Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins CRUSH the Avs in a STATEMENT WIN!

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

The Pittsburgh Penguins walked into Ball Arena on Monday night and hung a seven spot on them! Hunter and Patrick start the show with an overall recap of the Penguins' 7-2 win over the Avalanche and how they turned a sloppy, but successful first period into a dominant second and third period. (1:00) After that, they discuss Evgeni Malkin's return after his suspension and how great he was. (14:00) It was a CLASSIC Geno game! Finally, they break down Erik Karlsson's marvelous game and how great he has been as of late. (23:15) Everydayer ClubJoin the Everydayer Club for ad-free audio, access to our group chat on Discord, and more. Use code DEADLINE ahead of the trade deadline for one month free. Tap here to learn more: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! QuoMake this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away.Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go tohttp://Quo.com/lockedonnhl. Indeed Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Robinhood You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   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.

The Pittsburgh Penguins absolutely obliterated the Colorado Avalanche 7 to 2 on Monday, and Pat and I are going to recap everything that happened in that game coming up 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'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. you can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. joined by my co's Patrick Damp,

you can follow him on all social media platforms at Cinder & Fruett. You can also follow this show's Twitter at LO underscore Penguins, and you can find us on Instagram at Lockedon underscore Penguins. And 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. Pat, I was blasting Blink 182s, all the small things after this game. A little trolling can never hurt, even when you're playing a team that you're not a rival with. But, of course, that was the Avalanche's Stanley Cup theme song just a few years ago when they won the Stanley Cup. And man, the Penguins went into Denver and absolutely dismantled the best team in the NHL 72 final. That first period, probably the most fun period of hockey.

I have watched all season when it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins back and forth action. Virtually no defense on either side. almost no goal-tending either, especially on the Avalanche side, where the Penguins were scoring on 70% of their shots in that first period. But I was texting you this at the time, and I'll say it here. The Avalanche were really outplaying them in that first period, and I felt the Penguins, for them to win this game, they really needed to start getting back to basics,

playing a smarter brand of hockey, playing a cleaner brand of hockey, simplifying a lot of their game. And boy, Pat, did they do? do that in the final 40 minutes. If they were to try to play that running gun style for the final 40 minutes, I personally don't think they would have won this game. I know they may sound weird to say, but the way the avalanche were coming at them in waves, I just don't think that was sustainable for the entire game. And I really liked how Dan Mus was able to get the entire team to play a smarter brand of hockey. They were keeping Colorado to the outside for the final 40 minutes,

defending a lot better. You remember, the avalanche almost had 20 shots on goal. in that first period. Artie Shilov was on Pace to C60 shots, which again, also not sustainable. They only allowed 10 shots in the final 40 minutes of that game. To do that against this Colorado lineup with as potent as it is,

even without Lekinan, even without Landiscaug, that is a very, very job well done. I can't credit the staff enough and especially the players for the way they started simplifying their game in the final 40 minutes. To me, Pat, I think, outside of them being opportunistic with their chances,

that is the biggest reason why they won last night. It's a tale of two games for the penguins on Monday night in Colorado. The first period, they got incredibly lucky that the Colorado Avalanche couldn't get a save. Because let's keep it real here. First 20 minutes, penguins got outplayed. They didn't play poorly. They were playing arguably the best team in the league. And sometimes they just decide to be the best team in the league.

and good luck stopping them when they decide to do that. The problem was they couldn't get a save. So the penguins were very opportunistic when they needed to be and they come out of the first period with a 4-2 lead. Then in the second period, like you said, they really ratcheted it up. They were playing very smart defensively, very disciplined defensively.

