Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins bringing good vibes into Jagr night!

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins got a much-needed victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night and Hunter and Pat start the show by glossing over Sidney Crosby after he put the team on his back once again. They discuss how he looked upset right when the opening puck drop happened and how he was determined to not let this team lose. They also praise Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell for having strong performances before diving into the loss of Jake Guentzel. Is that it for the season? If not, how can the Penguins survive without him for the next 3-4 weeks? Finally, they preview Sunday's matchup against the Los Angeles Kings and reminisce on Jaromir Jagr as he's set to have his number retired.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.Camino ConsultingAfter providing more than 20 years of service to small and midsize businesses, Camino is offering a digital seminar for families and couples. Go to www.caminoconsulting.ca and use discount code LOCKEDON for 25% off the rest of the month OR mention Locked On when reaching out for a business seminar and receive the first 5 profiles free.SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelGet buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON 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) 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.

Cindy Crosby had another special performance for the Penguins on Thursday night. And on today's episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast, Pat and I are going to break that down, plus get you all set for Yager night on Sunday. You're Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.

I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hont. honor hodies. Join by my co-s to Patrick Dam. You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. Ors for Penguins.

Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So Pat Penguins for Blackhawks won. They do what I really wanted them to do when we were breaking this game down for our Thursday episode. I didn't really have too many X's and O's,

too many numbers for this game, for this preview, I should say. I just wanted them to respond. And sure enough, they did that. And what type of game was this for Sydney Crosby? Oh, this was a vintage Sydney Crosby performance. That's what that was. It absolutely was.

And you could tell right from the opening puck drop for this game that Cid was upset. You could tell by what happened on Wednesday night against the Florida Panthers at home on national television. He was determined to get the Penguins back in the wind column. And sure enough, he gets the party started just 15 seconds. into regulation and beautiful deflection to give the penguins a one-nothing lead. And after that, it felt like all of his teammates were just galvanized by that. They were ready to rumble after Sid gave them the lead just 15 seconds in. And they ended up playing a really nice first period as a whole.

Riley Smith gets on the board. We'll talk about that in a little bit. But even after that goal, even when the penguins were, it looked like they were reeling a little bit in the third period. I didn't really think they were playing that well. Their four check kind of abandoned them. in the second and then a little bit of the third period. But who's there to give them the two-gold cushion back?

Sydney freaking Crosby. Really nice pass by Ricard Raquel, by the way. We'll get into him in just a second. But when the Penguins really needed him, Sidney Crosby was there to provide another big spark, gets his 12th, 30-goal season as an NHL player. I can't believe that, honestly. Well, I guess I can't just because of how great Siddy Crosby has led throughout his career.

but I'm just honestly out of words at this point. When the penguins are down, you can always count on Sid to do his thing. And I know there's still a long way back from intentionally making the playoffs. But if they have any hope of doing it, it's going to have to come from 87 especially. It will. And this is what kind of we've been talking about all season long

in why Crosby's performance this year has been so good. It's more than just the number. It's more than just the stats. It's the fact that he's dragging this team into the fight seemingly every single night. And there's no better example of that than scoring 15 seconds into a game one night after you get absolutely humbled by a true contender in the Florida Panthers. He was just he played like a man determined. He set the tone all night.

He was in on the forecheck. He was playing his typical below the goal line physical style of hockey. He was setting guys up. He was good in the defensive zone, good in the faceoff circle. I mean, I didn't see the three stars from last night, but I imagine he was the first star because he had just an incredible performance. But this is what the penguins are going to need from Sid the rest of the way out, especially with Jake being out longer term, which we'll talk about later on in the show.

But, I mean, I don't want to get too far out ahead of my skis. but, you know, this was a good performance by the Penguins, but we do have to keep in mind it's against arguably the worst team in the National Hockey League. Yeah, and I do think they are the worst team in the league. I mean, this is a team that ever since Connor Bedard went out, and I know he returned in this game and looked really good, but when he was out, they were averaging less than 1.5 goals per game.

