday, Yara Miragar, here's to many more. And I can't wait to see him at the Jersey retirement ceremony at PBG Pins Arena a few years from now.

Whenever he stops playing, you know, maybe he'll play till 60 or something. But let's get to the 2020, 2020, 2021 penguins, the penguins get their second straight win. Yesterday, they improved to 7 and 5 and 1 on the season. They're tied for third in the East Division. They're in 5th right now just because I think of regulation wins. And I think other teams just have more overtime losses, if I'm not mistaken, which gives them points. So the two teams in front of them have below 500 records yet the penguins are over 500 and they're out of a playhouse spot. That just goes to show you how bad the standings are, you know, with the NHG.

shell. But overall, guys, I'm going to say it. I think this was the most complete performance by the Penguins this season. Full 60 minutes, they put up a six burger on Washington. I know two at the end, the last two were empty netters. Defensively, they defended hard, especially in the third period. We're going to get to that in just a second. But I just, I really liked the effort level from Pittsburgh in this game. I know they didn't play as well in the second period. They started out the game a little slow, but Pittsburgh took it to them right after that. And the shift that changed the game. I'm going to say it now. It was that Asken-Rees-Bulgertan line out there for about a minute.

I think it gets the Ovechkin-Baxter-Wilson line, and they were just hemming them in their own zone. I know they didn't get some shot attempts off. He didn't get some great scoring chances, but you're keeping the puck away from the Capitol's best players. That is huge if you want to win the game. It takes away Capitals offensive zone time, especially when you have the greatest goal score of all time out there,

defending in his own zone as well as, you know, Nicholas Baxtern is one of the most underrated players I've ever seen. So that's a win in itself. You know, I saw some takes during the game, just really stupid takes from a couple select people on Penguins Twitter. I'm not going to destroy them on this podcast because that's just not who I am. You know, they're not Penguins Chronicles level back. You know, if I wanted to take it to that level and, you know, actually shit on Penguins Chronicles. I would.

I've done it on this podcast before, but he's really the only person on Penguins quarter that I would actually dump on for this podcast. But anyways, you know, I just saw some takes during the game. Oh, my God, they're a competent fourth line. They're not a good third line. If they're a competent fourth line, I would love for you guys to tell me what fourth lines are better than them, because I really don't think you can find five fourth lines around the league that are actually better. I mean, maybe you can give me Colorado's Tampa Bay's for sure. I mean, Boston's fourth line is honestly not even that good.

They have major depth concerns. It's their top six. That's awesome. You look in their division, Islanders fans will say, oh, yeah, you know, Martin, Zizekis and Clutterbuck. Sizekis is good. The other two players, I think are terrible. And just for other teams, like I said, guys, I mean, I think the Ashton Rees-Bluger-Tan line, If it's a fourth line, it's one of the five best fourth lines in hockey.

And as a third line, I mean, it's actually pretty serviceable right now. I think 404 response code, CK, as he's called on Penguin's Twitter. They had played four periods yesterday, going into the second period. They had an 85, 86% expected goals for percentage. I mean, I know, guys, it's a small sample, but I mean, this line is on fire. And like I said, that shift in the offensive zone, that tilted the ice. It tilted the game. They scored right after that with that beautiful play with Brian Russ, Cindy Crosby,

Mike Matheson and oh yeah, we are going to touch on Mike Matheson later on in this podcast. And then right after that goal, Brandon Tannab gets another goal for the season. I think it was 32 seconds after. Boom. Penguins take a 2-1 lead and it's a brand new hockey game. It's just those are the kind of shifts that the Aston Rie's Bluer Tana line can have that can just change a hockey game and why it's just such a great line. I really don't understand why that line gets so much hate.

And it's just like, you know, people calling it a competent fourth line. Like I said, I don't think you people have any idea what you're talking about. I mean, that's not just a competent fourth line. That is a well above average fourth line in one of the best fourth lines in hockey. But, okay, let's get to the goals that were swore. Like I said, guys, the Brian Russ won. Beautiful pass from Sydney Crosby to get to Mike Matheson. And Matheson with a gorgeous cross-sized pass to Rust.