Because I'll say this, it gets a little overshadowed. I'm not going to say that he played poorly because obviously he did not. but I didn't like either goal that Arter Shilov's let up. Interesting. But much like the team in front of him in the final two periods, he got his act together. He made the saves he needed to make. It really looked like we were going to be on track to play like an 8-7 game

where neither goaltender was going to make a save. But Shilovs got himself steadied, made the saves he needed to make. The team in front of them obviously gave him plenty of run support. So it didn't matter after the first period if he was able to give up a goal or two. But end of the day, I mean, the penguins deserve a ton of credit for walking into an arena that the league's best team plays in. They did not back down, punched them in the mouth, and walked out with a massive win. This is also only the third time all season that the avalanche have lost back-to-back games in regulation. Like they've lost other times back-to-back pat, but they've gotten a point in those games.

This is only the third time that they have failed to register a point in back-to-back games. That's how good Colorado has been this year. And it also just goes to show how well the penguins have played throughout the season and why they have a real shot at getting into the playoffs over the next month. These next four weeks are going to be crazy. You mentioned R.D. She loves there. I thought he played very well. It was a nice bounce back in a way.

I know what you said about the first two goals. The McKinnon one, I'm going to give him some grace, Pat. That is a picture perfect shot. I mean, I don't know how you place that any better. Wicked release, as we all know, with Nathan McKinnon. I don't know what goalie is stopping that personally. If you want to say the second one, sure, but the McKinnon one, man, oh my God. Like that's, that's disgusting.

But yeah, that's totally fair. It was just a matter of that first period. there was not a lot of goal tending going on. And the, she loves got away with it because it was overshadowed by Colorado's goalies really, really failing to do anything good. But like I said, he steadied himself and was able to really keep this team at an even when Colorado got some looks.

And then obviously the offense in front of them just exploded. Right. And all four lines really contributed for the penguins in this one, we're going to get to Evgeny Malcolm coming up here in the second segment because he is back, especially with a vengeance. The goals that he scored were outrageous. The past that he had to Brian Russ for his power play goal was also great. But I do want to congratulate Anthony Mantha, 26 goals, a new career high for him.

You understand why Dammeuse has been putting him, excuse me, in shootouts when you see him have some soft hands around the net front. Now, has he scored on any of those yet? No, and hopefully we don't see it. another shootout for the rest of the season because I am done watching this team in shootouts. But I understand very much why Muse continues to put him out there when you see the moves that he puts on opposing goaltenders at least during regulation during overtime. But what a signing he has turned out to be. I know we have gotten some questions about Anthony Mantha in his future. Look, if it's anything beyond a two-year term, probably not going to happen.

And even then, he's going to ask for a big pay rate. If you want to do it for a year or two, I'll understand. But I think this is going to be a player, Pat, that commands too much term that the penguins are not going to be interested in. That's kind of where I am with Mantha. If you can get them on a two, maybe even a three year deal, I wouldn't hate the idea of it. But the problem is he's going to be 32 at the start of next season. And that it's not even me worrying about the age. curve just because if you get him on a two to three year deal by the time he's done with that deal,

you can bury it, you can trade it, whatever, it's not going to make that big of a difference. But it's the fact that this is probably going to be one of, if not his final contracts in the NHL. So he's probably going to want some term. And if he's willing to do a two to three year deal here in Pittsburgh, wouldn't hate the idea of it. but at the same time, with how weak the free agency class is looking, with how many teams that are going to want to overspend or find some big solution on the market,

he is probably going to get paid and get paid for a long time. So thank you for the memories. Great season, great bounce back. All the best in your future endeavors. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the season with him, considering how great he has been for this team. I just think right now, in my opinion, it's a bit unlikely he resigns, but if he does, I think it's going to be for a very short-term contract.

I'm personally not going beyond two years for him on an extension. Anything else, I think that's, hey, thank you for your services, but we're going to, you know, give your spot to a younger player or maybe they can acquire someone via trade, something like that. Otherwise, Elmore Soderblom, really nice game from him last night, some soft hands around the net front. You really see just how big of a player he is when he scores a goal like that, Pat, because the other two players on his line just look like hobbits compared to him since he's almost seven feet. The pass that he had for Noachari's goal was simply great. And I thought that was by far his best game as a penguin. So there's definitely at least something there. I'm intrigued to see where else it goes. I still think when this team is fully healthy, he's probably the 13th forward

