Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - It's safe to say Evgeni Malkin is BACK

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

After the Pittsburgh Penguins lost in embarrassing fashion, they responded with perhaps their 2 best and biggest wins of the season. They got 4 points on the weekend which vaulted them back into a playoff spot and Hunter is here to talk all about it. He first touches on the Flyers game and how that was as close to a must-win as you can get. He touches on Geno, and how he's fully back, plus some big-time Jared McCann praise. He also talks about how it may be time for Mike Matheson to take a seat, plus how great Kapanen has been on Malkin's wing this season. All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.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 evening, well, late afternoon episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes.

Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodesol. This show's Twitter at L-O-Hengrins. A reminder today's episode is brought to you by Bill Pard. You can go to Billbar.com and use promote code locked on 20, excuse me, and you'll get 20% off your next order. This was a monstrous weekend for the hockey team in Pittsburgh, and they got four out of four points, and they did it in regulation. You know, there's that meme going around on Penguins' Twitter, you know, holy shit, you just lost to the Penguins in Regulation. That's embarrassing with like the crying emojis. Probably one of the best memes I've ever seen, to be fair.

If you guys have not seen it, you can just, I posted it. I think I went up the Flyers Twitter account the other day, I think. It was just, it's fun to post that me. But anyways, it is, it was very important for Pittsburgh to get these four points, especially after how they blew it against the Flyers on Thursday. They responded to it with a gigantic win on Saturday, 4 to 3, coming back from one goal down, not once, but twice. And that came down 1-0.

They made it 2-1, and then the Flyers came back, made it 3-2. and then Jared McCann makes it four, three in the third period. I know he got hurt on Sunday's game against the Rangers, but since coming back, McCannes, he's looked really good, fellas. I mean, I think now three goals in the six games since his comeback. I think he had points in four of those five games, four out of six, if you include the game against the Rangers. He's underappreciated by a lot of this fan base.

I know some of the Penguins media have been kind of trying to run him out of town. You know, I love obviously Josh Yoey, his work at the end. I disagreed with his stuff regarding McCann on one of his latest articles going into the trade deadline. I think he is more than serviceable. You put him at wing on the top six. You put him at center in the bottom six with good wingers. He's going to produce, and he's just looked like a completely different player since coming back. Hopefully he's not out for too long.

Hopefully he's not out at all. But just because of how great he's been, he did not return to the game on Sunday against the Rangers. But I've really been impressed with McCann. He's skating, his playmaking ability, and just his willingness to go to the net, lot more. Obviously, his biggest asset is his shot. It's always been like that. Even in Florida before he came to the Penguins, he had a wicked shot. He brought that over here. You saw in his first season, he was scoring it well than last year, scoring a bit to start the season, but then in the second half the season, I think had one goal in 24 games or something like that. Just definitely

not the normal, but not the norm, excuse me, that we've seen from McCann. But, you know, ever since this comeback this year, you know, like I said, three goals in the six games, four points in those six games overall. You know, that McCann Malkin'all can caputin line, the penguins have something there. And I'm going to be curious to see what happens when Jason Zucker eventually comes back. Because other than McCann, he's the only injured penguin player right now. So I think I saw a tweet the other day, like, wow, I'm looking at the lineup. And it's like, there's still a bit of holes here.

But it's like, no, this is basically the team. And it's just Jason Zucker is out. Yes, everyone, the penguins are basically fully healthy right now, minus that top six winger. I don't know when Jason Zorker is going to come back. There's obviously some lineup decisions that it'll be interesting with Mike Sullivan. Colton Severe was placed on waivers today. I don't know if he's going to get claimed. I wouldn't expect him to with how bad he's been.

I guess he'll be reassigned to the taxi squad or the farm team, but that just goes to show you how bad Severe has been this year and why it was so stupid for Jim Rutherford to take him in that deal with Mike Matheson for Patrick Hornquist. Don't worry, we will get to Mike Matheson later on. But, you know, other thoughts on that Flyers game. It was just a much more concrete effort, I think, is my best way of saying it. You know, the Penguins, they controlled, the underlying numbers were very much in their favor. They controlled the shot attempts, more shots on goal, more high danger chances, more of the expected goals, more of the possession.