He gets his first of the game. And Rust has been on a heater these last six games. I think he has points in five of those last six games. Yesterday it was a three-point game, if I'm not mistaken. He's on a basically, he's basically still a point per game player. I don't think anyone had him being a point per game player again this season after he was last season. He also led

the team with goals last season with 27. He's not going to get there. I don't think this season, but still, I mean, he's been a rock. I know he had a little bit of a slow start, but ever since those first couple games in Philadelphia, he's been one of their best players and when he's been elevated to the Sydney Crosby line, that line with Gensel

and Crosby, one of the best first lines in hockey. It's like every time they step onto the ice, they are contributing to scoring chances and getting a high danger chance. It's just that is how good that line is right now. Sidney Crosby is doing Sidney Crosby things. I mean, he's just flat out dominant right now. And, you know, it's awesome to see a player like Russ take advantage of that.

Like I said, he's been really hot. He also got his second goal of the game yesterday on the power play. We're going to touch on the power play in the second segment. But I didn't want to take some time to talk about Mike Matheson. That's not his second consecutive good game. I know it was a bit of a small sample size when we were all shitting on him before he got her. And yeah, you know, I was one of those guys. I didn't really think he had a place in the lineup,

especially with P.O. Joseph coming in, just showing how extraordinary he is, though. He has come down at these last couple of games, and if Matheson can keep playing like this, there is going to be some really interesting decisions once this blue line gets healthy. We all know Duman Lantang are going to be together once Duman comes back. Then you have Pedersen is going to come back. He's going to be in the lineup. John Marino is going to be in the lineup.

You have those four, and then you have a bunch of players competing for two roster spots. I would assume that one of Cody Cici or Chad Rueedle, we'll get one of them. We'll get to Cody Cici later. I think it's just really close with those two. And then you have Mike Matheson and P.O. Joseph. I'm an advocate that I would keep P.O. Joseph in the lineup and maybe scratch Matheson. But if Matheson's going to keep playing like this after these last couple of games against the Islanders and the Capitals, I think you may have to keep him in.

I just, I don't envy Mike Sullivan. It's a great problem to have. Don't get me wrong. And I do see one of these defensemen overall getting traded for a forward. you know a lot of people have been pointing to Pedersen as that guy. I personally wouldn't do it. I would rather them get Matheson's contract off the books. But, you know, this is, we still need to see more of a sample size for Matheson to truly see what the penguins have here.

I think that's the big thing. He's going to get more playing time. He deserves it out of these first couple games. And, you know, there's a forward. Look how he jumped into that play. I think King Clarkie was one of them. Yes, you know, he definitely looked like a forward on that play. We all know his defensive play in his own zone stinks.

but it's good to see him really move the puck up the ice swell. I've had that awesome pass to rest. And his skating has just been much better, I would say, these last couple of games. So good to see Mike Matheson play well. And I also thought John Marino was great sticking to the defense. Shuggled a little bit at times during the game, but as the game went on, I thought he got better and better.

He's looking more and more like the rookie John Marino that we saw from last season. Chris LaTang, I think he was a better performance from him. I know he got burned bad by Obatchkin in the game's opening minute or something like that. But as the game went on as well, I thought he looked more and more like the Latang that we've seen from the past, you know, five to eight years than the one that we've seen this year. Has Chris LaTang lost a step? Absolutely. I mean, I even said during the game on Thursday, I have simmed for Chris LaTang for his entire career. You know, I also, I saw this great take from Chad, who does the, around the 412 podcast with Eddie. I think they just had Steered

mirrors on the podcast. So go check that out. They do a great job. So all this great take from him And he basically said, you know, it sucks that Latang has gotten worse now because all the people that shed on him in the past when he was great, they now are like, oh yeah, you know, I told you so. I told you he stunk. I told you he stunk in the defensive zone. And it's just like, people just love being right more than anything in the world. It's actually kind of pathetic at this point. But Chris Letang, I said it also yesterday, he's the best defenseman in this franchise's history. Well, franchise defenseman in this franchise's history.

I know Paul Coffey obviously was great. And one of the best to ever do it. but in terms of franchise defensemen for this team, it's Chris Lutang and everyone else. But still, really good performance from Lattang yesterday, and I think it was a step in the right direction for him. You know, I can't say the same about Hvgeny Malkin. It looked like he's finally turning the corner.

