Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is BACK TONIGHT in Raleigh!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Penguins Captain Cindy Crosby is officially back for the Penguins against the hurricanes on Wednesday, and Pat and I are going to talk about that news. Plus get you all set for Penguins Hurricanes right after this. 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 episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. you can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Joined by my co-st, Patrick Damp, you can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin for Wet. You can also follow this show's Twitter at LO underscore Penguins, and you can find us on Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this

Starting point is 00:00:51 your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parley profit boost. Head to fandle.com to get started. Pat, it's official.

Starting point is 00:01:10 He's back. Sidney Crosby is officially returning for the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes after missing 11 games in a row with a sprained MCL. Thank you, Mitch Marner, by the way, for confirming that injury last week on Sportsnet Pittsburgh. But you missed 11 games. The Penguins went five and three and three in those games, point at least a point in eight of those 11 games.

Starting point is 00:01:33 They came out of the break in second place in the Metro. They have remained in second place during the stretch. And we'll now get Cindy Crosby back for the final 15 games of the regular season. He was skating on a line with Ricard Raquel and Brian Russ. That was the first, okay, yeah, this is happening moment. Then he was on the top power play, which basically sealed the deal that he was coming back. He then spoke to the media saying he feels great. He's ready to go.

Starting point is 00:01:59 He was trying to get comfortable. And also, Pat, this is four weeks to the day when he sprained his MCL at the Olympics. But perfect time for the captain to be returning. They told us it was a four week injury. And what do you know? It has been exactly four weeks since Radko Gudis. He been in the news at all lately? I'm not sure.

Starting point is 00:02:21 Injured Sidney Crosby's knee. But as I said at the time, I think that one, that was accidental. What he did now, Austin Matthews, not at all. But anyway, yeah, this is great timing for the penguins because, one, they've kept their heads above water. We've talked about it endlessly on the show. They have done everything for the most part that they need to do to keep themselves in good position in the absence of Sidney Crosby and for a bit of Gennie Malkin. And now, I mean, I said it yesterday. You don't want to make the seven to win over the avalanche a fluke.

Starting point is 00:02:58 And tonight, you have a chance to show that it wasn't a fluke because this is one of the better teams in the league. This is one of the better teams in the east. It's a team that you have not been able to beat in their building for a long time. So for Sid to come back for this, it's a shot of adrenaline. They're starting to heat up. And buddy, it's the exact right time for this team to start heating up. This is the best trade deadline acquisition that the Penguins could have gotten. They've been waiting for him to return for a while now.

Starting point is 00:03:33 They survived this stretch. Again, they got at least a point in eight of 11 games. They are still in a playoff spot. Did they get any help last night? No, Columbus opened up a can of whoop ass on the hurricanes. You know, that's also going to be a really upset hurricanes team coming back home tonight. I know they're on the second half of a back-to-back with travel pat. that is going to be an upset hurricane team with the way they played.

Starting point is 00:03:56 They looked really bad against Columbus. But you didn't get help there. Islanders, they took care of business against the Maple Leafs. The Bruins-Canadians game, both teams got at least a point. Shocker, I know the Montreal was able to win that game in overtime. So the Penguins, they got a little bit of help just because the Bruins didn't win. But overall, not much help for the Penguins last night. You got to take care of your own business.

Starting point is 00:04:21 That's the best part about. this. Everything is in your control. Would teams losing help you? 100%. But now you're basically almost fully healthy. Your top nine at least is wholly healthy. You're only missing Blake Lazotte, which does stink because he has been a really good fourth liner and Sam Gerard. Though I do think Gerard is getting closer to returning. He was out of the morning. He skate again. Maybe this weekend he's back. But for the most part, this is the healthiest this Penguins team has been pat in quite some time. They are set up pretty. well here going in the final 15 games.

Starting point is 00:04:56 Now they got Malkin back and now especially that they have crossy back. And I want to see what the top line can do now. Now he's back up there. You know, before the Olympic break, I felt the top line was struggling a little bit. I felt honestly everyone on that line was fighting it. But now, you know, Sid got to go over to the Olympics and I know he got hurt. But he's fully back now. He's refreshed.

Starting point is 00:05:17 We've seen what he does at the end of seasons. Pat, always goes on a late season. heater. He especially did it last year, even when the penguins were not really playing for anything at the end of the last season. He was still well over a point per game. You get that version of Sid back here, I think they finish this and to get it done. But he's going to be really motivated, man. Putting it in that context, he said this after practice today. You see it on a nightly basis. Everyone is pushing for a few spots. But that's, that's the fun for a hockey player. Those are the games that you want to be in. Not only that, he didn't win gold.

