Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Paging the Matt Murray haters...

Episode Date: August 4, 2020

Hunter is back with a brand new episode of Locked On Penguins as the Penguins beat the Canadiens 3-1 on Monday night to even their series at 1. Hunter touches on how the Penguins are following Sidney Crosby's lead in this series, plus how if Matt Murray is fully back to his 2016/2017 form, that could pose big trouble for a lot of teams if the Penguins make it past Montreal. He then touches on a couple negatives from the game, including how there still needs to be changes made to the power play, like putting Sidney Crosby down low and always having Patric Hornqvist in front of the net. Finally, Hunter ends the episode going around the league and talking about some of the other playoff series' have gone. 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.

Hello, welcome to this Tuesday afternoon episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at L0 underscore Penguins. I'm currently recording this as I watch the Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs game. Watching the Blue Jacket system is basically like watching paint dry. It's just so boring, but you know what? It's effective. But big episode coming today for you guys.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, of course, got the 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens last night to tie the series up at 1 to at least 4. a game four. Though will there be a game five, who knows, but we will at least get a game four on Friday night, which is Cindy Crosby's birthday. Please take the over if you are going to bet on that game. I would 100% bet he is going to do something ridiculous during that game because he is the most superstitious hockey player, I think, on this planet.

But for this episode, we are going to discuss a lot of the positives that came out of this game. Basically everything was positive except a couple things. And then the second segment, talk about some negatives that came out of it. So a couple of things I need to be worked on. And then for the final segment, you know, we'll look towards game three and what the penguins can do to basically, you know, take some of those negatives and turn them into a positive. So sum up, good positive thoughts out of last night's game.

I thought the penguins kicked a lot of ass. Those first 40 minutes, the underlying numbers matched the eye test perfectly, I thought. They were controlling around 68% of the expected goals. The coursey family percentage possession numbers around 60%. I mean, through two periods, I think the Canadians probably had two high-danger scoring chances. If I remember correctly, Arpan Basso, who writes for the athletic Montreal, basically

in the third period alone, the Canadians had four high-danger chances, and that's more than the combined three that they had for the first two periods. So I guess it was three, but I mean, I thought I only counted two, but still, they just, they hardly were getting into the zone. The Penguins defensively were just absolutely outstanding last night. I mean, that was, that's the blueprint. When the Penguins commit to playing team defense, that is the blueprint. They didn't play a lot of defense like that in their 2016 runs.

You know, 2017 was more of just survival with great goaltending and just pediowing their way to a cup. But this was what I like to call perfect team defense. You know, Chris LaTang was playing outstanding. I thought Justin Schultz was still okay. I thought Jack Johnson bounced back. You know, it wasn't, you know, it's hard to play as bad as he was in game one. wasn't as bad, but you know, that's a good thing because you don't really want Jack Johnson standing out.

John Marino continues to impress. Marcus Pedersen, I thought, last night, though, kind of was weird. You know, we'll get to Brian Jumlin in the next segment. I don't really know what's going on with him, but still, I bought the team defense for the Penguins last night was absolutely outstanding. It was basically, I think the shots through the first two periods were around 29 to 13. You know, you're doing a hell of a job when you're limiting a team to less than 15 shots through two periods.

I mean, that's just, that's just reality of it. I know the Montreal Canadiens are not a high-scoring team. They're not a good offensive team. You can see their lack of depth was really playing a role last night. They just outside of their top line, they just don't have a lot there. So, I mean, like I said, I'll say it one more time. Great defensive game by the Penguins that they're going to, you know, that's what they may have to do against this Montreal Canadian's team.

Claude Julian has a very boarding system. It's effective, but you know what? If the Penguins can do this right back to them, they really should have no problem winning this series, I don't think. Carrie Price was pretty annoying last night I mean, you know, it's very hard to win a game When a goaltender likes to play God I think he's what been 950 through these first couple games

It looks like the carry price factor has been pretty real I did not expect Carrie Price to play this good Especially you know over those last few years He's just not been the same goalie as he was in 2015 But you know what I guess a fully rested carry price Can go back to 2015 God mode where he's just saving everything I was honestly just waiting last night When going into the third period I'm like

just watch them score a garbage goal to tie it. And then it's going to go to overtime. And then they're going to win on a two one stupid bounce or whatnot. And I just, I'm like, I thought that was just coming from a while away. I'm glad I was wrong. But honestly, that's just what I felt was coming. But, you know, thank God. It was wrong.

