Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - One step forward, two steps back again

Episode Date: March 1, 2021

A new month(and day) will always mean another episode of Locked On Penguins. The Penguins had one giant win against the Islanders on Saturday before playing their worst game of the season on Sunday. It was very much #onbrand for them this year as it's been the story of the season. In this episode, Hunter touches on the play of Kris Letang and how he's playing his finest hockey of the season, plus how Jared McCann makes a huge difference while he's in this lineup. He also touches on both the special team units and what he would do to fix them. Is Brian Dumoulin the key to get that unit back? Who should QB the PP? Finally, we have the listener takeaways segment for both games this weekend before a huge week against the Philadelphia Flyers!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.

You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, everybody, welcome to this Monday afternoon edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes, follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow this show's Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-Square. Today's episode is brought to you by Bilbar. You go to Billbar.com and use promo code, Lockdown 20, and you'll get Twitter at... 20% off your next order. So a lot to get to for the Penguins in today's episode, two games since we last spoke.

I was supposed to have an episode on Friday. This was actually a funny story. Recorded the episode with Jeff from Penns Block. He runs it. You know, I shut down my Mac for the day just because, well, you know, I had some things to do. I was going to edit it a bit later. Open it up, and the episode's just gone.

I haven't been able to find it. So we are re-recording the episode tomorrow. I've been recording this podcast for a year and a half. I have never had that happen. So that's always something that's just, you know, new shit happens every day. But as for the Penguins, they go one-in-one against the Islanders. They get two points total. The Islanders get three.

Not good in the standings. They are currently still fifth right now. We're going to obviously talk about the special teams, do the listener takeaways. Evgeny Malkin, Chris Letang, so much more. I guess let's just start with the PK in the PowerPlay, because I'm just probably going to go on a rant for a while about it. The Penguins penalty kill and their power play. is a disgrace. It is pathetic.

It is embarrassing. It is a terrible product to watch for both the units. I've been seeing some people about the penalty kill, which is, by the way, they're operating at 72% right now. For those that are unaware, that is bottom five, bottom six in the league. They have given up a power play goal in 15 of 20 games this season. For anyone that is not that good at math, that is 75% of their games. I'm sorry, that is absolutely pathetic.

and that is that unit is sinking their season. The goaltending is turned it around in a big way these last eight or nine games. We're going to get to Chris LaTang, who I thought has really elevated his game in the last week. Obviously, he had the overtime winner on Saturday and of getting Malkins slowly but surely. But this unit is killing this team right now. In my opinion, I think they are way too passive on the PK. They're not putting any pressure on any of the shooters. I don't care if it's the Islanders.

I don't care if it's the capitals. I don't care if it's the Flyers. I don't know if they only play them two times. But there's no pressure. And they're not winning puck battles along the boards and not getting two loose pucks when there's an opportunity to do that. And they're not getting their sticks in passing lanes. I mean, the Islander's goal you saw on Saturday with Brock Nelson, the Power Play won.

There's three players right there. And you're telling me none of those guys can get a stick on the puck when I know it was kind of a perfect pass. But there's still three sticks right there. You should be able to put your stick out and disrupt the pass. and Brock Nelson is just standing in front of the net, wide open, clear as day, and no one's making him pay for it. It's just a bad unit right now. They need to be more aggressive.

I keep seeing people also say, well, Brian Dumlin's going to make that unit so good again. You know, he's such a key part to it. And yes, I agree with the latter part, but he's not just going to magically transform a bottom five penalty killing unit, excuse me, into like a top 10 unit. It's just not going to happen. And I think the Islanders this weekend,

they had like three power play goals in the two games. I mean, how are you giving up three power play goals in two games back to back? That is just completely unacceptable. Penguins were in that game yesterday for as bad as they were playing. That was a zero-zero-zero score with less than two minutes left. They take a penalty and not a minute later, the Islander score on it. I mean, it's just like every single game they give up a power play goal. You even saw the game on Saturday when the Islanders, they honestly should have won that game.