Starting point is 00:05:53 at the Olympics. You might have heard the United States won the gold medal at the Olympics. And what Hunter do I always say about Sydney Patrick Crosby? He is the pettiest athlete on the planet between being injured, having not been in the playoffs for the last three years, and now not winning a gold medal at the Olympics, he is about to make it everybody else's problem. And with the way this Eastern Conference race is shaping up with the way the last time the penguins were in Raleigh went down. You think Sidney Crosby isn't going to come out tonight shot out of a cannon? I got some news for you. And I think overall, not even just for this game, but for the final 15 of the regular season, everyone on this team is going to feed off that. They got their captain back

Starting point is 00:06:47 for best player. And he's going to make it his own personal mission to get this team. team into the playoffs. Yeah, the standings are really tight right now. You know, again, it feels like every team is getting at least one point on a nightly basis right now, at least for the East bubble that is. You know, we had a really funny comment in our YouTube comment section yesterday comparing the Pacific Division to the NFC South. Not far off because of how bad that division is. Not unfair. Someone said, J.D. Young of Locked on Sharks said, hey, 35 points gets you into the playoffs in the Western Conference. It really is crazy, just the discrepancy of the two races where, and you and I talk about this on Tuesday

Starting point is 00:07:29 as well, a team Pat might get 99 points to 100 and potentially miss out, especially if all these teams just keep getting at least a point on a nightly basis. It is just so close. But again, everything is right in front of the payments. Here's the thing. You're your own business. You get in. Here's the thing. The penguins are on pace to get 100 points in the standings this year. They're not guaranteed to make the playoffs. They have a better than most shot. They're sitting at last check, I think around like 85% according to MoneyPuck. But still, that's how tight this race is. Most years on pace for a hundred points in the standings, you might as well just put your deposit down on playoff tickets.

Starting point is 00:08:12 This year, it might not be enough. So getting Sid back, having this team starting to catch a little bit of a stride, everybody playing the right way, getting motivated. And pretty much every game from here on out with the exception of a few are against teams that are going to make it to the playoffs or at least be in this race. You got to be at your best. And if there was ever a guy who holds this team accountable and drags them into the fight and makes them play that way, it's their captain. I 100% agree with you. And also, these next couple weeks are especially going to be really critical just because you're playing, you know, again, potential playoff teams slash contenders on a nightly basis through the month of March.

Starting point is 00:08:57 The schedule does relax a little bit in April. You're playing Florida twice. By the way, Pat, I don't know if you notice they have the second worst record in the east right now. They're slowly trying to tank for Gavin McKenna. Can't wait to see the takes if they somehow get him at the end of the season. And then Washington, they play them twice. I don't think Washington is still going to be in playoff contention by that point of

Starting point is 00:09:18 the season. could be wrong. They sold New Jersey in the month of April as well. They also play the St. Louis Blues. That's the last game of the season. TBD on whether that game even matters for the Penguins. But again, my point is the schedule relaxes a little bit in April. But these next couple of weeks, it's just really critical to keep banking as many points as you can,

Starting point is 00:09:37 especially when you play against these top teams. And now that Sid is back just gives the Penguins obviously an even better chance at doing that. But that's going to do it for this first segment. coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to preview this game against the hurricanes, give our keys to victory, all that good stuff. That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets?

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Starting point is 00:10:55 Third of four meetings against the Carolina Hurricanes this year, the Penguins and Hurricanes have split the first two. The Penguins won five to one in PBG Paints Arena back on December 30th. And then, of course, last Tuesday, where this five-game road trip began, Penguins were able to steal a point in Raleigh before losing five to four in a shootout. They'll play today, and then they'll play again on Sunday to wrap up the season series in Pittsburgh. As I said earlier in the show, I think this is going to be a really pissed off. Hurricanes team. They did not look good against the blue jackets. They were kind of pushed around a little bit,

Starting point is 00:11:25 lost 5 to 1. And even though the penguins are waiting for them here, and they have the schedule advantage because the hurricanes, it's a back-to-back with travel for them, the hurricanes are still going to give this everything they have. They obviously, number one in the league in terms of shot attempts for 60 minutes. They don't call them the Carolina courseies for no reason. They're second and expected goal share at five on five per money puck. And they're also top five in the league in out. actual goals for. So scoring on their chances that they create, we all know how elite they are at suppressing chances. You're going to see a lot of Jacob Slavin against Cindy Crosby tonight. I'm always looking forward to that matchup that does open the door for the Malkin line to