But I also really do think that penguins are going to start to be rewarded very, very soon. I would not be surprised if it's game three or game four, you know, hopefully tomorrow night for game three, where the damn just breaks. and Kerry Price allows four to five goals. You know, the expected goals last night through, I think, like, two periods, two and a half periods were legit, 3.52 for the Penguins to 0.85 for the Canadians. That is just how badly they were outplaying them, even strength, power play time, short-handed, whatever you want to call.

That is basically all situations. The Penguins were just flat-out dominating them. They flat-out dominated them in game one. They didn't get the result they got, brought up the same lineup in game two. I know on this podcast I was clamoring for some changes, you know, especially for Jack Johnson, you know, maybe looking at a couple forward changes for Patrick Marlowe or, you know, Jared McCann. But, I mean, I do have to give credit to Mike Sullivan for saying, you know what? I'm going to trust the process. I'm going to put that same lineup out there, even though Johnson Schultz, they're just going to keep grinding that trick into the grave.

And you know what? With the same lineup, it worked. And you know what? I guess I can't question Mike Sullivan too often considering what he's done here for this organization with the two Stanley Cup. but I'll still be curious to see if there are any changes in this series maybe down the line there are a couple players that I really don't like where their game is out right now like I said we're going to get to that in the next segment but still you know just kudos to Sullivan for you know sticking with the same

lineup even though I and a bunch of others were clamoring to take some players out the lineup it got they got the job done and they go now into game three with not as much pressure as there was last night but also Cindy Crosby you know just not even, I think five minutes into the first period, makes his mark. I loved how he just froze Carrie Price there. Gensel with a gorgeous pass to him. And Crosby, you know, Price is like, I think he was respecting that Crosby could go to the backhand because Crosby back end is, of course, one of the most lethal backhands

in the National Hockey League. So it kind of froze him, and then there was so much room in five holes. So Crosby just has that quick release, boom, one nothing. And that's just a vintage Sydney Crosby goal. He hasn't gone to the five hole too often this season. but, you know, when he does it, it's just a lot of fun to watch because, like I said, it's just such a quick release. They're following Sidney Crosby's lead. That's his second goal in two games. You know he's going to be ready to play every single night, especially on his birthday, which will be Friday night.

That's going to be a hell of a game to watch. But also, folks, where are the Matt Murray haters at? I'm waiting for the Matt Murray haters to come out of the woodwork because the Matt Marie that we saw last night, everyone, that is the Matt Marie that we saw in 2016 and 2017. squaring up to shooters, playing big in his net, making all those gloves saves, just not letting anything get to him. That was just a perfect Matt Murray game. If Matt Murray is fully back to this level and we continue seeing this for the rest of the series

and potentially even more if the penguins go deeper into the playoffs, there is going to be a big problem for the rest of the Eastern Conference. And honestly, if they go to the Stanley Cup final, honestly, probably for the rest of the league. Because that was vintage Matt Murray. We have not seen that version of Matt Murray for a couple years now. it was very great to see him play like that. You know, I think that'll silence some people that were clamming for Tristan Jari. There were people clamming for Tristan Jari to start this game.

Really don't understand that considering how Matt Murray was perfectly fine in game one, but he was a lead in game two. Look for him to hopefully continue that into game three as he was just sensational. The goal that he gave up last night was 100% not his fault. That was way more on Brian Dumon, who was way too slow to Cockney. also thought, you know, before we get to the next segment, Connor Sherry, big bounce back game for him. His pass to Jason Zucker to make it to nothing

to basically end the game for the Penguins was nothing short of outstanding. He was able to just stop the play almost, to stop himself with the puck and just fire it to Zucker, who's streaking it to the net. No chance for Kerry Price right past the Canadian's defenseman. I'm not sure which defenseman was on the ice for that, but still fire that pass right past him. Wide open net, Kerry Price, no chance.

Just a beautiful play all around. thought Connor Sherry was just much, much better last night. Also, Patrick Marlowe, he looked a lot faster last night. He was very close to scoring a goal. I think he hit the post on one of his ships. He looked a lot more comfortable in this game. I know a lot of fans were clamoring for him to be out of the lineup after game one, because, I mean, he did look slow.