This is a team that also could not score if their lives, if their lives dependent on it, to be honest. And I know the Penguins, they've had trouble this year too, but the Blackhawks, it was even worse for them because you look at that lineup, Pat, who, not a lot of NHL talent in that lineup, to be honest. And that's the other thing, too. Connor Bedard, man, that kid is the truth. Like, there is, there is no question he is the next one because he was out for an extended

period of time, including the All Star break. He had the kind of injury where essentially, if you break your jaw nowadays, it's no longer the whole they wire your jaw and your mouth shut and you're on, you're on liquid diet, but you're not eating solid food. But the way you recover from this now is you basically can't do any strenuous activity because it actively harms your jaw if it's broken. So this guy's been on the shelf for quite some time. And yeah, he looked maybe a tad rusty in the first few minutes,

but other than that, he was absolute menace last night. And that kid is going, to have, should he stay healthy, a very long, very prosperous career? I'm glad the penguins only see him twice a year. I mean, for teams that are in the Central or even in the Pacific, you have to see him three to four times a year. Good luck to all those teams in the Western Conference because he's only going to continue to get better.

And I agree with you. I thought his first period was honestly not good. He was kind of just missing easy plays with a puck on his stick. In the second and third period, though, every time his line was out there, It looked like he was creating something in the offensive zone, even though the Blackhawks only finished the game with five high danger chances. But going back to the Penguins for just a second, at the end of the day, you're right, this is just a win against the Blackhawks.

I do want to see more of this. I'll keep saying it on a consistent basis if this team wants to get back into the race. I know we crushed them really bad on our Thursday episode, and I felt like that was really deserved. But we are going to at least give them a little bit of flowers for this win against Chicago group because, let's face it, the Penguins have been struggling against the Black Cox going into this game. They lost three of four.

They usually do not play well at the United Center. Before they won at the United Center last season, they were 0 and 5 and 3 in their last eight trips to Chicago. That is usually a place. It's a house of horrors for the Penguins, but not the last two years at least. But outside of Crosby's performance, I want to shout out a couple of players, one being Riley Smith. I was a bit hard on him during the game.

There was a play in the offensive zone before he scored. where he had time with a puck on his stick. He's trying to go through two people, forces a pass, and then the Blackhawks go down and get a scoring chance out of it, Ndok coach was able to make a save. And I even tweeted, that just sums up Riley Smith's season as a whole. He's trying to do too much.

He's not being able to finish. But he's able to have a beautiful backhand roof job later on after that shift to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Also, shout out Drew O'Connor for deflecting that puck out of mid-air to get that rush going. But that was a really nice finish by Riley Smith. Looked like the October version of Riley Smith, to be honest. And no matter what, the Penguins are going to need that the rest of the way

because it'd be great if he can maybe help them get back into the race if this team does. Or B, if this team does falter a little bit after this win, it boosts his trade value a little bit, potentially if they want to move from at the deadline. Either way, I think this is a win-win for the Penguins if he finds his game. Right. A key to this team's either success to get back into the playoff race and ultimately into the playoffs or to, as we talked about yesterday, start the retooling around the deadline. It all really does hinge upon Riley Smith because if he produces well or at the very least has a couple of hot weeks, his value will increase and they could probably get some assets for him. or if nothing else, you hope he stays hot and gets back to that October form we saw when the season first began. Because he, if fair is fair, you know, we buried this team yesterday.

I still think it was incredibly deserved. I'm not ready to say this team is back by any way, shape, or in any way, shape, or form. But a lot of the guys who we had the microscope on yesterday showed up. Riley Smith played outside of that one shift. I thought he played a very solid game. Same thing for Ricard Raquel. Crazy to think what we've been saying all year. Put him on Sid's line.

That's where he's the most productive. I'm going to eat that a little bit. I'm going to eat that because I said earlier this week when we were discussing Raquel, I even said it doesn't matter where you put him just because of how bad he's been. I will eat some crow on that because I thought he played a very strong game against the Blackhawks on Thursday night. That pass that he made two. Sid for the goal that made it 3-1. That is a pass that I have not seen him make all year, honestly, since last year.

