Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins blast Canadiens in a historic victory!

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

The Penguins completed the season sweep of the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night to the tune of a historic 9-2 victory! Patrick and Hunter break down what was one of the Penguins' finest performances of the season to date and how the catalyst behind it was a man who embodies the Pittsburgh Penguins: Bryan Rust. Next, they'll look to get a sweep of their mini-Canada road swing on Saturday night in Ottawa. They get you set for that matchup and give their keys to victory against the Senators. Finally, with the Penguins winning six of their last eight and looking good in the process, they discuss if this team has turned a corner or if this is just a mirage. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Mint MobileTo get this new customer offer and your new 3-month premiumwireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to MINTMOBILE.com/lockedonnhl. Disclaimer - $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.IndeedStill searching for a great candidate for your company? Don’t search, just match–with Indeed. Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. PrizePicksDownload the app or go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

ACDC once said, If you want blood, you got it. The Pittsburgh Penguins went into Montreal and said, if you want goals, we got them. Hunter and I are going to recap a huge win for the Penguins and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins,

part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins, podcast. I am one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by my co-host, the one and only, the illustrious Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account a follow at L0 underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube.

Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, don't forget to hit the notification button so you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we get into it, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. You can start the season with a big return on Fandul. New customers can place a $5 bet and get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win that first $5 bet. Visit fandul.com to get started. Well, if you were looking for offense from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the last couple of weeks, it was able to be found at the Bell Center in Montreal as the penguins absolutely crush the Montreal Canadians.

Nine to two. No, I did not misspeak. The Pittsburgh Penguins put up nine goals, including six unanswered in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. it was an amazing performance from the penguins started off a little shaky in the first period there was some penalty trouble as well in the second but overall the penguins stuck with it and broke through in a huge way in the third period this is the most incredible part of the win to me hunter that i'm going to bring up and i know you have plenty of thoughts on this game because how could you not when your team scores nine goals in a game but this stat stood out most to me. The Penguins scored nine goals on Thursday night, and no player named Sidney Crosby or Evgeny Malkin scored any of those nine.

So the penguins were able to get some depth-ish scoring, but the penguins played a very complete game. They stuck with the process. They were able to kill off their penalties. They were able to get production on the power play. and they just blitzed Montreal on Thursday. So Hunter, I don't know where you want to begin because there is quite a lot of meat on this bone.

Well, I really have two big takeaways from this game. We used to start off. Number one, holy crap, that was a lot of fun. And number two, my God, the Canadians absolutely stink. I love Nick Suzuki. I love Cole Cawfield. Lane Hudson was once again, brilliant to watch with a puck on his stick.

He really is a one-man wrecking crew breaking out of his own. zone, especially in the offensive zone as well, just doing his thing from the point. But they really need more high-end talent if they want to accelerate this rebuild. Yeah, their prospects also aren't ready to go yet. But you can just see outside of a few players, there's really still not as much in this lineup compared to other rebuilding teams that are a little bit ahead of them. And the Canadians, they also handed out zone entries like pieces of candy on Halloween. They were horrendous defensively in this game, looking like the Penguins were.

playing in the early portions of the season with the way they were playing in their own zone. The Penguins were kind of toying with them for a good portion of this game, at least in the second half. I would say the first 25 to 30 minutes were kind of mostly even. I didn't like the Penguins game. Well, I shouldn't say that. I didn't think they were on their A game for the first 25 to 30 minutes. They really turned it on, I would say, in the second half of this game and really just

embarrassed Montreal in the final 30 minutes of this game. They got contributions from every single line. But we got to start, man with Brian Russ, Riccard, Raquel, and Cindy Crosby. That line was torching Montreal all night long and didn't even matter who Marty St. Louis put out there to try and stop them. They were just feasting. Raquel, he gets the first goal. Also, great pass from Chris LaTang to really make up for his mistake on Montreal's first goal.

He should have just dumped the puck into the corner and let the forwards go get it. Instead, he did a high-risk pass, and he got burned for it. But again, really nice pass to get it to Raquel for that first goal. And then you saw Rust and Raquel really go to work in this game. I mean, Brian Rust was Mike Matheson's daddy on that second goal. I mean, goodness gracious, his patented move that he always does. But he made Mike Matheson look like a pile on there. The biggest thing that stood out to me, sorry to interrupt you, Hunter, is there was a new addition to his classic move.