The Penguins had that big comeback. Again, basically is no score during the first. period comes to the end, they get a powerplay, they score. It's just like the penguins always love to take these penalties right at the end of the period. And it's like you're just killing the momentum that you have. If the penguins get to the intermission, yes, she tied at zero, zero going into the second, who knows what happens?

I know they were playing so terrible and it probably wouldn't have mattered. But they didn't give up any goals at 5E5 on Sunday. I mean, the two goals that they gave up were on the power play. I think the founders won two for five. So it's just a really poor unit right now. Like I said, they need to be more aggressive. they need to start blocking some more shots. I know that's an old little saying,

but blocking shots on the penalty killing unit just goes a long way, especially as you're, of course, you're down on man. And then you need to start getting more sticks into the passing lanes and make some players in front of the net pay a price. Obviously, you don't want to cross-tet them and take another penalty and go on a five-on-three,

but I see yesterday they're letting Anders Lee just stand there with no one around him, not even like trying to get him out of the way of Casey to Smith, who also played a great game yesterday. It's just like, what is going on? And also even the game on Saturday, Brock Nelson, I said a couple of minutes ago, just standing there with no pressure on him. So Mike Volucci definitely, I think, in over his head right now. It's a very bad unit, and it needs to be fixed ASAP.

You can have a shitty power play, but a good penalty kill and still win games. I thought that was a great tweet for Mount regrets, and I agree with him with this too. You cannot have both a shitty power play and a shitty penalty kill and expect to win games on a nightly basis in this league. You can be the best team at 5V5 getting your chances. You can even get God-level goaltending. But if you are leaving your goalie out too dry on these penalty-killing times and you keep giving up power play goals at the rate that they're giving them over right now, at 15 in their first 20 games, they will not make the playoffs.

I said last week that I see them getting second place. I still do think that, but they have some stuff in their game that they really need to clean up. And that is number one, I think. Let's just get to the PowerPlay. Again, it is embarrassing to watch. It's just like they took all their work from the last week, week and a half and threw it out the window over the course of these last couple games. The zone entries are terrible.

They've got to stop this little drop pass. I mean, honestly, I'm at the point now, everyone, I'm going to say it. They should just put Mike Matheson as their PowerPlay quarterback and call it a day. I know he's shitty defensively, but he's probably the most entertaining player on the team right now. A couple of my friends have also said that before me. I 100% agree with them. And he knows how to work at power play, and he's good in the offensive zone. He's also a very crisp skater, excuse me.

I know Chris LaTang has done the job well throughout his career, but if you're looking for a spark, just put Mike Matheson on there. I mean, what can go wrong at this point? I mean, I also think if Gino continues to struggle on the power play, take him off with Casperi Capitan on there. I know Capon has been reluctant to shoot a bit right now, but, I mean, Gino, I saw yesterday on the Power Play, forcing passes into areas that aren't there.

And with these two minutes that the Penguins get the power play, they're just giving the Islanders or whoever else they're playing against momentum. It's just a complete momentum swing for any team they go up against. And the Islanders probably had much better scoring chances while the Penguins were on the power play than Pittsburgh did. And they were down in man. So it's just terrible. I know the loss of Patrick Hornquist has obviously really hurt the team. there's no good net fraud presence there.

Yes, they maybe do miss Phil Kessel a little bit, but you can probably just put Jake Gensel in that spot. He's a great shot, and he's a great playmaker. Obviously, he's probably not at the level that Phil Kessel was when he was here in the prime of his career. But Gensel, like I said, he's an elite playmaker, and he's an elite shooter. He's probably your best pure goal score on the team.

Just put him there, and then maybe you can put Brian Russ in front of the net. I think he's a good netfront presence for the Penguins. They have the personnel to make this work, as they do for the penalty. That's the thing. They have the correct personnel to make this work. The power play should not be bottom five, bottom six in the league with a talent that they can put on that unit.