He definitely looks like a different player when he plays with Sid. And I know they've had success in the past, and I've liked when he's played with Sin in the past. But this year, it just felt like any line that he was on, he was sucking the life out of it. But that game last night was a step in the right direction for him. And if he can continue to play like that on Sid's line, okay, just keep him there. because that was a good performance. I'll eat a little bit of crow.

I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I just had to say it. No, I was just going to say, I don't think you need to eat crow on that because he gave us no indication up to this point that he was going to do any better. And again, it's one game. But we have said,

and the evidence was there from the last couple of years, that he's at his best when he is with Sidney Crosby. So, wow, I don't think you have to eat crow on that because he has not given us any indication this season. that he was going to be a better player by just the way he was performing all season long. But at the same time, we all kind of knew if there is a way to get him back on track, it's to put him with Sidney Crosby. And voila, he has a pretty solid performance last night next to Sidney Crosby.

Now, on the other hand, there was a negative to take away. And again, I know it's a dead horse, but Ryan Graves was just, their one goal. It's not entirely his fault. I'm not going to lay the entire blame of the goal on his shoulders because it was Smith and Malkin exiting the zone early. Drew O'Connor had a puck that he couldn't corral. And Smith and Malkin leave the zone too early,

which gives Chicago a number's advantage. But the problem that I saw on that goal was that Riley Smith had two options. Or Riley Smith, Ryan Graves, excuse me. had two options and both of them are good options. It's the fact that he didn't do either and it led to the goal against was he either needed to continue to pursue the puck carrier in Connor Bedard or back off and cut off the passing lane. Either move is fine because if you take away that passing lane, it's an unscreen shot and

if Connor Bedard scores on an unscreen shot, he's Connor Bedard. That's just what the greats do. But you have to either do one of those two and he, began to pursue the puck carry and then went, oh, wait, I don't want to do that and started to back off. And it opened that lane for Kyrushchev to get a pass from Badaard. And it led to the goal. So I had somebody say this to me last night and I'm going to steal it from them because it was a very correct take. I have been saying I could see this being a Paul Martin situation where next year he maybe bounces back and plays better. That's a tough thing to think right now because

a mistake like that and a lot of his mistakes recently have been decision making and not learning a new system. And it's really hard to fix decision making via a system. I agree with you on that. I feel like it's just gotten to the point where, I mean, I can't even believe I'm saying this that we're approaching Jack Johnson territory for this. See, is that too hot of a take you say? Here's the thing. We knew Jack Johnson was terrible in going into it.

We didn't know this about Ryan Graves. This is just utter disappointment. The Jack Johnson thing, there were mountains of evidence that he was a bad defenseman and they went and signed him anyway. And that's what I was going to ask you. Like, was that too hot of a take for me? Just because with his play this year, I know he's on a pretty long-term deal. He's making more money than Johnson was making at the time of this deal. It just seems like every night he makes a boneheaded play that results in a high

danger chance against or especially a goal against like it was last. night and it feels like it's approaching that territory again i i know how bad johnson was for the penguins but i was hoping that wasn't too hot of a take on the show i wouldn't say that it's too hot of a take because the play has been utterly disappointing and disastrous but going into the season there was no reason to believe it was going to be like this with jack johnson it was as if the titanic saw the iceberg coming and still ran into it anyway. That's fair. I will give you that.

I mean, I expected Johnson to be really bad, especially when that contract. I wanted to have him surprise me, but I was at least decently high on Ryan Graves on July 1. And to say that I have been way wrong on that would be a huge understatement. Outside of that, I thought Alex Deltkvich was again very strong and that continues his stellar season.