They were just a better team on that Saturday against the Flyers of a complete role reversal from that Thursday game. And Tristan Jari, I thought he was okay in this game. That third goal he definitely wants back. that was like a 55-foot slapper from Dossus Bear. Maybe he thought it was going to get tipped on the way through, but there's still not too much traffic in front of them. That's still a shot that he has to have back. Zach Ashton-Rees gets another goal, a fluky one at that,

but he also had a pretty fluky one in Sunday's game. That'll get too later. But I think now overall he has five goals since coming back from injury from last season. I'm going to keep saying it, everyone. He is the most underappreciated and undervalued player on this team. he does everything so well when it comes to penalty killing. You can put him on the second power play if need be. His even strength numbers.

His defensive play in the defensive zone. Just his puck handling ability in the offensive zone. Everything he does is just so underrated. And he is the glue, I would say, on that line with Teddy Bluger and Brandon Tanev. You take him away, you know, those two players struggle. So I've really been impressed with Ashton Reese's game. And I'm really curious to see how he continues to play moving forward just because this has been, I think so far his best season as an NHLR.

Another player that I'm surely going to talk about a lot on this episode of Gennie Malkin, I think it's safe to say everyone that he's back. You know, that's two straight games that he scored. I think now he has nine points in his last nine games. He just, there's a lot more jump into his step. And, you know, he made Brian Elliott look like a complete idiot on that goal. I think that tied the game on the power play. Just basically froze him for about 30 seconds and then did the wrap around.

Elliot didn't even move. He just knew he was like, oh, well, you know, I lost that one just because Malkin made him look like an idiot. And, you know, I will say, don't sleep on that pass made by Sidney Crosby that got Malk in the puck. That was one hell of a dish from the point. You know, that's something that we haven't seen a lot of on the Penguins Powerplay. You know, Cindy Crosby playing the point. We're used to that hashtag Sid down low, as some people from Penguins Twitter have always said throughout the years. I touched on that.

I'm in Pittsburgh post game live with Mack Dica, who does stuff for Pittsburgh Hockey now. Like I do, I always love doing those. I think I'm going to start doing them every Saturday with him, so be sure tune in for those. But, you know, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Sid on the point for the power play, but, you know, I still like seeing him download just because his vision from behind the net is next to none in the league. But I'm just, I'm really liking of Gunny Malkins game right now. There's none of those glaring turnovers that you saw earlier on in the season, none of those bad defensive lapses that you've seen, you know, with his line getting hemmed in there. I think controlling most of the shot attempts per 60 each night with his. with Kaplan in.

They're controlling more of the expected goals, the high danger chances, etc. That line has really turned into something in. You know, let's talk about Kaspari Captain. He has six goals now on the year for Pittsburgh. He's almost that breakaway specialist where every time he comes in one-on-one with a goalie, he's going to score just because he's so quick.

I think it fools goalies with how quick he goes in. They just don't have the time to react for when he shoots it, and it's already right past the goaltender. So I'm honestly at the point now, everyone, where I'd be pretty surprised if Kappenden didn't score on a breakaway as he was coming in. But still, you know, they have instant chemistry. You saw that pass last night from Kappenden on that two-on-one. I think that was the goal that made it.

Was it 4-1 or 5? It was one of the two, and he just put it on a thread for Gino, and he wasted no time at getting that puck in that. Again, you know, I'm really liking their games right now. I still think Rutherford paid a bit too high of a price to get Kappan, but, you know, he's almost averaging a point per game right now. This is a good player. This is exactly the type of season that everyone was hoping he would have

after his first season in Toronto where he was just electric, just like this one. He took a step back last season. But the captain that we've been getting so far, you know, this is, it's making me feel a bit better about the price given up. But still, like I said, I still feel like it was a bit of an overpay. Speaking of others about the Fires game, I know already touched on Jared McCannibal,

but what a goal that he had, had that Somersault celebration after the Brandon Tanniv had that original shot on that. They came in with such speed. Elliot had no chance on that game winner. And then, of course, you know, Brian Russ gets another goal. You know, he always goes to the front of the net. He's one of their best net front presences on this team. I always love to see Russ score.

And again, said, you know, two assists in that game and then scored in the Rangers game. We're going to get to the Rangers game in the next segment. But overall, for that game, much needed to two points. They ended up tying the Flyers in the standings, get to two and three against them on the year. There's only three games left against the Flyers this year, you know, somehow. When I watch the Flyers play against Pittsburgh, I still think the Penguins are the better team. I obviously like the Flyers with their depth and, you know, Carter Hart, but he's been struggling this year. I know Flyers fans are quick to defend Carter Hart because he's their goalie of the future and it's going to be there for a long time.