He's putting it together a good performance, and then it's like, nope, you know, just basically loses track of Nicholas Baxter. He basically has him all locked up, and then Baxter still is able to out muscle him and get that puck. Bashari, pretty pathetic defensive effort there from Malkin. I mean, he still needs to be a lot better in that area,

and just in the offensive zone as well. We've seen glimpses of him fully coming out of it. He just hasn't done it all yet. So we'll see if we can do that next game on Tuesday against the Capitals. So, so a lot more to get to with this performance. So we still have to talk about Brandon Tanev, Cody C, C, PowerPlay. Look for that coming up in the next segment. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast.

I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes fellowless shows Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. So we got two huge things also from this game. One, the Penguins scored a power play goal, their first in eight games. I believe that broke a 0-for-21 skid. Pretty embarrassing with a team with this much talent, if they can throw out on their five-on-four-man advantage.

And we got their first multi-goal lead of this season. It took 13 freaking games for the Penguins to get a multi-goal lead. They finally got it. You probably will never hear something like that again that happens in the city of Crosby of Guinea-Malking Air. That just will not happen again in any one of their seasons. It just, it was just, that much of a fluke, I think.

But they were able to get it. I know the Capitals were able to kind of storm back and make it four or three, but in the third period, they were able to hold that lead. And then, they not only made it a two-goal lead with the empty net goal, but they made it a three-goal lead. It was their first three-lead of this season when Sidney Crosby basically scored an empty goal on his knees after he was hooked by, I'm trying to remember. I think it was Jacob Vrana that hooked him down.

It was going to be a power play to the Penguins anyway. I saw the ref put his hand up. So Penguins were able to win that game. six three sync thanks to those two empty net goals and they had the first multi-goal lead like I said guys you love to see it and then for the power play um it looked like they were going to break out after that first power play and I'll tell you why um just the puck movement on that power play um think it was in the first period or something like that flawless they were actually getting scoring chances putting pucks on net getting into the high danger areas of the ice van tach

made some nice saves and you know the puck they weren't making stupid passes with a puck they weren't trying to force it. You know, they're just, they're making these two to three passes, boom, puck on net, looking for a rebound. Then the cycle will repeat itself. You know, Jesse Marshall wrote about that a lot in his piece for the athletic last week, about how the great power plays just need a few passes to get a good scoring chance. That is what I saw yesterday when I watched that first unit.

They weren't passing the puck five to six to seven times. And then getting scoring chances from like the perimeter of the ice. They were actually getting chances from the slot, getting chances from the front of the net. And it finally paid off as Latang had that beautiful. beautiful pastor Brian Russ, who's at the left side of the net, fires at pass Bannochek, who just didn't see it coming, and he got a second goal of the game to make it 3-2, Pittsburgh in the second period. Like I said, guys, that's a breaks.

An eight-game skid for the Penguins without a power play goal, over-21 skid overall. And, you know, if they can keep getting power plays like that through the rest of the season, a lot of things are just going to fall into place, I think is the best way to say it. I mean, if they were getting 9-10 goal-tending through the first 13 games, they'd be in second place right now. I fully believe that. see some glimpses from Jari in the third period yesterday that he can maybe get back to last year's form. I know I shat on him in the first two periods. I still think they do need a veteran goaltender

to back him up. I just, I think the tandem of DeSmith and Jari, it's just, I don't know. From what I've seen so far, I just don't trust it enough. From what I read from Josh Yoey, it sounded like they were going to start Desmith in this game if he hadn't gotten sick just because of how well he played against the Islanders. That's just how little faith the organization has interest in Jari right now. You saw that third period. They had that one goal lead going into it, 20 minutes left, see what they can do. Lockdown defense from the Penguins. That's exactly how they won those back-to-back Stanley Cups.

When they got that lead going into the third period, they were always money under Mike Sullivan during 2015-16 and 2016-17. They almost never lost a game. And the thing was with this third period, guys, they didn't just like total like some other teams did it and put up like two shots on that or something like that. Penguins, if I'm not mistaken, had 17 shots in that period. almost 20, it might have been 20 actually, but I think it was at least 17. They're actually controlling the pace of play and not letting the capitals get a lot of prime scoring chances during those final 20 minutes.