And with that win, that's one in a row. Now go try and make it two when you have good vibes for Yager night coming on Sunday. Then after that, go make it three or try to make it four after that because you have a four-game home stretch here against the Kings on Yager night. You have the Islanders, the Canadians, and the Flyers all at home before you head out to Western Canada to play those really good teams out there outside the flames. The flames are not good this year.

but Vancouver and Edmonton especially are who I'm talking about. So if you can string together something here, maybe I got just a little bit of copium after slamming this team on Thursday. You can string together a little something here. You can get yourself back into the race slowly but surely, but that's going to be a lot tougher now that Jake Gensel is out for the next four weeks. And Pat and I are going to discuss that in the second segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about eBay motors,

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in the playoff race took a massive hit on Thursday before the game against the Blackhawks as the Penguins announced Jake Gensel will be out for the next four weeks. That puts his return right around that trade deadline at March 8th to March 10th area, to be honest. So there is a distinct possibility, depending on how these next several weeks go, that Gensel has potentially played his final game as a member of the Penguins. But if you tell that to the players on this team, they're just going to laugh at you, and rightfully so.

They care very much about making the playoffs this year. How can this team get back into the race without Jake for the next several weeks? Well, here's the good news. The next two weeks are chock full of very winnable games. L.A. is kind of bouncing back a little bit, but they were struggling going into the break. Then you have the islanders who are just not very good this year. Canadians, same boat as the Chicago Blackhawks. They're still in a rebuild mode.

They're not very good. They're competitive, but I wouldn't say they're good yet. They're better. Flyers is going to be a tough test. They have gone right back to their pre-all-star breakways, so you're really going to have to try to gut out a win there. Vancouver, that's a tough game. No matter which way you cut it,

they're maybe the best team in the NHL right now, if not amongst the best. And then Seattle's another winnable game because you've beaten them before. You know the formula. So, you know, that's six games right there. And right now with where this team is, is five points out. If you can string together a four and two, five and one record over the next six,

I mean, that puts you in a nice little position. And it also would probably tell a guy like Jake that, hey, when I'm back, I can really help this team push forward. The other thing when it comes to Jake is this is a tough call, I think, for other general managers, if Dubus is in fact shopping him. because, yes, he has been one of the more consistent performers in the last five or so years. You know he's good for 25, 30, maybe 40 goals a year. He is very much not a product of Sidney Crosby anymore, but he has had injuries, and he's not young anymore. He's 29.

And if you're an opposing general manager and you think, well, he's coming off an injury and is he going to be able to get right back up to form without Sidney Crosby? Not that he's a product of him, but there's a comfortability there. You want to be able to get him back into action in a place where he feels comfortable. So if you acquire him at the deadline and he shows up and he's not ready for it, that could be a sunk cost for that team. So at the same time, like I think for the Penguins, you got to play a game like you played last night where it is low event.

I'll go as far to say it. boring. You have to limit mistakes and you have to take advantage of your chances when you get them. As for Jake, at this point, I have zero idea what they're going to do with them. I agree with you. I think on all accounts, but I will add this, though, they're going to need other players to step up other than Crosby if they do want to get back in the race and make it worth it for Jake to come back whenever he's ready. March 8th, March 10th, that time frame, if he's not dealt, of course. It's up to the team now, I think, to really decide whether Kyle Dubus is going to deal him

in the next two weeks. Because if they do sink after this, and I know they just beat the Blackhawks, which is great, but if they do sink after this, they maybe don't have a good homestand coming up and then they go out to Western Canada and kind of stink it up a little bit, I think that will make Kyle Dubus's job easier. but if they're able to rattle off some wins here, maybe go on a three-game winning streak for only the third time this season. They've only won three-plus games twice this season, Pat.

They have a three-game winning streak and a five-game winning streak. Those are their two longest winning streaks this season. So if this team wants to push for a playoff spot, they're going to have to win these upcoming games at home against teams that you said it. These are very winnable games. You're not going up against Vancouver. at least not yet. Edmonton, the Rangers, the Bruins, all that good stuff.

You're going up against teams that are close to the standings and even the Flyers. I know they probably will make the playoffs at this point this year, but I still don't think the Flyers are a shoot contender in Eastern Conference. And the Penguins have also crushed them at least once before. So it's up to them and it's also up to the rest of the players on this team. Outside of Cindy Crosby, outside of Guinea Malkin, Chris is saying Eric Carlson to step up and make plays, with Gensel out because with him out, he's been one of their two best players this year.