But you look at his goal save above expected or goal save above average. He's, I think, at the bottom of the league. It has not been good this year for him. But, you know, I think the Flyers also probably need another defenseman. I think a couple people saying they want to go after Matias at home and stuff like that. But if the Penguins and the Flyers were to play in a playoff series, I think I would go Penguins in seven as of right now. I think if they made even an upgrade,

you know, I might even put that up to six games. But I still feel like it would maybe be a 50-50 shot, but I would much prefer taking the Penguins. I think they're deeper. They play a more structured game, and I just don't trust an L.A. and Vigno team in the playoffs. But coming up in the next segment, we will touch on thoughts about the Rangers game

and why, again, you know, another huge game for the Penguins is to look to get their season back on track. So stay with me through this. next commercial break. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hoey's. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L-O-Rensquare Penguins.

So complete domination by the Penguins on Sunday night against New York Rangers, a five-to-one win. You know, the first 15 minutes were bad. I'll say that, you know, I'm basically just a meme at this point when I say one thing, bad thing about the penguins, and they just go and do something positive. You know, as I said the first 15 minutes, they look like dog shit. And then basically two seconds later they scored.

And, you know, John Marino gets his first goal of the season. It's so funny when Danny of the Penns blog, Shiree Irving on Penguin's sweater, decided to write about John Marino and his really bad underlying numbers. I think in almost every defensive category, he ranks sixth among Penguins Demon or worse. I think an expected goals per hour, expected goals against per hour, five on five points per hour, possession and all that. And then he goes and have two of like his best games of the season. I think on the Flyers game, his like expected goals score percentage was like 100

percent and then last night you know his underlying numbers again were great you know he just looks more comfortable again with marcus peterson um as his defensive partner i thought peterson enjoyed a much better performance on sunday they did on saturday took three freaking penalties um on saturday that was just i don't know what peterson was doing in that game but then you know plays him with marino again they just haven't played a lot this season and they looked much more comfortable together i just you know i think marino just likes playing with peterson more just because he's like that safety blanket for him almost. And Mike Matheson is anything but a safety blanket.

He's great in one end and then so terrible in the other end. But still, it gets his first goal of the season. I think that was only his fourth or fifth point overall for the Penguins this year. It has been a very tough year from Reno after, especially after Sunday that contract extension. But, again, a step in the right direction for him. I was really impressed with that performance lesson.

Hopefully he can keep that going and they keep giving him in Pedersen actual top four minutes and they don't give that to Matheson. And Cici, though, I think Cody Cici deserves those kind of minutes. Just definitely not Mike Matheson. Other players, again, you know, Kappenden gets his sixth goal. That breakaway was awesome. That was the one that made 2-1, and then Sidney Crosby. That was a vintage Sydney Crosby goal.

Just basically wax the puck as it's on edge. He didn't even shoot it. He just whacked it past Giorgiyev. Makes a 3-1. Three goals in the span of a minute in one second. That is the fastest any team has scored three goals this season. And the Penguins, they scored three goals in 71 seconds. a couple of games for that against Flyers.

They beat that record now with three goals in 61 seconds for this game. So the Penguins just can't seem to help themselves with setting new records this season, no matter what it is. But still, you know, the Penguins like to score goals in bunches. They did just that. And then for the rest of the game, the commitment to team defense, that is the best, I think, I've seen the Penguins play team defense all year. You know, I don't think I counted more than a couple high danger chances for the Rangers

after that first period. Just the penguins really clamped down on them. They held them to just 24 shots. I think Zabanajad hit the post on a 2-1-1. But other than that, there just wasn't a lot going for the Rangers. They obviously are missing Artemi Panera. And he's taking that leave of absence. Dude, that report.

You know, it looks like a fabricated report to me. But I don't know. I'm not really sure. The details of it are very sketchy right now. I'm not really sure when he's going to come back to the team. But like I said, you could definitely feel the Rangers who are missing his presence. last night. But also when you watch the Rangers, there's not a lot of Capo-Caco, Alexei Lafranier.