You know, that was not the same Patrick Marlowe that I thought I saw during the regular season before the pause happened, but it looked like he found his legs in this game, played a lot better, and he'll definitely be in the lineup for game three. But coming on me next, you know, we're going to talk about just a couple of the negatives that came out of this game still. A couple players that I think still need to play a lot better as well. All right, so we're back on here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. So a couple negatives to come out of last night. There's not really many of them, but still, we're just going to start with the elephant in the room.

The power play is just, I can't even put into words. I mean, the first power play that they had last night was actually really, really good. They were getting a lot of chances, but you know what? Carrie Price wanted to play God. just be insane. But I liked the puck movement and everything surrounding it. They were crashing a net, creating rebounds, creating traffic in front of price.

Putting Patrick Hornquist out there is one of the best things they can do against this kind of goaltender. It'll piss Kerry Price off. He's there to clean up a garbage. One of the best net front presences in the league. Just continue to do that. But then after that power play, the next couple is just like, I mean, what is going on? Every time the Penguins will get a power play, it takes them 70 seconds to get into the zone with a zone entry.

And it's just stupid. I mean, I just, I don't understand how a penguin power play that has this much talent can take over a minute to get into the zone with their first zone entry. That's unacceptable. And it's just terrible to watch. I really don't know what the hell Mark Recky's doing. His hot seat is only going to continue to get warmer and warmer and warmer until he fixes this unit because this unit has been an absolute tire fire basically all season long. And like I said, it's just unacceptable. You know, I want Sidney Crosby down low in the powerplay.

That's where he works best. You can put him getting him all can up on the point. That's where this unit usually works. You have Chris LaTang also at the point. I think that's totally fine. And then you need, of course, someone in the slot. You know, maybe Brian Russ, Jake Ansel, and then Patrick Hornquist at the net front of.

You have to have Patrick Hornquist in front of the net. I don't know. So why some people think that he doesn't do a good job there or if that's like past his prime or whatever, like, whatever people want to say. But that's one of the biggest things for me. just put Patrick Hornquist there, put Sydney Cromsby down low, have Chris LaTang basically running it at the point, you can have Genoa at the other point, and then you can

have Jake Gensel on one of the other half walls in the slot, wherever, and then you can make this work. But for God's sakes, I mean, they're just passing up way too many good scoring opportunities. They're just passing the puck around like it's nothing. And it's just like, I mean, you know, fire some pucks in that, create some chances. Like they did on that first power play last night, but then it just goes to shit. We all know the biggest reason why they lost game one was because of the power. They had another five on three situation last night.

And oh, what do you know? They barely even get any chances during it. And then the five on four, they hardly even get into the zone. It's just like, the zone entries just have to be so much better. I mean, I've already said it on this podcast. I've seen this out on Twitter too. You cannot take over a minute to get your first zone entry note. Ditch the drop house, whatever.

Get some clean zones entries in and then just set it up. I mean, it really is not that difficult. It should not be that difficult for a team that has two or two. of the 10 best forwards in the world on this unit and also a top 10 defenseman in the world as well. There's just no excuse for it. So hopefully the unit breaks through in the next game. I'm not going to really be expecting that they do, but you know what? We'll see. Also, Brian Dumlin does not look himself right now. I really don't know if Dumlin is dealing with an injury, but he's looked a step slow to a lot of pucks. I mean, the goal that Matt Maria loud last night with around was two minutes

left. Kakinemi put it past him. Dumlin was just very slow to covering that and it was just like, man, that's not what a healthy Brian Dumlin does. I know a lot of players have been off for many months, but still, you know, that's just not the same Brian Newman that we're used to seeing. Chris LaTang just needs that presence

on his pairing because Brian Newman has bailed out Chris LaTang a bunch in the past. And they just worked so, so well together that a healthy Brian Newman just makes that pairing one of the best top pairings in the league. So hopefully Brian Newman will bounce back in game three for the Penguins. I also thought Marcus Pedersen, not really his best game last night. I thought Marino was covering him for a lot of the ships that they were out there.