I think Jari, he still had a couple really great saves, just some timely saves that he has not made this year. And with three minutes to go, the capitals were still pressuring a bit. I even tweeted this out. You know, this is a fairly large three minutes for this goaltender this season. If he wants to remain the number one, he passed that test. I think he'll get the start next game. that was just a huge period for Jari's confidence. Because if he gave up a goal there, they'd probably lose the game in overtime

just because of how he's been playing this year. And I didn't like a couple of the goals that he gave up in the game, but when this team needed a timely save in that third period, and even during the second period when Gensel made it 4 to 2, he got it. That was the big thing. I'm not going to blame that third goal on Jari. That was a terrible play by Malkin. The first two, though, I think he definitely could have been a little bit better.

And speaking of Jake Gensel, great to see him get back on the scoreboard again. them. He's been heating up a bit these last few games. He now has five goals, 12 points on the season and 13 games, so he's basically averaging a point per game at this point. And he has two goals in his last three games, honestly, three goals in his last five games. So it's been really nice to see Gensl get back to scoring at 5E5, where he just was not at the beginning of the season. As for some other players that I said, I talk about Brandon Tannath. I'm not going to shit on that contract anymore. He's been outstanding to start the year, had that awesome goal where he just tucked it past Vannec.

off of the rebound. That was the one that made it 2-1, 30 seconds after Rust scored. And then, you know, let's just, let's get to Cody C, C, guys. I'm going to say it right now. The 13 games, I have been dead wrong on Cody Cici, as I have a lot of others. The only person I think was right about Cody Cici was Jeff, one of my best friends of Penguins' Twitter. He can follow him on Twitter at Latang. Colt has some great Penguins memes and all that.

He told me from the beginning, he was like, you know what, Hunter? He's going to be a good third-parring serviceable defenseman, and he may be able to slide into a tough role at some point. For the most part, he's been pretty right so far. I mean, C's underlying numbers this year have been pretty damn good. If you look at his 5B5 numbers, he's been on the ice for 158 chances for, 139 chances against, his goals for, 7 to 5 goals against, his goals for percentage, guys, 58.3% in a 10-game sample.

His highest before that, you have to go back to 2015-16 with Ottawa when it was 52%. more some more scoring chances for 80 scoring chances against 72 his scoring chances 4 percentage 52.6% that is also a career high he's also in the plus category for high danger chances for 28 to 27 um he is just he's been a rock and that's honestly I think the best way to describe it I was just in awe of watching CC on the ice yesterday even if you don't even look at his numbers the way he was able to just corral the puck in the defensive zone make the read every time whether it's along the right hand boards, the left side boards, just was able to get the puck out, get it to a forward,

or at times even just carry the puck out by himself. He was just making every right read with the puck. And it's like, where is this Cody Cici been throughout his entire career? Because I sure has held in see it in Ottawa. And I sure has held in see it in Toronto last year. So what a revelation this has been. He's making very cheap money on a one-year deal. It looks like Jim Rutherford has nailed this signing so far.

And at this point, everyone, I'm about 70% sure. that he's going to stay in the lineup over Chad Ruehiel and the defense is healthy. I was not that high on him about a week or two ago. I was on the full-on Chad Ruehdle train. I still am trying to cling on to it, but the more C-C plays, the more he impresses me, I think you're going to have to play him. If the playoffs were to start today and the Penguins were in it, what I would do for the defense, Dumanel and the Tang,

I'd go P.O. Joseph, Don Marino, and I would go Ruehdle and C.C. For that bottom pairing. I know Matheson has played well the last couple of times. games, but from the sample sizes that we've seen from all the defensemen this year, I would definitely have Cody Cici in my top six. He's just been that good. And even from last night's game, via natural stratrate, plus 3% puck possession relative to the team and plus 27% expected goals percentage relative to the team. He has just been on fire through 10 games with his sample size, and he's not coming out of the lineup anytime soon. This is, you know, just fastening your seatbelt,

baby. We're going for a ride with Cody Cici. I think that's the best way to describe it. And before we do get to the next thing, which will be the listener takeaways. I always love doing that with you guys to make you guys a part of the show. Zach Ashton Reese, again, that's his second consecutive game with a goal, two goals and two games since his return. I'm going to keep saying it, everyone, one of the most underappreciated players on this team, the most underrated player on this team, if we're being honest, just he makes that line with Teddy Bluger and Brandon Tanov go.