and he's going to get again more of a look next season. But I liked this game a lot last night. I did too. And I think that goal last night is a nice little encapsulation of what he could be as a penguin with his age, his size and his skill. Because yeah, the soft hands on the goal were really nice to see. But it was also a brute force goal. He just barreled his way to the front of the net and dared everybody else to stop him. and because he's a massive human being,

that's a lot easier said than done. So that could be a nice combination for a player like him where he's big, he's strong, but he's sneakily got hands. So if you want to try to get in his way, go for it. But I liked his game. I really liked the overall game in the final two periods because the offense, and we're going to dig into a lot of this

throughout the rest of the show, because you beat the best team in hockey seven to two. There's a ton to dive into. But just to kind of transition us into break and into the second segment, I liked the overall game in the second and third period. It was balanced. It was disciplined. They weren't taking.

And obviously you go, like, you go into the second period up four to two. You're going to maybe take your foot off the gas a little bit, right? Because it's four to lead. You probably played a little too carelessly in the first. period. But they did enough to keep their foot on the gas to keep pushing against Colorado because they knew this is the most dynamic team in hockey. For two to them is one nothing to somebody else.

So they pushed when they needed to push. They defended when they needed to defend. And it was honestly one of the most impressive games I've seen out of this team all season long. It's really funny. We keep saying for the last like week, week and a half. half. Oh, this is the win of the season. We said it after Boston. No, this is the winner of the season. We just said it after Utah. Now, we might be saying it for this game against Colorado, where this might be the winner this season. But I'm sure we're going to be saying something like that again, potentially Wednesday, if they finally break the curse with Raleigh, maybe the Sunday to be the hurricanes. They have the islander game later on this month. So I feel we're going to be coming back to that statement quite a bit down the stretch here. But over the last, you know, week, week and a half, they have played some of their best games of the season.

And it's the perfect time because you are in the fight for your life to get into the playoffs. But that is going to do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Evgeny Malkin returned in a big way for the penguins on Monday night. And Pat and I are going to discuss his performance coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is indeed workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing in the one position

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Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. You need to hire. This is a job for Indeed's sponsored jobs. All right. We're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Lockedon.

Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Damp and Pat. Before we get to the Gino game, because he was absolutely flawless in this one, shout out to all the Penguins fans that made the trip to Denver for this game. Almost looked like a home game in there, man. It was really crazy to see. I know some people were tweeting it looked like 70-30. I don't know, man, it looked closer to 60-40. By the way, you could hear the Let's Go Penn's Chance through the TV. I had some friends that were there at the game. just shout out to all the Penguins fans that were there for that game. That was awesome seeing them almost take over ball arena in Denver.

But Pat, Evgeny Malkin man comes off the five-game suspension in very Afghani Malkin fashion, takes a family on his first shift because that's Gino. And then scores a vintage Malkin goal literally right after the Spinoama, very much shades of Cam Ward 2009, Shades of the goal against Edmonton just a few years later that, you know, you hear the cling herder around the world. I love that goal as well.

And then the other goal that he scores in that period makes a nice little move in front of the net front beat Scott Wedgwood. The pass that he made to Brian Russ to spring him for the power play goal was a thing of beauty. What a return for number 71. and watching his media availability after the game, you could tell how much this return meant to him, how much he still enjoys playing this game,

how much he was upset at himself for getting himself suspended four or five games. And I'll just say it here before I handed over to you. Kyle Dubis, sign this man. Yeah, it's time. I know that I still maintain my overall point about of Gennie Malkin in his contract and his status. I know he's a legend. I know that he's playing really well.