It is going to be a tall task for them to win without him. Because we already saw how hard it was to win consistently, even with him in the lineup. Now it's going to be that much hard, even though they have this homestanding coming up. Well, and to build off that, the schedule part of it, I mean, you look at it, you obviously have the West Coast, the West Coast swing where you're going to see Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle. I mean, then you go, you end the trip in Edmonton, which again, that's going to be a very tall task. That is a great hockey team. But then Columbus and the capitals, two teams that are very beatable, two teams that are falling down the standings. Okay, then you have Boston and Edmonton.

That's going to be a tough, that's a tough back to back. And there's travel involved. But then you have Ottawa San Jose. Those are two games you very much can and should win. Then you have the Rangers, which that's a tough out, but they always play them well. Then Detroit, that's another tough one. Then New Jersey, a team that you should be able to beat. And then Dallas. So there is a very real possibility here where, yeah, they may not go on a streak. They may not win three, four, five, six, seven at a time.

But they could go three and one, four and two, three and one, four and two. And especially with a lot of non-divisional games in the hopper here, you play those games and get an extra extra point in overtime, that's not a big deal. If you leave that, if you let that point go, not a huge problem. Just make sure it's not one of the teams that you're chasing. Just make sure you're coming out with two. And then, sorry, I forgot the second point there. I said two points is we saw it last night.

There are guys on this team who we need to step up that can step up in this stretch. And that's Riley Smith and Ricard Raquel. And either Brian Russ, the empty netter last night from basically the full length of the ice, that was a really nice shot from him. And I think the penguins are also going to need more from Rust down the stretcher. I think he's been outside of Gensel, their best top six winger this season. I don't really think that's too much of a hot take when you look at who else has been playing up there and how much they've struggled. But they will need Rust to play at an even higher level if this team does want to make noise down the stretcher.

But I think that will do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, the good vibes are coming to PBG Payne's Arena on Sunday. Yarmir Yager is coming home to have his number retired. And oh yeah, there's a game to be played. We're going to preview that game against the Los Angeles Kings as well. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Camino consulting. How would you like to get to know someone better in an hour than you would in the year? Understanding one another better prevent small misunderstandings from becoming big ongoing fights.

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Or mention locked on when reaching out for a business seminar and receive the first five profiles free. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Hanglins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join by my host, Patrick Damp. So that, it's finally here. We're two days away from Yarmu Yager having his number retired by the Penguins.

He will be just the third player in Penguins franchise history to have his number retired, a very high honor for him and something that has been long, and I mean long overdue. I'm super stoked to be at the arena for this game. I actually just got my ticket before we started recording. I will be there for this. I can't miss that, man. considering what yarmieryager did for this franchise there's no chance i was going to miss that

and when you think i'm going to hand this over to you because i know you're a bit older than me when you think of yarmriyager with the penguins what is the first thing that comes to mind oh dude you can't make me pick you just can't um pick one at least there's a lot uh there is a lot I mean, his iconic goal in 1992 against the Chicago Blackhawks in game one of the final, that just I will be 90 years old, not able to not remember my own name, and I will still see that replay from every angle in my head clear his day. That was such an incredible goal. And the way he scored it just was the embodiment of how he played the game.

He was stronger than you. He thought the game better than you, and he possessed an absolutely lethal shot. Then there is always the Eastern Conference Playoff Series against the Devils where he comes out with basically a torn groin and playing on one leg. And people forget, you know, you gave me a few weeks ago when we had Jaden on the show some grief about the Penguins documentary being like my comfort. food, but people forget, man, if they lose that series to the devils, they probably move. They probably leave Pittsburgh because that was in the height of the bankruptcy court fights.