You know, it was passing the puck to Pedersen was almost just basically giving him a grenade. He was basically just firing the puck wherever. Led to a couple turnovers. Just not very a good game, I thought, for Pedersen. We'll see if he can bounce back in game three. So they're not going to break up that pairing, though, because it's a really good second pairing when both are playing their A game. To get to the forwards, we're not going to really get to touch on Jack Johnson, Justin Schultz. They were passable, adequate last night, fine.

That's really the words that I would use for that pairing. So we don't really need to go into that too much after I basically roasted them on the podcast on Monday. But for the forwards, I mean, the Penguins just needs so much more out of Jared McCann. This is unacceptable at this point. He's just not playing very good at all. I really, really could see Mike Sullivan going and saying, you know what? I'm going to put Evan Rodriguez in over McCann because I liked what Rodriguez bought to camp. I think he's an underrated player.

and McCann is just not getting it done right now. And he really hasn't. Like, he's not been good at even strength. He's been on the power play. It's just been really, really bad. And he doesn't play on the PK a lot. He's been missing the net badly with shots that he's just been taking. He just does not look comfortable out there.

I know he has not played a lot with Patrick Molo and Patrick Hornquist, but still, I've said it so many times. When the Penguins have won a Stanley Cup and the Sydney Crosby of Guinea-Malkan era, what has happened? Their third-bine center has gone off. Jared McCann has not even come close to doing that. even if he was average and just putting up at least a little bit of numbers, it would be passable.

But he's not even doing that right now. It's been a real struggle for him since January. This also folks could carry over into the off season because he's a restricted free agent after the season. So whatever he's going to be asking, the Penguins are going to be like, hey, you played like absolute dog shit in the playoffs. And basically for the regular season since from January to March, you're really not worth what you think you are. So we're just going to pay you this. So I'm going to be very, very curious to see what happens with that negotiation if Jared McCann just continues to struggle in this playoffs or is potentially a healthy scratch because of

his struggles. So, yeah, the Penguins just need so much more from Jared McCann. It's just, he has just not been good ever since January of this year. I don't really know what it is. I don't know if it's an injury. I don't know if he's just not fitting in. The Penguins got him to be the third line center. He's been anything but that since January of this year, especially after the hot start

that he did have. But one more play before we get to a commercial break. I've got any Malkin. I never really like to harp on Evgeny Malkin because I know how much he's done for this franchise and how much he means to them and just everything. But, you know, he has just not been really good to start this series. I know he's been firing a lot of pucks on net.

I think Rob Rossi in his article that came out today said, I think in the last two games he's had 15, 16 shots on net. That's really, really good. But still, I think Gino's been really hesitant with the puck also a lot of times. He's, like, very hesitant to pass it. He's not shooting it when it looks like there's a couple of... We also really have not seen that burst of speed that we're used to seeing from Evgeny Malkin, you know, coming through the neutral zone, coming into the offensive zone, just hasn't really been the same Gino that we saw during the regular season. Again, I know the layoff has affected a lot of players.

It was going to affect basically everyone, but still, Gino has just not been really that impressive these last couple of games, but still, every time I think I or a bunch of other people say that, he has a big breakout game. So I would not be surprised if Gino just goes off in game three because I'm saying, this now. But still, you know, we need more of Gino. Hopefully he has a very, very big game tomorrow, especially after I'm just basically roasting him for his poor game one in game two efforts. I really don't think I have any other players to comment on. I think Jake Gensel has had also a little bit of a slow start. That's to be expected, though, as he was out since December with that shoulder injury. But I still thought, you know, that pass that he had to Cindy Crosby to spring him on that opening goal last night was just sensational, the way he was able to find

him. That was a peak gate Jake Gensel pass. He also had the, you know, the Amgenet goal west thing, which was really, really good. I do think Jake Gensel is really starting to find his game. Would not be surprised if there is a big breakout game for him coming up, even though he's been on a slow start as well. But in any case, those are some of the players that I think could be a lot better going into game three and game four of the series, potentially game five, as a lot of them have just really, really struggled this series for various reasons.

But, you know, hopefully they're going to be able to figure it out before game three, which is Toronto at 8 p.m. on NBC Sports Network. All right. so we're back on this episode for the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Just to be a quick little segment here. One of the big questions I think I have going into tomorrow's game is what is Claude Julian going to do for the Canadians for his lineup? Going into this game, you know, is he going to make any changes?