It was that stutter step on the half wall. And listen, I agree. that he absolutely owned Mike Matheson last night. But if you watch the film on Brian Rust and you see that patented move coming where he comes down the half wall and then cuts right to the front of the net and buries it, he usually just dips his shoulder, leans on you and goes to the net. So Matheson played it well. He played it as if, all right, here it comes.

Rust is going to lean on me. I'm going to force him into the corner so he can't get to that lane. that stutter step, Matheson bit on it so hard that Rust basically got to go to the front of the net unchallenged. And that is something that you wouldn't expect for a player who's been in the league this long to be able to learn a new trick. But man, that quick stutter step that made it look like he was going to turn and make a pass, Matheson completely got fold on it and it was brilliant to watch. Oh, it was awesome. And don't get me wrong.

I know Mike Matheson has never really been able to play that good of defense throughout his career. We saw that firsthand when he was here in Pittsburgh. They didn't call it the Mike Matheson experience for no reason, Pat. He was mostly all offense. At times he was okay defensively, but most of the time, it really wasn't pretty. You saw that again there with that play from Rust. And then right after that, you saw Rust and Raquel really go to work. You know, at first, you know, Raquel has a great pass for Russ.

And then Russ returns the favor. These two were in sync all night long. And speaking of Brian Rust, Once again, I said this on Twitter. I said this on Blue Sky as well. He is the ultimate penguin. There are not many players who care more about the logo than him. What a performance for him to get the H.T.

He was a menace all game long. And if he is still here after, you know, Crosby retires after, you know, Malkin retires Chris Leng, he will 100% get the C on his sweater, in my opinion. And I think it will be deserved. Again, that's if he is still here. That's still obviously. several seasons away. Well, I said say several, so at least a few seasons away at this point. But again, there are not many players who care more about the logo than him.

You know, Raquel, he was also great. He has double-digit goals this season. You had a great puck movement on the power play. And I know I've been pretty against the split power play units this week. I will give it its flowers last night. I thought the power plays were both really good. The puck movement was pretty crisp. They were getting the puck's to the net pretty efficiently. Sam Montembow really had no chance on a lot of those goals. The spit power play, at least last night, was working pretty well. You know, you had Anthony Bavillier get a goal. Nat Nietto scores because of course he does as soon as we kind of crap on Mike Sullivan for putting him back in. He scores, I will say, really nice pass for Matt Grizzlick there. And speaking of

Matt Grisly, he was fourth, an average game score last night behind the top line of Crosby, Raquel, and Russ. That is the highest average game score for Matt Grisleck so far this evening. And so you know what? I will take that considering how much we have dumped on him on the show. He played a very good game last night. But we also should shout out Tristan Jari. Outside of that first goal, which is it is hilarious. You look at the numbers now.

Five times he has given up a goal on the first shot of the game this year. And not everyone is his fault. Let's be real. Crystal Tang put him in a really bad situation there. But it is weird that he's given up a goal on the first shot five times this season. After that, he was splendid. He made some really big saves, especially when the penguins were being hemmed in during the first half of that game, really settled in, played a really good game last night, big bounce back performance from him. And, you know, again, that was a really nice win.

That six out of eight, everyone contributed. And the scary thing is, hopefully Crosby and Malkin start waking up at some point because they did all of this and none of those two score. Crosby did have three assists. He played a really strong game, especially in the second half. but those two didn't even have to score for this team to score nine goals. It was a total complete performance from the penguins last night. Like you said, you do have to shout out Tristan Jari, 913 save percentage, 21 saves on the night.

And a lot of those 21 were high quality chances in the first 30 minutes of the game. Because when you look at the box score, penguins out shoot the Canadians in the first period, 10 to 6. but then Montreal outshootshoots them 11 to 9 in the second. And for a large portion of the second period, the Canadians did push the play. They had multiple power play opportunities. They got several good looks.

And Tristan Jari was there for most of them. And it was as we talked about, a bounce back performance and start for him, which again is part of this process of rebuilding Tristan Jari. He is going to, at times, get another start after a subpar start before that. And this was an example of that last night. We'll see what happens in Ottawa when we preview that game in the second segment. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ned get the start, but that's for the next segment.