Starting point is 00:12:05 potentially get some better matchups. Second line also Ben Kindle, that's also something I'm really looking for in this game pad. Ben Kendall, he's got his line mates back. Anthony Mantha and Justin Brzo are back on the third line. That was the line at the morning skate. Those three work really well together. I thought Manta was obviously fantastic in the top six without Crosby Malkin, but now he gets to go back to the third line where he has instant chemistry

Starting point is 00:12:30 with Brazil and he works really well with Ben Kendall. I actually think that line could be a little bit of an X factor tonight when you look at just their matchup against some of Carolina's other defensemen. It's a favorable matchup now with Sidney Crosby back in the fold because

Starting point is 00:12:46 we've talked about this before or Crosby's absence tested the depth of this team. And it did a fine enough job, but one of the things that really helped this Penguins team throughout this season to this point is the fact that they have been able to realistically just roll four lines. Now, obviously, it's not in a contenders type way where all four lines are a threat, but all four lines were in one way or another fine enough to play. We remember the last couple of years where the bottom six bordered on unplayable.

Starting point is 00:13:23 This year, I'm not worried about that. They got one of the better fourth lines in hockey. The Kindle line when it's set up that way is really good. And then obviously you've got your top six. I think we kind of saw that in the last matchup against the hurricanes. Is that the hurricanes may not have that true blue game breaking superstar, but they're really good on all four lines. And the penguins really weren't able to keep up to it because the operative word from what you said from the last game was they stole a point.

Starting point is 00:13:55 Now, granted, it was a back and forth game. They had their moments. The hurricanes had their own. But really at the end of the day, Carolina took advantage, especially early on, of having the better depth. Now, I think the penguins can almost go blow for blow with them. The thing that they need to do tonight, and this is a big one to me, Hunter, I texted it to you this morning. After all this time, after all this success, the penguins have finally eclipsed the Chicago Blackhawks and have the top penalty kill in the National Hockey League. Carolina, they don't struggle, but they're not great on the power play.

Starting point is 00:14:38 Special teams are going to flip this game. You've got the top ranked PK. You've got the third ranked power play. you're getting Sidney Crosby back. This is a game. And if it is called even remotely similarly to the way it was last time, special teams are going to flip and decide this game. I agree with you.

Starting point is 00:14:59 And going off that, do you know who the ref is for tonight or one of them? Can you take a yes? Come on. Is it Garrett Rank? Yes, it is. This is a Garrett Rank officiated game. I'm sure everyone is very excited to hear that.

Starting point is 00:15:12 I know I am, of course. and I know you are too. So hopefully we don't have too many more officiating thoughts for tomorrow. Last week's game was just bad. Let's say that. But I do agree, Penguins PK, especially without Blake Lazott now, is going to be put to the test just in general over the next 15 games. Lazot, one of their best penalty killers.

Starting point is 00:15:35 We all know how great he has been at five on five for the fourth line. But feels like he is part of the heartbeat of that unit and not having him for the next four weeks after it was announced by the Penguins that he will be out for basically the rest of the regular season on Tuesday. Really tough blow overall, but that means more responsibility for someone like Connor Dewar, Noel Chari, Chris LaTang, Eric Carlson, etc. We've seen this team battle through adversity all season. This is going to be no different on the penalty kill without Blake Lazot.

Starting point is 00:16:09 Now, outside of that, going to the other special teams unit, Penguins Power Play. We've seen it struggle a bit without the big guns. But now, Pat, they got everyone back for that top unit. Crosby, Malkin, Carlson, Rust, and Raquel. No more excuses. I expect that unit to be lights out to end the season, just seeing what they have done, when they've been fully healthy, the puck movement,

Starting point is 00:16:32 the zone injuries, the shoot first mentality, the net front presence. It's all been there when everyone is healthy on that top unit. I expect nothing less overall. Other things for Carolina, as I've said, You know, they're going to get their looks on net, a lot of cycle, point shot, repeat. But as I always say, if you can box out their forwards, keep them to the outside, you can let them take those point shots all day as long as they're not being deflected.

Starting point is 00:16:56 And as long as Skinner can see them, he'll just gobble those up. So that's always a key for me when you're playing the hurricanes. Seth Jarvis leads the team in goals. He's been great. Sabash Ahjo leads the team points. Svetnikov, he can be so key when he wants to. Already discussed Slavin, he's elite defensively. you're going to see a lot of him against Cindy Crosby.