I think Lafranier, does he even have 10 points this season? But just he, we've watched him in five games so far, and he just has not been noticeable for someone who's the number one pick. I know everyone, it's very, very early. This could all change for the rest of the season or, you know, in his sophomore campaign. But him and Capocaco have not been good, I would say, so far in their prospective careers as they were picked, you know, number one and number two in consecutive draft classes. But, you know, there's still plenty of time. So we'll see if they can get it together moving forward. I already touched on me of Guany Malkin goal. Again, you know, I just, I fully think Gino is back now, guys. He has his mojo back. He's moving with authority. He's

making players look silly with his skating and his puck moving ability. I think he just needed a little bit of time. I think with a full training camp, we would have seen a different Gino to start the season, but now that we're 20-something games in, I think it's what, like 24 now, you know, he's fully locked in, this is the Afghani Malkin this team will need if they want to not only make the playoffs, but make a Stanley Cup run as well. So great to see Malkin and Caputin again playing well. Zach Aschen-Rees, like I said, he gets another goal. That's his fifth goal of the season. It looked like it wasn't going to count it first because he basically batted the fuck down with his glove, but then, you know, I think like a millisecond later, he basically just puts it

past Keith Kincaid. I couldn't even believe Keith Kincaid was in the league. I forgot that Igor Shestrickon was not playing yesterday due to an injury that he suffered a couple of games before that. I wouldn't expect him to play on Tuesday either, but he was able to squeak it past Keith Kincaid. Penguins were able to win that game 5 to 1, and now they are tied for third in the East Division. These last two games, because they won them in regulation, it basically just changes the Penguins season in the Blank of a Nias, snap of your fingers is another way to say. I think the point projections now,

the penguins are projected, it has 67 points. If I saw that from Adam Grets's right, that's one less than the flyers. But, you know, they still have to play Buffalo eight times, and the Penguins will finally have that shot to play Buffalo later this week. Actually, Thursday and Saturday,

they will travel to Buffalo, two of their four road games this month. They'll have knocked out of the way. Everyone keeps asking, well, why are the Islanders in first place in the east? They're six and no against the Sabres, people. It's not the Howard. Take away a couple of them. all those games as losses or you take away

all those games in general if they haven't even play Buffalo I think they're right around where the Penguins would be right now or even lower. So penguins have not had their fun with Buffalo yet. We'll see if they do have their fun considering the penguins love to play down to shitty competition. The Sabres are the worst team in hockey

right now that penguins cannot afford to drop points or just honestly drop games to that team. Those have to be regulation or overtime ones. You don't even need, it doesn't even matter that much because Buffalo is not to make the playoffs. As long as you beat them, that's what matters. But just win the game in regulation or overtime, preferably regulation because the Buffalo has just been so bad. I think they've lost 12 in their last

14. There's a Buffalo beatwriter that's calling, talk to the general manager, I think, on the Friday news conference calling the team a disgrace. It's just, it's a bad time up there. And I think on Elliot Freeman's 31 Thoughts podcast today, he'll be about if Jim Rutherford could be as a consultant to Kevin Adams up there or president of hockey off. So, you know, that'd be great. You know, Maybe they'll trade us Jack Eichael for Mike Matheson or something like that. But the Penguins, because the Flyers lost in regulation yesterday, the Penguins now, two points clear of them. I know the Flyers have a couple games in hand, but at worst, the Penguins would only be two points behind them if the Flyers won those two games that they have in hand on them. So things are looking more up right now for Pittsburgh.

Three of their last four have been wins. They needed those results. Obviously, if they would have gotten that result on Thursday, would be a lot happier right now. But a win is a win. They're now four in one against the Rangers this season. They'll try to make it 5 to 1 on Tuesday. Remember everyone, this is a 6 o'clock start. So perfect time.

You want to make an early dinner. Sit down on the couch with your family, your girlfriend, your kids, you know, just siblings, something like that. Make dinner how it be done by 6 o'clock? And then you can watch the game and ends at 8.30. It's an extra hour. So that's the best, I think. I like those 6 o'clock starts. We haven't had a lot of them.

I don't even think we've had any of them for Pittsburgh. But I would like more of those moving forward. I think most people at that time are home from work. Anyway, but to close off this segment, I guess I'll touch a little bit of the negative. There's not a lot of negative about this team right now after these last two games, especially. But Mike Matheson, again, has been really bad these last couple games, especially that he was the direct culprit of that Mika Zabanajad goal, the goal that opened the scoring for the Rangers, not even two minutes into the game. No idea why he was making that pinch, and then Zabanajad just made Casey to Smith look bad on that goal.