There's no rush for this guys. Like July 1st is a long way away. And you have them. Like the minute you put the contract in front of him, he's going to sign it. There's other pressing needs that got to get figured out. You got a few are. I like what he said to the media after the game

where he said like him and Kyle are going to talk this summer. It made me feel more confident that this is going to get done. Yeah, because Gino in moments like this. this doesn't pull punches. Like if, if, if you remember back to when we went all through the drama a few years ago with him in heck, Stalin, Burke, he pretty much came out and told everybody what was going on that like he wasn't hearing from them. They were telling them they didn't want to bring them back. There's none of that with Kyle, with the penguins right now. He basically said, yeah, we met, we met again. We're going to meet in the summer. If it would have been bad, he would have

done his Gino thing where he said, what, they don't want me anymore or whatever, whatever. You got the draft coming up. You got free agency coming up. Listen, it's going to happen, I think. I feel pretty confident in saying it's going to happen. So we'll get there. But yeah, the first two shifts of the game, the complete of Genie Malkin experience takes an offensive zone penalty.

His second shift scores an unbelievable goal on the backhand. And he was just a menace all night. And it was the Russian bully that we liked. to see from Evgeny Malkin. He was hounding pucks. He was physical when he needed to be. He was distributing the puck really well. He just played a really solid game.

And I know that we were very upset with him and rightfully so after the suspension. It's kind of a blessing in disguise because the last couple years, you give him againy Malkin a few days off. He comes back shot out of a cannon and this was no different. Oh, he was flawless last night. skating like it was almost 2012 level from Gino last night. The way he was seeing the ice was stupendous. Again, the pass that he made to Brian Russ for his power play goal was a thing of

beauty. And even outside of his production, I just felt that he was getting chances, literally every shift that he was out there. And I also want to shout out Igor Chinov's forecheck that led to Malkin's second goal. He doesn't score there without Chinikov doing the dirty work, beating his man to the puck, delivering it to Gino before Gino's able to finish it off with a really nice move past Scott Wedgwood. Those two just, they're so in sync with one another. And I really hope that we get more of that for next season, assuming Malkin comes back.

Chinokov, I'm fairly confident he's going to get an extension as an RFA considering what he has done. But man, those two are just absolutely awesome together. And, you could just tell the rest of the team, Pat, they fed off his return. They fed off his confidence. Everyone was smiling, having a good time out there. And, you know, I kept saying it, you know, for as admirable as it was to win some of these games, at least a couple, that is, without Crosby, without Malk and without Malkin, that is both of them together. They needed guys back. They started last night getting Malkin back.

Justin Brzo is also back. Yeah, I know. It stinks that Blake Luzot is injured again, and we don't know how serious it is, according to Josh Yewie. you got a cast on his hand. So that might mean multiple weeks. We have to see what Penguins PR says. But they're at least starting to get a little bit healthier. Crosby's getting closer.

Sam Gerard is back for the morning skates now. So get those two guys back. You really only down one regular for the stretch one. And I know Lazan is an important player. But the important thing is they're getting guys back at the most important time of the year. And, you know, last night, those two big points in the same. standings. That was your game in hand on the Islanders. You've now pulled even with them in games, two points up. And it's time to do some scoreboard watching tonight. It really is. And I'm never

going to complain about Josh's coverage because he does such a good job. But God, cast is so vague. Aircast, hard cast, rap. What was he? What was Lazot in? Tell us what kind of cast. But yeah, that's a tough loss. But you're right. You look at the way this team. team had been missing bodies, the key contributors that had been missing, they kept their heads above water, now there are two points up on the New York Islanders. Now it's time to string wins together and it's time to cross our fingers and hope one of these teams, whether it be the islanders, the blue jackets, whomever, finally fall off because the pace that all of these teams have been going at over the past few weeks is absolutely insane. And it's a lot of

it's all going to have to come to ahead here in the next few weeks, but you've still got your lead, you've still got your time. So you can't squander it now. You haven't given yourself margin for error, but you've at least put yourself in a position where you continue to play solid hockey, keep your head above water. This should get you into the postseason. This year's bubble is so much better compared to last year.

You look at last year in the East, right? Montreal made the playoffs, 91 points. The Devils were third in the Metro. That was 91 points. That got them in last year. It's going to be way more than 91 this time. There's a very real chance to cut off this year is 99 points. It could be 100, honestly.