And the Penguins as an organization, we're trying to show the creditors that this team has a rock solid fan base. There's interest. There's ways to make money here with this team in Pittsburgh. And if they lose that game, they lose a ton or that series, they lose a ton of revenue. the fan base probably isn't as excited about it. And then Yager goes out on one leg and basically wins two games by himself. And that saves the franchise for all intents and purposes.

And lastly, I mean, I have to say, like, I was never amongst the people who booed Yager, who hated Yager. I did in 2011, 2012, just because he, and we'll never know the full story because nobody's ever going to fully talk about it, at least not for years. You know, it essentially feels like he used a penguin's offer in 2011 as leverage to get more money. And of all the teams he goes to, he goes to the Flyers. So that stung really, really badly. But outside of that, I mean, he did every single thing that was. asked of him in the 90s and 2000s for this franchise. And until Sidney Crosby retires, there is no other person who is more deserving to have

their number hanging from the rafters in the arena. Absolutely, man. And you want to know what is therapeutic for me when it comes to watching Yager. It is that series against the Devils in 1999. When I want to pull up one Yarmir Yager highlight, even outside of what he did in 92, I will pull up his effort in game six against the Devils when the Penguins are down three games to two. He scores time goal and then he scores the overtime goal. And you can see just what those goals meant to the Civic Arena crowd because those fans went absolutely nuts.

They knew that there was a chance that this team may not be in Pittsburgh, potentially next season, if they lose this game. And Yager was the hero that all the fan base needed back in nine. 99 in that series. And then they win game seven, four to two against Devils. Yager has two assists in that game. And I will always watch those two games and just celebrate everything he's done for this franchise. I know it got ugly in 2011,

you know, 2012 when he spurned the Penguins. I was definitely hurt. I was upset. I know, again, I wasn't alive back in, you know, 91 and 92 when he was doing all that crazy stuff for the Penguins. and even in 99 for that series against the devil's. I was only a year and a half, two years old people.

But I knew I was still hurt by what he did when going to the flyers. But you know what? I got over it. Everyone should be over that by now. This is going to be a great day of celebration for what he did for this franchise in the 1990s and even after that. And I am so excited for this organization to welcome him back with open arms. he is going to get innovation that he has never seen before at PBG Paints Arena.

And it is going to be absolutely breathtaking. And I can only hope, Pat, that Mario Lemieux is in the building for it. I would be absolutely shocked if Lemieux wasn't in attendance for this. Because by all accounts, this has been something Lemieux has wanted to do for this team for years. but it was always difficult with him still playing in Cladno over in the Czech Republic. And one more thing, man, for our locked on fans out there who may not have been around for it or get too young for it or whatever, go find 1999 game six against the devils. And not for the goals, not for the win, or the opener. Because he was not supposed to play that night.

there were maybe not not supposed to play but he was a very he was questionable for that game with that injury and just like sid and gino just like lemieux he was the last guy out of the tunnel and everybody watches and it's all it's not that people aren't cheering when they get when you get the old john barbara your pitts but it's a little bit muted and then when he comes out of the tunnel that place erupted because they knew there is a chance as long as we have 68 that we can win this series. And what happened after that? You know it. I know it. Everyone listening to this show slash watching the show knows it too. But it's going to be a special night and I can't wait to be there for it. Outside of that Jersey retirement, there's a game to be played. And the Penguins will be playing the Los Angeles Kings as they try to make it

two in a row both against the Kings and overall for the season. This is a Kings team. Pat, that has been really struggling as of late. They're 25 and 16 and 10. 60 points, they're good for fourth in the Pacific Division. They won their last game, but they have lost six of the last 10 games overall. They came out of the gates red hot this year. This was one of the best teams, not just in the Western Conference, but in the league. But then they kind of hit a bit of a wall.

And it led to Todd McClellan being fired out of LA. They have an interim coach now. they haven't gotten that new coach bump just yet maybe it's coming but even though they've struggled this is still a king's team that has quite a bit of talent adrian kempi this season has 17 goals and 45 points onza copatar is still one of the best two-way centers in the league he's going to go down as one of the best two-way players of this generation i have loved watching him for as long as he's been in the league kevin fiala has been pretty solid quitting byfield by the way what a season he is having 17 goals 39 and 4-9 games.