But it's just like he has no defensive awareness. move him to Ford already is my biggest thing. I cannot watch Mike Matheson play defense anymore. It is that bad. He is that much of a tire failure in his own end. He doesn't have that offensive ability or capability, I think, to make up for those defensive errors. And, you know, he signed for six more years, five more years,

whatever the hell it is at this point, at like $4.8 million. So I hope this team has fun with that contract at some point. Already touched on Colton-Sevier on waivers. This trade looks worse and worse. And then, oh, yeah, Sam Lafferty. made that blunder against the flyers on Saturday. I'll close with that before going to the commercial break. He was scratched yesterday against the Rangers, and rightfully so. Sam Lafrey does not bring really anything to the lineup. Some people that cover the team and some

fans mainly will be like, well, he's fast. He does this. He does that. It's like, look at his NHL sample. He has like 14 points in like 70 games, like six goals and 70 games. I mean, people talk about how this guy's like a top nine winger or something like that. He's not a good player. He's good as a 13th forward. You don't want him playing every night for this team, especially if they want to go and win a championship. So I am glad that he was scratched, and I think he's going to be scratched moving forward. So we'll have to see what happens with that. Before we do get to the listener takeaways, it is time to talk about Bilt Bar, and there is something different going on with Bilt Bar this month. We've been telling you about Bilt Bar. It's the best

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player on this team. You know, Ryan, thank you for saying that. I'm glad I don't sound like a moron when I talk about Zach Ashton Reese on this podcast. I've been saying it for weeks now. You know, I'm glad people are starting to believe me and, you know, keep watching him more in depth. You know, he is so underpriciate with what he does on that line. And yeah, Kaepininin's been great ever since, you know, being inserted on that Geno line. Never put him back with Cindy Crosby. And it's just so funny. Everyone says, you know, oh, this winger's going to look great with Crosby.

Evgeny Malkin just keeps taking his winger. So I always find that funny every time they traded for a top six winger. Irish, AJ says, Duman Lattang are so good together. Rocks all the last two games. Hope this continues. And then Capon trade is looking so good. Yeah, I think a lot of people haven't realized just how good that pairing is. It's probably one of the top five best top pairings, I think, in the league.

Dumlin just allows Latang to do his thing. He just kind of roams in the offensive zone. Dumlin is like that steady presence on the back end that will cover if Latang has like a mishap pinching or just a bad read or something like that. They feed off each other, and Dumlin skating looks unreal right now. This is, I think, the best I've seen Dumlin look. I know it's a two-game sample, but this is the best I've seen him look in a couple years. He hasn't looked himself ever since that ankle injury. I think in what, 2019, early 2020, something like that.

But, you know, these last couple games, this is the doom wound that we saw in 2016 and 2017 and even 2018. This is a player that has not played a lot of hockey lately due to so many injuries that he suffered. But if he can stay healthy, this will also greatly improve the penguin's chances of not only making the playoffs but going on a run. He is that important to this team. And he's been great on the penalty kill as well. You know, that long reach of his is just such a huge asset. But Alex Stevens says, is it too soon to say we've turned a corner this season?

Yes, Alex, let's pump the brakes a little bit, you know, with one three out of four, but let's see how they do this week. If they can sweep the Rangers, sweep the Sabres, I think that's what, six wins out of the last seven, then let's say if they, let's say they turn the corner. I think it's a little bit too soon, but I think we're getting there. Yes, the last two games have been our best performances so far. Malkin is back to his best, and Kappen has finally found his place on the team on the second line. And I 100% agree with all your points. I mean, yeah, these two games, these last two games have been Penguins hockey, I think. I know they struggled a little bit in that first 15 minutes against the Rangers,

but those last 45 minutes, that was Penguins hockey in a nutshell, that Flyers game, you know, one of their best efforts of the season. I think I saw from Dejong Kobachian of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports, you know, circle that one right there against the Flyers, the regulation win if they make the playoffs at the end of the season. A couple more here, Gilbert Legote says, can we get that every night? Yeah, I know, Gilbert. I wish the Penguins could play like this every night.

Captain Malkin looked quite good. Crosby, well, he does Crosby things. All around great performance. Only real negative I can take away is the power play not shooting again, though it didn't look awful. Honestly, yeah, the power play hasn't looked bad the last couple of games. They had that powerplay goal against the Flyers. Last thing against the majors, they had a couple, they could have put them away. But I like the movement a lot better, I would say, the last couple of games.

They're getting some good scoring looks, but, you know, the goalies are also making some good saves. They're not being one and done in the offensive zone that we've seen. for a lot of this season. Alan Tejota says, what a huge weekend for Pittsburgh, especially with the Flyers lost to Washington. I agree about Geneo and Cap and both have looked great. Zach Ashton Reese has weird goals.