I do not expect the power play to be as terrible as it was last year. I thought Tar Reardon would come in and fix it. Obviously, I've been dead wrong on that. But it's just terrible right now. You sit down low more. I mean, the overpassing is still pathetic. I mean, better passing the puck eight or nine times before firing a shot off. I mean, on a great power play or even a good power play, you should have what?

three passes max before you take a shot. They're just not putting enough chances on NEN and they were doing that last week. That's the thing. And then all of a sudden, these last four to five games, they've reverted back to what they were doing earlier on in the season. And, you know, obviously, that's not going to work.

But those two things are the single biggest things that are plaguing the penguins right now. People can say a bunch of other stuff, you know, fire Mike Sullivan. That's not going to help this team. I'm sorry. You lose me when you say to fire Mike Sullivan. You think Garard Galant's going to come in here and just work magic beans?

I mean, no, he's not. I mean, you know, obviously he would be my number one replacement if they were to fire Selvin, but, you know, he's probably not going to make this team a whole lot better. You know, at 5B5, I still think they play their best hockey. Yes, they need to be more consistent. And the schedule is going to allow for that. They have three monstrous games against the Flyers this week. They have to win at least two out of those three games.

They have 32 points up for grabs against the Sabres and the Devils. If they start to drop points to those two teams, and there's obviously a very likely chance that that could happen because, you know, the Penguins play down to shitty competition or maybe just they're not as good as we think they are. Then there's cause for concern, and then maybe you can start to say, you know, they should make some really serious changes. But as for right now, you know, they have 12 of 16 games at home this month.

The Penguins are 7 and 1 at home. And in case people forgot, the Penguins are allowing fans back in the arena, starting on Tuesday, 15% capacity, I believe that is 2,800 fans. It's great that, you know, we're getting some fans back. I would have preferred to maybe wait another month so that more vaccines can happen in this country. For those that listen to the podcast that are not in the United States, the distribution was a bit slow at first. It's really ramped up over the last couple of weeks. But I still think, you know, maybe another month.

And they could have honestly had, you know, a bit more fans in the fan stands starting April 1st. But, you know, they decided to do this now. There's light at the end of the tunnel. And if we continue on the path that we're on right now, you know, we could be seeing, you know, a packed house sometime early next year. or even late this year. We'll have to see what happens. But for those that are going to go to the games starting tomorrow, wear a mask, social distance, stay safe, and I hope you all have a great time doing it. But coming up in the next segment, we are going to touch on Crystal Tang, who has had some really good past couple of games. We're going to touch on Nick Annie Malkin, of course, Sydney Crosby,

the Astromis Blue Gertan of Line, the goaltending, and so much more. So stick with me through this commercial break. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow shows Twitter at L-O underscore Penguins. So overall, you know, just starting with the Saturday game. Penguins, I would say, are pretty fortunate to win that game.

Of course, they were down 2-0 at one point, 2-0 or 2-1, you know, maybe it's just a case of the Mondays as, you know, Wanda from Wanda Vision says. But of course, they were down 2-1 going into third period. Jared McCann gets his third goal of the season. Really nice to see him score in his first game back. You can see the difference that he makes when he's

in the lineup. He's obviously a much better player than someone like Drew O'Connor or Sam Lafferty or something like that, and he was bumped up to of Guany Malkin's wing. Malkin had a great pass for him to tie the game just 18 seconds in, and he fired that Walker side on Varlamov. He basically had no chance there. It was kind of like a half-open net. But still, I thought that was his best game of the season by far. Brian Russ, I also thought was really good as well. Gino, like I said, I think that was one of his better games of the season. He had a little more jump to his step. He wasn't turning the puck over. Wasn't bad defensively in his own zone.