Overall, though, you look at this game in every aspect of the game that they needed to work, worked for them. They cleaned up the defensive zone, which, as you said, the first goal, first shot on Jari can't really put on him. It was a good move, and he was put in an absolutely poor position by a pinch by Chris Lattang or a bad pass, I should say. And just a great goal. You can't pin that on him. It sucks that it's the first shot and it keeps up that trend, but he bounces back from that. The power play goes two for three. the penalty kill goes four for four and you get scoring up and down the lineup.

And overall, you have to be very happy with this game. One last thing I want to add in just to put a fine point on how dominating of a victory this was for the Penguins. If you look at the five on five statistics at Natural Statrick for this game, the Penguins controlled 64% of the shot attempts at five on five, for the whole game. They never fell below 60% of the shot attempts at 5 on 5 in any period of the game. 69 in the first period, nice, 60% in the second, and then 65% in the third. And then they had 12 high danger chances to Montreal's 9. You would like to see that 9 cleaned up. But again,

they played it fairly even through the first 25, 30 minutes. So you expect to give that up. And then the expected goals percentage, 63%. So this wasn't just Sam Montenbo falling apart. This wasn't Montreal laying an egg. The penguins had a dominating performance against Montreal on Thursday night. Oh, 100%. Everyone was contributing to this win. And I want to make a few more points before we send this off to the second segment

and preview this big game against Ottawa as the penguins try to really keep this thing rolling and potentially win seven of their last nine games. And Brian Russ kind of touched on what you were discussing, Pat, and how they really kept their foot on the gas pedal. He said after the game, I think we were on our toes. Even though we had to leave, we were not sitting back. We kind of just went at them and we were able to get that fourth one. And then our power play got a big goal, which I think hurt them a bit,

and we kept going from there. And that's the mentality I want them to have every time they had a leave in the third period. You saw something similar against the Maple Leafs last weekend, right? Obviously, it wasn't 9 to 2 level against the Leafs. But once they got that lead in the third period, thanks to Michael Bunting, they didn't just sit back. They didn't just turtle. They didn't wait for the game to come to them. No, they took the game right to the Maple Leafs, and they kept their foot on the gas pedal,

and they were able to win the game and not really give the Leafs too much counterplay. You saw that again last night against the Habs. They took it to them. They didn't give the Habs really any shot to have counterplay in the third period, and it worked to perfection. So I really want to see the Penguins continue to do that in more games throughout this season. And just to, again, really illustrate, you know, Rust and Raquel, these passes last night, man, were ridiculous, you know, on the third goal, for example. Insane pass from Raquel to Russ from a really bad angle.

Rust then returns the favor. I have no idea what Linae and Hudson were doing there, just going to Russ, leading Raquel, wide open from the net, and then Latang buries a goal on the power play from the half wall, which, you know, I do want to maybe want to see a little bit more of, on the power play. if they want to, I guess, continue these little split units, if you want to call it that. And last but not least, some really cool stats from last night. The nine goals, it's the most goals the Penguins have scored in a game since they put up 10 on the Sharks last season. This is also the most goals they have scored against the Montreal Canadians in franchise history.

Think about that. They have played the Canadians quite a bit throughout their years of existence. They have never scored this many goals against the Canadians. Pretty cool stat. That's also the most goals. any team has scored this season so far nine penguins have that record at least for now and one more thing pat can we please get alex letang to come to every single game moving forward it seemed like he was the good luck charm that they really needed he was around the team basically all the time in the locker room the videos were hilarious i am starting that petition to have alex let tang come to every single game and i did not know that he's already basically a teenager at this point i remember when they won the cup in 16 and 17 he was this small little kid. I guess it just shows that we are all getting very old right now. Yes, yes, we are. But that'll do it for this segment, huge win for the penguins over the

Montreal Canadians. And they will wrap up their little mini road trip to Canada, which this on Saturday night will be their last trip to Canada this season when they take on the Ottawa senators. Hunter and I will get you set for that game in our second segment when we come back right after this. But first, we're going to tell you about a couple of sponsors, starting with prize picks. Prize picks is the best place to get real money sports action. With over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, prize picks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win up to 1,000 times your cash. Run your game all season long on prize picks, America's number one daily fantasy

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Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with. with Fandul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Welcome back to the Friday edition, and boy, is it a feel-good one after a nine-two win of the locked-on penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And the penguins are going to look to keep these good vibes going on Saturday night when they travel over to Ottawa to take on the senators.

and this is going to tell us quite a bit about where the penguins are. Now, Ottawa, one of the teams we have talked about on this show that is kind of stuck in the mud. We expected them to take a step this year. They were among those teams like Detroit and Buffalo, who we have been waiting for a breakout season. They have been stuck in a rebuild for quite a while, haven't really been able to break through. but December has been kind of a mixed bag for them. They've won three of their last five. They just recently beat the Anaheim Ducks 5 to 1.