I'm back-to-back days. I'll take it. Sidney Crosby is still really good at hockey. What a goal. Yeah, Sydney Crosby is really good at hockey. What a time to be alive. And yeah, Zach Ashton Reese, he's going to the front of the net

and he's getting that greasy goals that he just hasn't done a lot for this career. And then I'll end with Philip Cox. DeSmiths should play more, burn out Jari. I mean, I can see that, you know, but I do think they want to ride Jari out a lot right now with how great he's been these last 10 starts. He's definitely going to get the start on Tuesday, but I would not be surprised as well if he gets, if DeSmith gets a start against Buffalo. I think he can win a start against Buffalo or multiple starts against Buffalo. But yes, I agree it's a

marathon, not a sprint. He'll probably take a little bit, a few starts away from Jari, but I think through the stretch down the season, I think you are going to see Jari in that more than to Smith. C.C. looks better than expected. Yeah, I mean, he's steady every single night. I'm not going to complain about Cody Cici until he gives me a moment to complain about. The fourth line is a mess, and I like Lafferty and Wilkesbury, but he's not ready. And he ends with, I don't think the depth is there when it's all said and done. Yeah, I mean, I agree, Philip. They need to go out and get another forward, whether it's one for the bottom six, whether it's one for the top six. Obviously, when Zoker comes back that pushes someone like a Lafferty or, you know, a Severe or a Jankelski

out of the lineup. Evan Rodriguez, of course, came back. But, you know, this team, is still another forward away, I think, from being a true contendent. You take Mark Jankowski out when everyone's healthy, and you put a guy like Kyle Palmyrian there or, you know, getting dad in all or something like that, suddenly this team looks really formidable or even, you know, someone like Ricard Raquel from the Ducks,

you know, they can roll out four lines, you know, just almost as good as any team in the league. So, I mean, I wouldn't mind that at all. But, yeah, I agree. Lafferty just isn't it. He needs to be sent to the TACTS squad, or just he needs to keep being scratched, because that play, that turnover that he had at the blue line.

That is just not an initial play. Just dump the puck in that next time and just let a forward go get it. I don't know what he was doing there. We'll do a few here for the Flyers one before I called an episode. Alex Stevens is a mature performance to see out the game in a must-win scenario. McCann has really delivered since he returned to the team. An upgrade on Jenkowski would make me feel more comfortable that we will make the playoffs. So, yeah, I mean, he just, this is now 18 games in a row or 20 games in a row that

Jankelski has not done anything. He had two quality looks against the Rangers last night. but those were his best chances that he's had since the Flyers game. But yeah, that was a must-win scenario. It's as close to, honestly, a must-win game as you're going to get during the regular season, and they sure got it. Mr. Nodal says, welcome back to your game. Gino, keep it going. Jari was all good, but one he wants back.

How about Marcus Pedersen? Matheson to the fourth line for 14 and put two and 50 in. Yeah, honestly, you know, if MacMavison keeps up these bad plays and they continued against the Rangers, it would not be surprising to see if someone like Usolegla or, Chad Rueel comes in the lineup. I honestly, my advocate for it at this point. I just don't think Matheson is doing enough at either ends of the ice

to be a staple in the lineup every single night. I obviously know the team paid a hefty price to get him, just because they traded away Patrick Hornclis, who's done so well. I'm in Florida, but I just, I don't think he's worth it right now. Johan S says Gino is back. Jesse Malekhi says this game had like several games this season, had long stretches of good play and control. Then out of the blue, a bad turnover or penalty.

compounded by inability to get a save to make up for. Feels like every five minutes, we get wild fluctuations from we get this to what the fuck was that? Yeah, that's basically I think every game this season almost for the Penguins, except for their stinkers. They'll have so many great moments of really good play at 5E5. Then you'll get like that Sam Lafferty play or, you know, that Mike Madison played the other night where it's like, what the hell is going on here? And why do they keep making these stupid mistakes?

But yeah, I think that basically sums up a lot of games for the season for the Penguins. I really appreciate you all. sending in these listener takeaways will continue to do more of that moving forward and this week I think I'm going to get some not some listener takeaways but I'm going to get some potential listener trade scenarios for what you guys would give up in a potential trade

for a player like Raquel, Karl Permeria or who else is on the trade market as we are now about a month away from the trade deadline it's come up pretty quick we are two full months away from the last game of the regular season peeps you know the playoffs are coming and they're coming quick so we're getting into the fun stretch of the season here but thank you all so much

for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast tomorrow night. I'll be back with a recap episode of the game against the Rangers before some more episodes later on in the week. So talk to you all then. I hope you have a great rest of your day.