You saw this, Cindy Crosby going, and actually, excuse me, it was three or two going into the third period, by the way. The mechanical goal made it 3-3 because Semyon Varlamov kind of vomited all over himself. When the Penguins were down to two-nothing, Cindy Crosby gets a, basically a walk-in goal because Varlamov just slipped on a fish or something like that, and that puck went in, and then 26 seconds later, excuse me, Chris LaTang gets a goal. That is his third goal, the season before he got the over-exam. time winner. So four goals for Latang this season. All four have come against the New York

Islanders. And I've really been impressed with his game over the last week, week and a half. He leads all defensemen on this team in points. I believe he leads all of them in goals as well. He's just, he's playing like the number one defense in that we've seen from Letang all throughout his penguin's tenure. You know, the demise of Chris LaTang might have been greatly exaggerated. I know myself, I've kind of dumped on him a couple weeks ago on the podcast because it wasn't playing great. I will say now that he is playing good that he's been really helpful to the team. And I just, I love when he shuts up his critics, especially Penguins Chronicles. That is by far the worst account, I think on Penguin's Twitter, he absolutely stinks.

And with his overtime winner, I think it went off Pazzo. I thought it was Pelic at first when I went on the Pittsburgh post game with Matt Gaica. But it was Pajot. He just kind of tipped it off his stick and then it kind of just flubbed into the neck. I almost looked like a knuckle puck. Varlamov lost track of it and the Penguins were able to squeak away with two points. I said it on my Twitter account This team has a lot of stones

It's just that was the typical penguin's performance They was kind of an even first period They came out of the gate a little sluggish Second period they kind of got dominated They were down by one going into the third You know they had that burst a little bit Before they got dominated And then the third

They took it to the islanders It looked like they were going to get two full points Before it went to overtime Rust I think had a chance With about two minutes to go Fired it just above the right crossbar I mean looked like that was going top shelf and he just missed that.

You know, he probably hits that eight, nine, ten out of ten times. But still the Penguins were able to get that win. It sucks that these three-point games continue to happen. But that was a good win. Like I said, this team has a lot of balls, stones, guts, whatever you want to call it. And Chris Lange is playing his finest hockey other season. And I cannot wait until Brian Duhlman comes back, because that is going to be huge for him as he continues this season. It was also great to see P.O. Joseph get bumped down to the third pairing.

I thought Marcus Pedersen, he should have been playing up there since he came back. I know he's been kind of bad a little bit this season, but I would rather have him up there until Dumlin comes back than Pierre-Olivier-Joseph. Joseph just needs some sheltered minutes against third and fourth lines right now. He's played way too many minutes, and I'm glad that Cody Cici is kind of babysitting with him right now is kind of the word.

So I think that's basically all I can say about that performance. The Astridu's Blue Gertan of Line again was great. It was nice to see them put Ashton Mase back on that line. all they need still is just a winger for that other line and they can bump the Aston Reese line down to their fourth line and that's probably a top five fourth line in hockey. As for yesterday's game, everyone, really not much to say. You saw Mike Sullivan after the game.

I was listening to his media availability. I've been following this team very long. I've been here with obviously Mike Sullivan's whole career here, his tenure, excuse me. But that's as mad, I think, as I've ever seen him. He kind of looked like John Torrella in that post-game press conference just by saying, no, no, and then he had like two word answers, and then he just basically said, yeah, you know, we stung tonight, effort level is not there, you know, the penalty kill, he said obviously a huge concern, giving up two goals.

The only two goals that they gave up were on that power play up. For those that watched the game yesterday, you all are saints, because that was probably one of the worst hockey games I've ever had the pleasure of watching him. It's fun to play some of your division rivals a bit more often. It is not fun to play the Islanders six to eight times a season, especially with the way they clog up the neutral zone and trap the game down to make it look like the 1999 New Jersey Devils. It's effective, so that's why Barry Trots uses it.

You know, they're obviously not the most talented team, but they got to the conference final last year doing it, outworking teams. That's just the style of play that they do, and that's just, that's how they do it. It's great that the penguins are four and two against them this year. They don't play the Islanders again, I think, until March 29th or something like that. It's, or 23rd, 25th, it's sometime late in March during their March Madness tournament, And so Penguins were able to get a break before playing the Islanders again two more times at Pbchapainz Arena. There's nothing positive to come out of that game.