There was a time where I'm not sure he was going to be this good in the NHL, but he has surely made, you know, me and I think quite a few other people look kind of foolish with that because he has played really well this year. Trevor Moore has 21 goals. Drew Downey, I think, is having a pretty solid season overall. There was once a time, even a few years ago. I thought Drew Dowdy was cooked, to be honest. He wouldn't say he's cooked, but he's not good as he used to me, but he can still put

up points at the NHL level. but with everything going on before this game, how do the penguins make it two in a row against the Kings? Well, the good news is the Kings are going to get softened up a little bit. They've got Boston on Saturday before they come to Pittsburgh. So they're not going to get out of there without losing a pound of flesh to the Boston Bruins because nobody does. Other than that, I mean, you have to use the emotion in the building. This is going to be a huge night for the history of this franchise.

and that's not a long way to go. One of the four or five most iconic players, maybe the third behind Crosby, I'd say, considering what Crosby's been able to do to this point, maybe the second or third most iconic player in the history of the franchise is going to be in the building, getting his number retired. So the energy in that building is going to be infectious.

The fans are going to be ready to go. The fans are going to want to cheer, give them something to cheer about. It's also an L.A. King, team that the penguins match up well with. This is not really a fast team. We know that fast teams as of late have given the penguins fits. That's not how LA plays hockey. They are a very calculated, very disciplined team. Take advantage of that. Play your responsible game. Be good in the defensive zone. Establish a four check early and get some shots on the net. I mean, they really have to,

I know people come to us for expert analysis, but I mean, at the end of the day, the formula for this team to win is just to play simple hockey. Low event. That's what it is, I think, at this point. Low event, keeping the team to the outside, limiting the high danger chances, being able to finish your chances,

maybe getting a little bit of depth scoring, and of course, getting good doltending. I assume that Trish and Jari will get the start in this one. Yeah, he wasn't that good against Florida. but again, no one was really good against Florida on Wednesday night. So I expect him to bounce back in this game if he does indeed get the start for the Penguins, which again, I assume that he will. Spelago teams will have to be a big factor as well.

Powerplay wasn't that good against Chicago. It was actually kind of funny. Blackhawks are one of the two teams that have a worse power play than the Penguins, and it actually looked a bit better than the Penguins FireP being, which I did kind of have to laugh at. I can't lie. Power play's going to have to look a little bit better. and you did see Crossley and Malkin reunite on the top power play against the Blackhawks.

Does that continue, especially with Gensel out? I will assume it does. I want to see how they do back together, even though it was just one game against the Blackhawks. And then on the king side of things, their goaltending this year, it's been a bit inconsistent. Cam Talbot in 33 games has a 909%.

That's around league average to a little bit above league average. But David Riddick in 14 games, he's 7 and 2 and 3 and has a 923. 80%. So if they go to him, he's going to be a tough goalie to be considering what he's done in a really small sample size this year. Yeah. And again, it's going to be, you know, I know I ended up getting the wrong starting goalie for Chicago yesterday, but it'll be a similar thing where Big Save Dave is having himself a nice little year as a backup. So don't get frustrated if, you know, you've got 12, 13 shots at the end of the first period, but no goals.

just keep pounding away at that rock, keep shooting the puck, keep getting chances because he will tire, all goalies do. And especially with them coming in on a back-to-back, you have to be relentless against them and take advantage of some potentially tired legs. Yeah, I agree with you on that. Another big thing, you got to take advantage of these tired legs because this is a back-to-back with travel for the Kings. There are not too many excuses for the Penguins to lose this game, even though they're not going to have Jake Gensel, you can't lose their team that's traveling to your place that's on a back-to-bike,

and especially with Yager's number retirement ceremony and how many good vibes there are going to be a PPG for this game. So we'll see if the Penguins can make it two in a row on Sunday night. And Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Monday to recap this game against the Kings and get you all set for the action next week. For Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. We will talk to you all on Monday.