So I'm excited to see how that line does in the future. But before we do get to the listener takeaways, it's trying to talk about a couple of couple of things. One of them being Bill Bar. There's 18 amazing flavors, six new flavors, caramel brownie, cookies and cream, carrot cake, 12 originals, raspberry, German chocolate, peanut butter, banana bread. The bars are covered in 100% chocolate. They are soft and easy to chew. They're low calorie, low sugar, high protein, and high fiber. One of my favorite flavors is still the cookies and cream, 17 grams of protein, 130 calories, 4 grams of sugar, 4 grams of net carbs. You go to Billbar.com right now and use promo code locked on and we'll get 20% off your next order.

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Head to the website or use your mobile device. Send up today and receive your 50% off. Welcome bonus on your first deposit. That's Bet Online, your online sportsbook experts with the promo code, locked on. All right, guys, welcome back to this episode of Be Locked on Penguins Podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows Twitter at L0 underscore Penguins.

So as always, I appreciate every single one of you sending in your takeaways from each Penguins game. I'm going to keep doing them after every game, you know, up until the season end. So let's just get right into it. Mr. Noodle says, I hate to pick on Gino and Letang, but they are becoming our weak leaks. Good win that we needed bad. First line was on fire. Second line hits a facelift.

Not much going on for them. Third and fourth lines were good as expected. Defense better than it's been four and five good games. I definitely will agree with you with you with Gino, man. He was definitely a weak link again. Well, just when you think he's fully breaking out of it, he just goes back and does something stupid. Letang, I'm going to have to disagree with you a little bit there. I thought at the start, you know, he was definitely a weak league for the team.

as the game went on, I thought he settled in and played a much better game for Pittsburgh. And also, man, yeah, you nailed it. This was a gigantic win for the hockey team. They're going to be seeing a lot of Washington and New York. Of course, that's the Islanders, excuse me, over these next few weeks. I mean, these are the only two teams that they're going to be seeing for the month of February. And this could be the time where the playoff spot is won or loss. I mean, you have to win these games in regulation.

They are tied with both of these teams right now in the standings for third in the east. The Penguins are on the outside looking in because they don't have as many regulation wins, but, you know, if you want to fully get a playoff spot, you have to win most of these games. You have the Islanders coming up later this week at home. You have Pittsburgh. You have Washington at home on Tuesday. Excuse me. I just cannot talk. I have a case of the Mondays today, guys. So you're just, you're going to have to keep winning these games in regulation. Third line, I agree with you, man. That was great. The defense was better than it's been. The fourth line, though, I just, I hate the Penguins' fourth line currently, everyone. I just,

when this team is fully healthy and if they're getting 9-10 goal-ting in an average special teams, there's only a couple of things that Ron Hextall is going to have to do. One, go out and get a veteran backup. Two, replace two-thirds of that fourth line when Jared McCannan comes back. He can't be playing next to Sam Lafferty

and Mark Jankelski. Mark Jankowski has some of the worst underlying numbers on the team. I think he's expected goals 4 percentages, like 42% or something like that. And then Colton Severe, he just hasn't done anything since one of the first few games of the season. So they need to go out and get a depth forward to at the trade deadline

if they're serious about winning a Stanley Cup this year. Alan Teodor says, best game so far. Nice to see them win by more than one in regulation. About time for special teams to start clicking. Jari played well, as did the first and third lines. Now I'm starting to feel so much better about this team. He also had that amazing meme. The Penguins Learned had a score again.

Uh-oh, that's from the Happy Gilmore when he said, Happy Learned How to Put. I agree with you basically with everything, Alan. It was nice to see them get their second regular. win of the season through 13 games, special teams. Yeah, even the penalty kill. And I've shot on the penalty kill quite a bit, you know, through these the first few weeks of the season.

But I will give Mike Volucci and them credit. They looked better yesterday after their Washington's, I think, first or second power play through the rest of the game. They were more aggressive, and they started getting a lot more pucks out of the zone they originally were doing. Yep, Jari played well, especially in the third period. You know, the first and third lines, I would be in the second and fourth lines, though.

They just got to do something at this point. Gilbert the Goat says the Capitals will always be Pittsburgh's little sister. You know, I honestly look at it, man, as like a Big Brother, Little Brother thing. It's almost like, I've compared the Penguins' Capitals rivalries to the Steelers-Bengals won. It's just because, you know, Big Brother usually wins, but sometimes you've got to have Little Brother win once in a while. He says the first line was amazing today, as well as the third line, the power play and penalty kill looked a lot better. And while we finally got two-go-le-le-le. Jari looked shaky, but got better as the game went on.