However, they will play the Carolina Hurricanes in Carolina tonight. So Saturday will be a back-to-back for them with travel. But getting back to looking at their schedule, they started the month with a shootout loss to Anaheim, 4 to 3. They went on to beat the Detroit Red Wings and then the struggling Nashville Predators. Then they were served a loss to from the New York Islanders, four to two. This is a team hunter that you can see it. There is talent.

They have a young core. You're just waiting for them to take that next step. So in your estimation, what do the penguins have to do to get two points and continue these good vibes? Well, I think the biggest thing with Otto is there's a lot of pressure, I think, with that team right now. They got to make the playoffs because if they don't, you know, you're only really going to see those Brady Kachuk rumors, I think, get more steam. I know that they were really upset with the Rangers that, you know, or report got out that apparently the Rangers are trying to try Kach out.

And the senators were like, no, that's a bunch of BS. Like, we're not going to tarry then. And now they're going to the commissioner's office about that and all that stuff. So they're not happy with the range. dangers right now. But again, you know, until you make the playoffs, stuff like that, I feel like is only going to, you know, get out with these little, like, rumors and all that stuff with a kachok. So this is a big year for the senators. I mean, you saw that pressure was really on display when they went out this summer and they got leaders. They've been trying to fix their

goaltending problem for the last several years. They have been able to do it. Omar, this season. He's been okay, but hasn't been nearly close level that we saw him play at in Boston. So far this season, 8 and 7, 2 and 18 starts 903, 7, 8%, 2.70 goals against average. He'll be starting tonight against the hurricane. So assuming that the senators do not go back to him on Saturday, they will go to Anton Foresburg, who really has not been that good this year, almost to three goals against average, 8, 89, 7%. So if the penguins do go to Jari, they should have at least, you know, a small edge in it,

at least with the way Jari's been playing since coming up from Wilkesbury. but the biggest thing is for the penguins, you know, to really keep these good vibes going. You know, again, I would like to see Crosby and Malking get on the score sheet. That would be awesome just considering that they haven't been scoring as much lately. I obviously want Eric Carlson to have a really strong performance, especially playing against one of his former teams. He's been really good these last couple of weeks. I don't think he's getting enough attention for how good he's been.

He's really cut back on some of the lapses in his own zone. He's breaking the puck out more efficiently. he's been great in the offensive zone. He's been playing some really strong hockey. One of the biggest reasons I feel like why the team is won six over the last eight. And also Chris LaTang as well. I mean, in the last six games,

he has eight points for those or goals. He's been tremendous. So Penguins wanted to win this one. There are two top defensemen are going to have to keep playing like their two top defensemen. I do expect Jari to probably go in this one again. I know you were talking about Nadelcovich

a little bit earlier and then yesterday. I don't think Sullivan is going to go to him in this game. It's not a back-to-back. Charlie just rewarded you with a good start and a bounce back after how he played against Colorado. I would go back to him. But the biggest thing for me is, you know, getting the big boys on the score sheet, obviously continuing to get the depth scoring, but also, of course, slowing down some of Ottawa's top guys.

I mean, even though they're 13 and 13 and 2 right now, Tim Stutzel has been fantastic this year, 10 goals, 36 points, and 28 games. Drake Batherson is also over a point where game. You also know you're going to get with Brady Kachuk. Josh Norris is playing well. you, they still have called Giroux. This team still has quite a bit of talent up front. They still have a small debt problems, but they still have some good talent up front. My biggest worry is just the way the Penguins have played against Ottawa in recent years.

I mean, this is a team that's beaten the Penguins four times in row. The Penguins have not beaten the senators since January 20th of 20203. It's really been that long since the Penguins have beat the senators. And also, Penguins haven't won in Ottawa in over two years. It was a two-nothing shutout win when they won that game. Jeff Carter, your best friend, and Brian Russ scored in that win. The Penguins have lost four of their last five games in Ottawa. It's not a place they particularly play that well.