Starting point is 00:17:15 This is going to be a really tough challenge. Once again, obviously the Penguins haven't won there since the 2018-19 season. It's time to break that curse. And they have a decent shot at doing it now that this is the most healthy they've been in quite some time. But can I add something to that, Hunter? Yeah. They got to bring the same mentality that they have brought all season long for the most part. They haven't been very vocal about it.

Starting point is 00:17:42 Brian Rust has a little bit, but pretty much everybody else has kind of let their actions do the talking rather than their words. They need that screw you mentality tonight because we did it on this show. The national pundits did it on this show. Our pal Josh Yohe wrote about it at the start of the year. Everybody looked at this penguins team and went, they're going to be in the mix for Gavin McKenna. They're going to be a bottom feeding team. They might be competitive for a little bit, but eventually when we get to 2026, they're going to fall off. Kyle Dubus is going to sell everything that's not bolted down and the rebuild is going to continue.

Starting point is 00:18:22 And the players on this roster said, you know what? Screw that. We're making a run at this thing. And for a large portion of that game last week against Carolina, that was their attitude. They went into Carolina and said, we don't give a damn that you're leading the division. We don't give a damn that we haven't won here in almost a decade. We're coming into your building and we're going to knock you around. They need to do that again tonight because, yeah, this is going to be an angry Carolina team.

Starting point is 00:18:52 This is going to be a frustrated Carolina team. But we saw what happened last time a week ago when they played a frustrated Carolina team. They took penalties. Rod Brindamore started filling his diaper. And if you're the penguins, just start poking them a little bit. You couldn't beat our little brother Columbus? We'd beat Columbus all the time. We'd beat Columbus in our sleep.

Starting point is 00:19:15 You couldn't handle them? You guys stink. All right. What do you think? What are you going to do? You're going to punch me in the mouth? All right. Go have fun in the box.

Starting point is 00:19:22 We got the third ranked power play. We're going to score on that. Oh, you're going to try to go to me into a penalty. Nobody scores on the power play against us. We got the top rank power penalty kill. Go in there. Have a little bit of a screw you attitude and break this damn curse. Have a better start.

Starting point is 00:19:37 That's also a big key for me. like the way they played in the first 10 minutes of the first period last week. Though, again, they did wake up. They took the two of them for the final half of that frame and for basically the entire second period before they were badly outplayed in the third. So just more control against Carolina in general. I love your joke about Columbus. I will say the two teams did split their four meetings this year, which all those games were bangers, by the way. A lot of fun.

Starting point is 00:20:03 Thankfully, the penguins don't play them the end of the season. So there's none of those four-point games. Against them, though, obviously there's one more four-point game against the Islanders, obviously here, and then on Sunday against Carolina. But, you know, you're starting to run out of these four-point games against your divisional teams and teams that you're fighting with playoff-wise. You have one against Ottawa as well. You have another one against Detroit. You have no more against Boston, of course, no more against Montreal. But, you know, you're starting to run out of these quote-unquote four-point games.

Starting point is 00:20:36 There's still some left on the schedule. but, you know, there's, they're getting a bit lower. But hey, let's see if the Penguins can end this trip, getting seven out of a possible 10 points. And again, potentially beating the Hurricanes in Raleigh for the first time since the 2018-19 season. After this game, the Penguins will play four of their next five games at home. And I hope everyone that goes to these games packs PBG-PBP's Arena and gets loud. It's a stretch run for a reason. It's a hell of a race.

Starting point is 00:21:06 This team deserves all. of your support down the stretch of these final four weeks. But that's going to do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. It's Wednesday. You know what that means it's time for Pat and I have to give out our weekly MVP for Warrior Helmet Wednesday. And Pat's MVP is a little bit different this week. Stay tuned for that.

Starting point is 00:21:27 But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our second sponsor, which is Fandle. College basketball is nonstop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night. From early tip-offs to late night West Coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. And now Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost. You can build any college hoops parlay you want. Robbery games, ranked matchups, whatever fits your read. You can make spreads,

Starting point is 00:21:55 totals, and player props to match how you see the slate playing out. Then you apply to the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout. Head to fandle.com to get started. That is fandle.com to get started. And again, that is fandle play your game. We're closing out the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp, right alongside my good pal, Hunter Hodes. And as I do, every single Wednesday, if I'm not hosting, I rip this host's chair away from Hunter and take it over for our favorite segment, Warrior Helmet Wednesday. If you are new here, Warrior Helmet Wednesday is our homage to the 2016 Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins,

Starting point is 00:22:40 where after they would win games all the way through their Stanley Cup victory, they would give out a player of the game in the locker room as a warrior helmet. So that is how we give our weekly MVP out here on Locked-on Penguins. As Hunter said before we went to break, we are switching up this warrior helmet Wednesday just a little bit. Only one person gets a Warrior Helmet Award to give out this week. and it is my co-host Hunter Hodes because I've got a little something special waiting for you right after Hunter gives out his award. So Hunter, who gets your MVP this week?