I guess maybe one thing Casey DeSmith was really good. Stopped 28 to 30 shots. At one point the Penguins were getting out shot. 17 to 4 yesterday, they got their first shot in the game 16 minutes into the first period. I think if they didn't get a shot in that first period, I think it would have been a record for the longest time in the first period that they did not have a shot. I think so. I don't know how many times that they've gone. a whole period without registering a shot on goal.

Maybe during the 0-3-0-4 years or the 70s years. But, you know, I think it might have set a record or close to it if that would have happened. But I think, you know, their best scoring chance came yesterday when Jared McCann hit the crossbar in the second period. Other than that, the Penguins do not have any good looks at their net. The power play stung penalty kill obviously stung. 5B5 play they stung. I mean, they were gassed.

I mean, and it's not an excuse the Alvinders played the same game the night before. But, you know, it was obviously the penguin. were just not ready to play this game, especially not even 24 hours afterwards. But it was just, that game stunk. That's basically all I have to say about that. I guess one more thing. There's a weird segment of people on Twitter, you know. I guess, you know, Islanders media, some Islanders fans, I guess,

that, like, they have like this weird, what's the word I'm looking for here? Like this weird fantasy when it comes to the Penguins and Sidney Crosby that because Sidney Crosby does something, he gets a call. I don't know what game they were watching yesterday, but the Islanders got away with murder pretty much every shift. And I'm not even saying this with Homer glasses on. I was watching the game with an open mind as I do all the time. You know, obviously, I lean towards the Penguins because, you know,

I run the Penguins podcast. There are just tweets that I saw like, wow, you know, of course Cindy Crosby drew this call. And then, you know, they think it was like a breakaway on a shorthand breakaway. They, I don't know who it was. Gensel, like kind of whacked like Sezicus a little bit. Wow, what a terrible reffing job there. by Lewis or whoever it was.

And it was like, do people not see the calls that they're being let go? I mean, the Islanders, they, they, like, had a hook on a Gino, and then they called a slash on him when he just pushed the player. I mean, it was like, where are they getting these calls? But, of course, you know, that understands I've nothing to say about that and some of the media that I saw. So it was just really odd to see that. I've never understood it.

It's kind of like, like a little brother syndrome with the Islanders and the Penguins. And the Islanders, of course, I've beaten them in the playoffs a couple times. obviously with 1993 and then 2019. But still, it's just a really weird little brother syndrome, I think, when it comes to the Penguins with Islanders fans. And I've just never understood it. So I did have to say that to close out this segment. But before we do, get to the next segment,

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Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes follow this show is Twitter at L0 underscore Penguin. So let's get to the listener takeaways. I always appreciate each and every one of you sending these in. This is honestly my favorite part of the podcast is getting you the listener involved. I'm going to be doing this for every game moving forward until I'm not on this podcast, but I'm probably going to be on this podcast for everybody. So you guys are stuck with me for a very long time. I hope that's okay.

Ryan King says about yesterday's game, I'm trying to spend this into a positive. They were looking past the Islanders to give Philly all they can handle the next two games. wishful thinking, question mark, yeah, I'll show myself out. You know, I think that was a little bit of wishful thinking. I don't think the Penguins look by any opponent, especially in this season with the Islanders and how they've had their number in recent years heading into this year. But they were just gassed, I think is the main thing. But these three games against Philadelphia are huge.

They have to think I take four out of six points or five out of six points if they really want to start making a move in the standings. Friday Times says teams have off-night for this season. The game like this feels more like a trend. I mean like just like I don't think they've had games like this this season obviously they've had bad games but this one was just a new low for this team excuse me I feel I'm I seem like I'm out of breath for some reason I have no idea why but yeah I just I know maybe there's a little bit of a trend I know they kind of had that bad

Washington game last week in the one the last week before that just because I always feel like it's just one step forward two steps back but guys this team is also one six of the last nine games very nice about now by the way way and coming into this before this loss, they'd won six out of their last date. So I think this team is still trending up. It's not a trend just yet. Let's just see how they play against Philadelphia this week. Iris, AJ says, let down game with the schedule.