So, you know, you also want to take advantage of the senators. They have the back-to-back with travel. Yes, I know they'll be playing in their own arena. They'll be sleeping in their own beds after this game. But it's still, Carolina, Ottawa, pretty decently long flight home. So you want to take advantage of a team that's going to be getting, in a bit late. They're not going to have their full fresh legs. The Penguins will. That needs to be a big part of their advantage, I think, for this game on Saturday, too.

For sure. I know we're going to talk about it in our final segment about whether this run for the penguins is a sign of life or if it's just a little bit of a bounce that they're getting midseason. But this will be a bit of a test for those vibes and for this run. because when you look at, at the very least, the top line numbers of the Ottawa senators, while they have an even goal differential, when you dig into some of this, they are pretty solid on the power play. We're going to see if this team can continue its good run of good penalty kills their fifth in the league at 27.6.

And the other thing that they're going to have to take advantage of is if and when Ottawa takes penalties. This is not one of the better penalty kills in Ottawa in the league. They're 24th at just a shade over 75%. So essentially, if they can get opportunities on the power play, which has been pretty effective recently for the penguins, that could make a huge difference for them. And like you said, you got the big names. You're going to have to shut down Batherson, Kachuk, Stutzla, and we also know who is on the Ottawa Senators, a guy who has been a penguin killer

ever since he was wearing orange, and that is Claude Jureau. He loves playing the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's got a lot of success against them in his career. Yeah, he's not what he was a few years back, but still a very effective player for them. He, his numbers don't jump off the page, but still a very good player.

But overall, this has to be very similar to the game that they played against Montreal because you're playing a team that hasn't really been able to get off the ground. They're going to be on the second half of a back to back. You've got a day of rest in between that. So really want to see them come out with the same kind of fire that they played against Montreal. And again, I know it wasn't a 9-2 win, but it was still a very good win. same kind of fire they played against another Canadian team, and that's Toronto. And you can throw the Washington Capitals game in there, too. The Penguins came out and kind of bullied the Capitals to start that game.

It was a little bit back and forth after, but then the Penguins completely shut them down, excuse me, in the third period. You know, you can also throw that game in there too. So, you know, fast start very much required here, especially playing a team on the second half of back-to-back, keeping things simple. That's important, getting the timely saves. But again, continuing to get that depth scoring, getting Crosby and Malkin back on the score sheet in terms of goals,

that will also go a long way. Those are just my biggest keys in terms of getting a win in this game. Because if you can win this game, all of a sudden, that's seven out of nine. And again, the rest of this month, this schedule continues to ease up. They're playing a lot of teams that are right around them in the standings, including the senators. So getting two points here, especially in regulation, that can go a long way towards them potentially getting closer to fully being back

in this hunt for one of those. potential final two playoff spots. You're absolutely right. So it's Penguin Senators Saturday night at 7 o'clock in Ottawa. We will have a recap of that game on Monday. We're going to have that episode out for you very early on Monday. And there might be a special guest returning to Lockdown Penguins on Monday. So you'll have to be on the lookout for that.

But that's going to do it for our second segment. When we come back, we're going to take a little bit more into this current. run by the penguins and our thoughts on it, whether or not we're looking at a team that's turning a corner or if this is just a mirage, and we will do that when we return right after this. But before we do that, we're going to tell you about our last sponsor,

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Just go to Indeed.com slash locked on right now and support our show by saying you heard about it on this very podcast. Indeed.com slash locked on terms and conditions apply need to hire. You need indeed. All right. Welcome back to the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. we've been saying the penguins on quite a nice little run right now.

And it looks like at least to the naked eye that they are turning a corner. I am still a little bit skeptical of this Hunter. I imagine you are as well. The thing that I want to see, this is how I'll start this. The thing I want to see them continue to do is we know that looking at this team, you predicted them at the start of the year to miss the playoffs. I predicted them to kind of land in the same spot that they have the last two years, sniffing around a playoff spot, maybe sneaking in,

but more than likely missing it again by a couple of points. But between the Eastern Conference being pretty top heavy and wide open right now and mixed with the way that they're beating teams that they're supposed to beat, you said it right at the end of the last segment. the schedule does lighten up quite a bit to end 2024. They're playing a lot of teams that are right around them in the standings. Sure, they're going to see the Los Angeles Kings next week who are looking like an absolute wagon right now. But for the most part, they are playing teams that are struggling and that are right around them in the standings.