Starting point is 00:23:20 This one was really tough. A lot of great options. Brian Rust, for example, Eric Carlson, once again, either of the goaltenders, especially after Skinner, the way he played in Utah, already with the way that he played in Denver. but for me, I'm going Anthony Mantha. New career high in points and goals over the last week since we did the last one. Four points in three games. Two of those were goals scored against Utah, the big one to get them back in it, and then scored a hell of a breakaway goal against the avalanche on Monday night.

Starting point is 00:23:56 He gets my warrior helmet for this past week. 26 goals and 52 points overall this season. He continues to be as consistent as ever. I'm excited to see what he can do once again. on the third line. But, you know, in a lot of games this year, you know, I know we've said this about other players, you know, other top players, I should say, but even outside of that, you know, Blake Lazot with the way that he sometimes drags the team back into the fight with the way that he plays. Anthony Manta kind of did that this past week as well, especially against Carolina

Starting point is 00:24:27 on Tuesday, also against Utah, getting the right back in it with the five on three goal, making that a two-one game. He has been not only, consistent, but really clutch for this team as well this year. He gets my warrior helmet for this past week. That's a great pick. And I stand by what I said yesterday. In Josh O'Hoy, he talked about this a little bit that the penguins are expected to be in the mix for Anthony Mantha this offseason. But I stand by what I said. And if you can get him on a two to three year deal this off season and it's not too expensive, don't hate that idea at all because two years is the most I would go. Anything else. it's probably see you. But again, like I said yesterday, if you have to do that third year,

Starting point is 00:25:11 by the time you get to year three, the cap's going to be where it is. It's going to be way up there. It's probably not going to be that hard of a deal to either move off of or bury. And by that point, you're going to have the rest of your team in place. And just with how good he has been, I wouldn't be against that idea. But to this point, this past week, he was absolutely fantastic. So like I said, I'm going to do things. a little backward here today. So stick with me on this one. We're going to go right to our tracker for the year. So if you're watching us on YouTube, you can see it right on your screen.

Starting point is 00:25:50 Sidney Crosby leads the pack with five. Evgeny Malkin is now joined by Anthony Mantha with four. Justin Brzeau and Eric Carlson have three. Plenty of people with two on the year. Kyle Dubis, Avery Hayes, Ben Kindle, Dan Mews, Sergey Murshaw. and Archer Sheelov and with one, Igor Chinikov, Connor Dewar, the Special Teams unit, and Stuart Skinner. For me, I didn't put it on the tracker because it's not a penguin. It's not somebody associated with the penguins. So let's pull it up real quick.

Starting point is 00:26:26 My warrior helmet goes to the Penn Trafford Warriors, the Class AA Penguin Cup, P-IHL, champions, and they scored a goal that if you have not seen it, I don't know what rock you're living under because it has been on bar down. It has been on open ice. It's been on sports net. I wouldn't be shocked if ESPN has picked it up at this point. They scored on a fake Michigan on the power play. You may be asking yourself, why am I bringing this up? Because their head coach, Brian B.J. Zagoric is one of my best friends. I grew up playing hockey with him, and we are going to have him on the show on Thursday. I am going to interview him about the goal.

Starting point is 00:27:20 I'm going to play some video from the goal. He's going to take me through the process. And here's the thing. BJ has been in the same industry as Hunter and I, media, hockey, you name it. So I'm going to get his takes on the penguins for this year as well. So make sure. sure you are on the lookout for that for our Thursday episode. That'll be how we close out the show after we recap the Penguins and Hurricanes game tonight. But Hunter, unless you've got anything else to add, that is going to do it for the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. As I said, Hunter and I will be back on Thursday to recap the game, and I will have my interview with the newly champion. Brian Zagoric from the Penn Trafford Warriors.

Starting point is 00:28:09 But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will be back on Thursday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is BACK TONIGHT in Raleigh!

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