Plus, they didn't have their legs today. 100% agree. It's tough to beat a good team twice and 24 hours silver lining. They're four and two versus both the caps in the outage on the year. That is huge. Yeah, they're 8 and 4 overall against those teams. If you combine their record against the Rangers, they are 11 and 5. I've seen people say, like, well, they're not playing good against the middling teams.

I'm sorry, but 11 and 5, 22 out of 32 points. That's pretty damn good, if you ask me. AJ also says, not as bad as it seems. They need two or three versus failure this week. And aside from a couple of Ranger games, when they're actually been able to establish anything against inferior team, the schedule doesn't allow that. Yeah, I agree.

There's just no gimmies on this schedule unless you play the Sabres, or the Devils. But, I mean, the Devils are obviously no gimmie either. They're a lot better than the Sabres, and that's saying something. Mr. Noodal says, is anyone else getting sick and tired of Bob Erie in the broadcast booth? Yeah, Bob Barry has some really odd takes, always big on physicality, always tough on the grinding part of the game.

He just never really brings anything to the AT&T Sportsnet or, excuse me, AT&T Sports Network on Pittsburgh broadcast. He just, I don't know, I think the game is kind of passed him by. I kind of wish they wouldn't hire someone that's played for the team more recently. I don't know, maybe Maxime Talib or something like that. You can put Kobe Armstrong in there. But I just, yeah, I don't like Bob Airy's comment. commentary. I mean, I think it was like last week or something. He forgot that someone died like 20 years ago and Steve Mears had to remind him on the air.

So, yeah, that's just Bobby Ari at this point. Philip Cox says to Smith is great, but honestly, I'm a bigger fan of his than he probably deserves. Just one of those players I am attached to, I guess, for some reason. I did the same thing for Brent Johnson, but seriously, that dude is better than he gets credit for. Yeah, I mean, he's been steady, I think, for the penguins this year, Philip. I mean, he was the only reason why that game actually was not five, nothing. I think his save percentage overall this year is something. somewhere around 9-0-9-10.

He's kept the Penguins in the games this season whenever he started. I know he hasn't played in basically three weeks. Well, he hadn't played in three weeks before this game. But he gave them a real shot to win this game. I mean, going into the second period, it was only 1-0, and the Penguins were badly outplayed going into that period. And even going into the third period, it was 2-0. With how we've seen this team come back,

that was not an insurmountable deficit, excuse me. And he was keeping it there. I really liked his game last night. and I've really liked his game this season. So, yeah, I think he's an underrated backup right now. Friday Times also says, one more take Matheson and the third took activating the defense to a whole new level. At least he was entertaining to watch.

Yeah, man, I mean, honestly, you know, other people have said it. I said it earlier on in this episode. He is probably the most entertaining player to watch on this team, just with how amazing he is in the offensive zone, and then the defensive zone, it's just total chaos, and he just vomits all over himself. So, yeah, like I said, I kind of want to see him quarterback the power play. I think he's good enough to do it, though I don't think Mike Sullivan is going to trust

him to do it. Alan says it's hard to beat a team and some refs at the same time. Yep, the officiating was pretty garbage last night. He also says the Smith didn't look too bad. Another game where they didn't bother to help the goalie. When did a light shove become a slashing penalty? Yeah. You know, it's almost like Alan, slashing is when you just slash someone stick, not when you push someone against the board. So I have no idea what the refs saw in that one. They, and it show officiating. They just, They make it up as they go along, I think is my tank. It's been happening like that for years, you know, well before I started watching it. That's just how it is at this point.