Yeah, 100% agree with that. You know, I'm glad that we're on the same page. She also adds, I never thought I'd say this, but Mike Matheson and Cody C.C. played great. If Mathisine keeps playing like this, what does this mean for P.O. Joseph once Newman and Pedersen come back, I still rather have P.O. Joseph in the lineup, and the lineup, personally. Yeah, man, and, like, I responded to you on Twitter, it's a great problem to have. I think you probably will see P.O. Joseph in the lineup once everyone's healthy, but, you know, I don't know what goes to Mike Sullivan's mind.

I could easily see him playing Matheson and C.C. on that third pairing and, you know, maybe having C.C. just kind of try to carry the pairing. But if Matheson continues the way he's playing right now, he's not going to come out of the lineup. So there's going to be some interesting decision. Are you going to scratch Marcus Pedersen? Probably not with the contract that they gave him, though. It is a new front office in there. So it's going to be interesting to see the dynamic with that.

We'll get to a few more here before we call it for today. Thomas Nevitt says, I didn't have my full attention on the game as I was racing virtually, but we had a good game. Hopefully this is the start of a good run in honor of this win. I wrote a poem for you. So this is fun. I did really appreciate this, Thomas, so thank you. Pittsburgh wear yellow, Washington wears white, Tuna the Hextall era, and we didn't play shite.

That is absolutely awesome. Thank you, Thomas, for that poem. I almost said shit there, which wouldn't have made it rhyme, but I'm glad that my kindergarten reading senses came in, just in time and said shite instead. A few more. Alex Stevens says, another solid game by C.C. and Matheson. Nice to see our powerplay starting to improve, too.

Yeah, man, you know, I know everyone's talking about C.C. and Matheson, but the power play, you know, if it can just be average, this team is going to go places. A lot of some of the other stuff will correct themselves. You know, hopefully the goal tending well, and if they can continue to get good contributions from the first and third lines and hopefully the second line and maybe make some additions to the fourth line, this team is going to be a serious Stanley Cup contender. Fiona says odd calls, especially on the root-witle call, but overall great game. Ashton Reese, two goals, two games, and overall great game for most of them, especially

in the third. Yeah, there were some weird officiating calls yesterday. I remember, I think it was during the first period. They called an icing on the penguins, but yet Vanichick played the puck. So I was like, um, are we just not going to call icing? And, you know, another thing with NHL officiating that I've noticed this season as well. And honestly, I've been noticing this for like the past decade. They'll call every little stick infraction with like a slash.

But, oh, if you cross-exone in the back and you kind of headshot them, oh, open season. They don't care. It's just, antithel officiating is just really inconsistent with those kind of calls. And honestly, it's kind of been pissing me off for a while. It's just because why would you openly call slashing every time it happens, but yet you ignore cross-shaking, which is kind of worse than slashing. So I just had to point that out. There's one more comment here from SNZZZZ. Finally, the puck movement is there working the puck and not giving up passes a little in the first, where they fixed it up quick and Malkin looked nice shooting the puck and any advantage he had.

Most aggressive he has played. And can't forget Brandon Tanev, who is a monster. Yeah, Brandon Tanev, I can't say enough great things about him. Like I said, everyone, do not give a flying crap right now about that comment. on track. He's just outplaying in and then some. And yeah, the puck movement was greater, especially on the power play. Malkin, yep, he was shooting on the power play. He wasn't forcing a pass that wasn't there like we've seen from him on the powerplay the last seven, eight games. And it was just, it's a better functioning power play when the passing is crisp. They're getting it to the

high danger areas and they're just getting pucks on net and crashing the net. That is how the penguins are, if they're going to have a successful power play, that's what has to happen. But I really really appreciate you guys sending these in. Oh, I did miss one from Penn 67. and solid effort finally seemed like the more work Jari got, the better he was. Yeah, honestly, I can agree with that, man. Yeah, I mean, especially in the third period, he was facing a lot more shots. You know, he just, he looked more comfortable, standing tall on his net and making him a timely say that they needed. But again, everyone, I really appreciate you guys, sending in these listener feedbacks.

And I can't wait for you all to send in more as the season goes on. But the Penguins will be back in action tomorrow night against the Washington Capitals. We'll have an episode after that game and recap it all for you all. So, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and I will talk to you, all on Tuesday evening.