So for me to really become a believer in this current run by the penguins, this has to continue. They have to continue to beat those teams that are right around them in the standings and that are struggling. And they have to keep stringing wins together. I'm not going to overreact to a loss here and there. But if they're winning two or three, three of five, three of four, however you want to put it, I might start thinking this team is back. What say you? Again, I still need to see how they do over the next few weeks to finish.

off 24 heading into 2025 to really see, okay, where are they at in the standings heading into the new year? You have this game against Ottawa. Very winnable. It's a team right with you in the standings. You got to take those two points. You then have the Kings. A good playoff team, I don't think they're going to go that deep in the playoffs, but they should make the Western Conference playoffs and they'll at least pose a challenge to whoever they play. You then have a Predator's team that is really struggling this year. You have Barry Trots going on local radio every week, really just crushing his team every chance he gets. He is not happy with what he's been seeing. You then have the devils who, they're playing pretty well. I expect them to make the

playoffs. They also usually give the penguins fit. So that's going to be a tough game, especially in Newark where it's pretty rare when they win. Then you have a Flyers team that's also right around them in the standings. That's a pretty winnable game stole for the Penguins. You have two games against the Islanders. I don't think the Islanders are any good. I think they stink. Yes, I know they're getting Pellick back. Yes, I know they're going to get Duclair back soon. same with Matthew Barzell, but I still really don't think the Islanders are any good. You should have seen what Patrick Wall was saying

after how they almost blew that game against the Blackhawks on Thursday. He basically said, yeah, I mean, if I were in net, I probably would have smashed my stick in a locker room after that game with the way my other players just kind of stopped playing. He said he was really annoyed again.

I don't really think the Islanders are that good, but still, you have a back-to-back against them. Those are getable points right there. And then you have the Red Wings, too. They also haven't been able to take that next step so far this season. So a lot of these games, very winnable. And if you're able to bank a lot of these points here to end 2024, I'll be more of a believer and I'll be like, okay, they actually may have a shot to potentially sneak into a playoff spot once April comes around. You know,

it's good that the schedule is finally easing up, but I'm not still ready to sit here and be like, oh, like they're back, they're back. Yeah, it's cool. They've won six out of eight. They have a chance to make it seven out of nine, but I still need to see a few more weeks worth of good play before I'm ready to push that button and say like, okay, this team might actually be heading somewhere. I'm right there with you. And the other thing to keep in mind is the easing of the schedule kind of continues into 2025. You look at January, you start the year off against some good competition.

You play the Panthers and then you play the hurricanes, two very good teams. but then you got a game against Columbus, the Oilers, then it's Ottawa, you've got Seattle twice, you've got the Ducks, you've got Utah, you've got Buffalo. These are teams that when you look at what is coming up, if they can continue this level of play,

and let's not get a twisted, it's not a high level of play. They're just playing very simple, they're taking what the game is giving them, and they're taking advantage of playing teams, teams that are similar to them. You have a lot of them. Watchable hockey right now.

They're not just, again, having diarrhea all over the ice like we saw to start the season. They're actually playing watchable hockey. That's at least fun too. You know, you've won six out of eight. You're keeping everything simple. You're getting contributions from virtually everyone in the lineup. You're playing.

What other words should I use? Normal hockey now, I think. Yeah. And so like I was saying, you have a very, very similar schedule to start 2025 in January. It's a, it's a month where there are going to be losses in that month. You're going to play Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington. Those are going to be tough games, Edmonton as well. But then you look at the rest of that schedule. Those are all 50, 50 games that are very winnable. You're going to have some schedule

losses in there. You only have two back to backs in January. But one of those two sets of back to backs both are at home. So it's not as if you're doing a lot of traveling. And then the other set of back to backs is Buffalo to DC, which again, not a lot of travel. So you will be able to get some rest and play beatable teams. But again, it comes down to they have to continue this level of play. They have to win the games in front of them.

String some wins together, like I said, whether it's two or three, three of four, three of five, however you want to cut it, there are going to be losses in there. but if you can continue stacking wins and making yourself at least part of the race, I can see this becoming a real thing. I'm not totally sold yet. You aren't either, but the opportunity is there for them to really continue to turn a corner. And again, it'll start tomorrow night when they take on Ottawa for a chance to sweep this mini Canada trip that they're on.

But that is going to do it for the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. we appreciate you as always tuning in and making us part of your daily routine so for hunter hodies i'm patrick damp we will be back with a fresh episode recapping the weekend for you on monday and thanks as always for tuning in we will talk to you on monday Thank you.