Penn 67 says, thank God it's over. Like Sid's hatred for the shitty play and the lack of desire at the end. That's right. I do remember Vuvilié taking a couple good wax at him and Sid was kind of getting a little physical. It's good to see Sid getting into it. Obviously, that's not the player that you want to see like take some penalties or get into fights. But, you know, he's committed to winning. And that's just the ultra competitor in that he is.

and, you know, he's going to do whatever it takes to win games. Gilbert the Goathe's says, pathetic. Nobody showed up to Smith had to stand on his head to even keep the pens in it. Hextal needs to make some moves. This team is not a contender with the roster they have right now. I will agree. I don't think they're a Stanley Cup contender with the roster right now. I think they are another top six forward away from potentially being a contender

and getting the special team as an order. They probably need to move Kaspari Captain down to the third line. Once they get a forward, you know, hello, Kyle Palmieri, Victor Arvinson, of getting Daddanov. Maybe Ricard Raquel. he's being linked to the penguins right now from the ducks. Don't know what they would want in return. He also says the next few games against the Flyers are huge. Hopefully they look like they want to play them.

Yeah, 100% agree with you on that. I said it earlier, they need to take four or five out of six points against the wires to make their move in the standings. And then SNZ says, don't have enough room. And this is just horrible. So, yeah, that basically just sums up the game. It was just terrible. As for the game from Saturday night,

I'm just going to get to a few of these before I call it a podcast. Ryan King says, Chris Latang is back. McCann looks like he didn't miss a step. Yeah, I mean, Latang has been playing his best hockey of the season, and Jared McCann. I thought he also looked decent last night as well. Frytime said, I was an off night for Verlama.

Penn took advantage for the win. They'll take it and move on. Yeah, I mean, that's basically what you do. You can kind of laugh at him, but they'll take that win and they'll move on this week. Fiona says, I can't tell whether this game was good for the team or not. It's kind of like this whole season shoved during a new game. But Latang and Malkin looked really good,

and Jari is amazing as always. Yeah, I mean, another game, I haven't even touched on Trishian. Jari for this episode. That was what his seventh, eight consecutive, really good start. He's in the 9-10 territory again. He's been basically 9-20 or so, I think, the last eight starts or something. He's really come into his own, and this is the goal where the penguins are going to continue to need as they go down the stretch, especially if the penalty kill is going to continue to stink. Alan says this is the second two-goal game from 58 in his last four games. Can we say the floodgates are starting to open for him? Great move in an OT. Jari wasn't great, but wasn't awful.

I honestly thought he was pretty good, but you know, he obviously wasn't great as normal. Power play score, but still not much to write home about it. Win is a win no matter how it happens. Again, 100% agree with you on that. Felipe says an ugly win. It's still a win. A lot to improve, but no one can say this team doesn't fight. Really important win on Saturday.

Gilbert then says, can this team win in regulation for once? Yeah, I know, man. I want them to win regulation games as bad as anyone. These three-point games just have to stop at this point. He says the honors dominated at the end of the second, but the Penn's really bounced back in the third. Sin Latang had some great games. Letang has been really on fire these last couple of games. Dari looked great tonight as well.

Let's get those two points tomorrow. Obviously, the latter didn't happen. But we'll see if they can get the two points against Flyers, but 100% agree with you on that. Penn 67 says thought they were lucky with Barlamom, shitting the bed in the second but came out flying in the third, which was one of the best thirds of the year. No quit.

Yeah, honestly, I think that was their best third period of the season, especially after they tied the game. They took it to the islanders pretty good after that. I was pretty surprised that they didn't. win in regulation. And then Iris, AJ says, well, Tang, I know I've bitched about you last game, but here you are.

And you totally redeemed yourself with that gift. So yes, you know, welcome to the resistance, AJ, as I tweeted you. But that will do it for this episode. I'll be locked on Penguins podcast. I really appreciate you all. Sending in these listener takeaways for tomorrow's episode.

I am going to be recording with Jeff from the Penn's blog. So I'll have the listener takeaways episode posted on Wednesday. And then for Thursday's podcast, we'll just go back to the regular one. have the recap be after the game. So that will do it for this episode. I really appreciate you guys listening to this one, and I will talk to you all tomorrow.