I really don't expect it. But still, I'll be curious to see if he does and just like the, what the mindset of that team will be going into this game, considering they were just not really good. For the game's opening 40 minutes, they were just completely outclassed by the penguins. But still, you know, I would expect them to play a bit better during those opening 40. minutes of tomorrow night's game i really don't think they can play that bad again they definitely were not that bad in game one so i'll be curious to see how they play tomorrow night for game three i also you know like i said guys i really think the dam is going to break for the penguins very very soon

carry price cannot keep this up for this much longer the way the penguins have just been throwing everything in their mother at price especially last night as he was just making save after save after save to keep it a one-nothing game going into the third period and then the penguins finally got that insurance goal from Jason Zucker, who I totally forgot to mention him during that first segment. Jason Zucker had a very, very great game for the Penguins last night. And here is a stat, actually, a courtesy of Mad Chad 412, Chad, who has been on this podcast a number of times. Jason Zucker, since coming over from the Minnesota wild, including the playoffs, he has seven goals and 13 points in 17 games. So, yeah, he has been quite the difference maker.

Having him and Jake Gensel in the top six is absolutely lethal. We knew that was going to be the case going into this restart. It has been everything as advertised so far. It is just so much fun to watch both of those players and the top six with Fgeny Malkin and Cindy Crosby. Just watching both of those lines just have been nothing short of extraordinary but still, you know, great stuff by Zucker

to get that goal last night. That was a big insurance goal. I ended up being the game winner because of course Kaki Niyami scored to make it 2-1 before again, so it was able to make it 3 to 1. I think that might be it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast, though. I will go around in the league just a little bit

this last minute, talk about some of the other series. Watching this Columbus Toronto game, as I've been recording this, is honestly nothing short of hilarious. The Blue Jackets just have the most boring style of play in, I think, of any of the qualifiers. Now, honestly, I think it's pretty close. It's honestly a toss-up between the Habs, the Blue Jackets, and the Islanders. It's just teams that trap, and, you know, they don't have the talent to make up, you know, to go up against some of these top teams.

So, you know what? They just trap. They play defensively. And you know what? It's effective. and it works, but God damn, is it so boy? I'm just been watching this game. And it's just so funny to see Matthews, Nealander,

Marner Tavares, is throwing everything at Corpusolo, and he's just saving everything. But also the Blue Jackers are just blocking every single shot that comes right at Corpus Hollow when he's not saving it. It's absolutely hysterical. I would not be surprised if Toronto lost this series. And, oh boy, the takes in Toronto would be very, very funny if they did. The Rangers Carolina series,

that's definitely not going the way I expected to. I'm going to eat all the crow on that one. The Rangers have just been outclassed every way possible. Though Shesterkin, their original starting goaltender is going to be playing tonight. So I'll be curious to see if the Rangers can maybe start a little bit of a comeback. The Islanders are going to beat the Panthers. I figured that was going to be the case going into this series. They're up too well.

The Panthers just, they can't go up against the Islander structure. They just, Barry Trots just coaches really, really well against a team like the Panthers. In the West, you know, Winnipeg, they were able to win game too somehow without Lina and Shifley, which is nothing short of insane. So I'm going to be curious to see if they can potentially make it even more difficult for the flames. Now, I know they're going after Matthew Cichuk a lot. I'm going to say it again. Matthew Cichuck is not to be blamed.

For that incident, I'd understand what Paul Maurice is trying to do. But you know what? He just sounds like a complete buffoon when he's just ranting about Cichuck and trying to get him suspended. I guess I'll just end this episode with this. This Black Hawk's Euler series is this trash that everyone has needed. Please inject it into my veins. There is no defense at all. and it is just two teams just scoring it well.

And you know what? The goaltenders, it looks like aren't even playing it. You might as well just take the goaltenders out of the nets and just have empty nets because the goalies are not making any saves at all. So I'm going to really, really hope that series goes to five games and every game is just six to five. But I think that'll do it, like I said, for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We'll be back tomorrow to preview some of game three

and a couple other things as well. So stay tuned for that. Thank you guys so much for listening. And I will talk to you all tomorrow.