Like that's the way it is going right now. Like it could be even 100, which you just don't see very often. It goes to show how just competitive these races are, especially in the Eastern Conference. So again, points are out of premium. Very precious this time of year. year. We'll have to see if the penguins can keep stacking some of these wins together. And of course, scoreboard watch tonight. You want to root for Carolina to beat Columbus. You want to root for Toronto to try to do the penguins as solid and beat the islanders.

We'll have to see it's going to be harder now that Austin Matthews is now out for the rest of the season. But that's going to do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, Eric Carlson has gone full nuclear mode since Cindy Crosby went down. And Pat and I got to talk about it. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our final sponsor, which is is Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long.

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All right, we're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Damp, and Pat Eric Carlson has been unbelievable all year for the Penguins. His game has been on baths, especially. for the last couple of weeks without Cindy Crosby. Again, and I said it about a week ago on the show, I felt that weekend when Chinakoff and him went off, I felt they were the two best players on the ice.

I think Carlson has been the overall best player since Crosby went down for the Penguins. He is doing it all, whether it's at five-on-five, the power play or the penalty kill. He has been absolutely spectacular for the Penguins. that passed to spring Anthony Mantha for his goal was simply disgusting. Like I don't really know what else you can say. He has 13 points.

Three of those are goals in his last nine games. This has been unbelievable to watch. Dammeuse has unlocked him in ways that we really hadn't seen under Mike Sullivan. And I still pushed back on some of the fans that were really unhappy with him when Sully was here because he was still doing a big part of generating offense for the penguins. It was just that, you know, the team was also just simply not very good. But now you're seeing Eric Carlson when he has even better coaching around him. Dam Euse has fully unlocked his game here.

And he has been a revelation this season, but especially the last couple of weeks. Tremendous stuff from him. And I hope we get to see him in the playoffs. I mean, I said it back in his first two years as a penguin. He was a victim of unrealistic expectation. His Norris year scoring 100 plus points was a genuine outlier. You look at his career from the time he broke into the league in 0910. He averages around 50 to 70 points a year, especially when he really starts to hit his stride.

Like, I should re I should rebut that. It's about 40 to 40 to 60-ish range. is where he ends up. But he had one season of 101, one season of 82, one season of 78. But he is just one of those players that you put unrealistic expectations on him. He doesn't meet him. You think he's not playing well. He played fine enough under Mike Sullivan.

Was he great? No, he was fine. Now under Dan Mews, he has been electric. He is arguably, and I say this knowing full well who was on the Penguins this year, he very much is the team MVP right now. He has been that good. He has been their number one defenseman. He has played extremely well.

And as soon as Crosby and then Malkin went down with him, he just jumped into the captain's chair and guided them through this. And last night, it would have been a real easy game for Eric Carlson to get exposed because Colorado plays an unbelievably up-tempo style and they cheat a lot to offense and that can expose an Eric Carlson. He was not good, not just good offensively. Carlson was good defensively too last night. He played a really good all around game against a team where if he would have had a rough

night, I don't think any of us would have gone, oh, Carlson, what are you doing? It would have been like, yeah, it's, it's Colorado. We get it. But he was the best player on the ice last night in a game with that much talent. I mean, did you see his interview before the game with Eric Johnson when he's like, oh, crap, here we go when he sees Nathan McKinnon coming down the ice? I think that's how every player reacts when they see Nate coming down just with his burst of speed. But even with a game, you know, with Nate Mack, you know, Kail McCarr, especially who I still think is the best defense on the planet, you know, you can make a legit argument that Carlson was the best player on the ice last night. Sure, the goal that he scored was a little bit of a, you know, lucky bounce.

but outside of that, his playmaking was superb. His decision making was great. His gap control was really good. He is just playing an elite brand of hockey right now. He's one point away from his 50th of the season. Remember, last year, Pat, finished with only 53 points last year. I think he is going to break that by the end of the season. The year before that, the Penguins, finished with 56.

I think he is going to hit 60 plus by the end of this season. He continues to be, again, just fantastic. for this team. I'm just running out of things to say because of just how elite he's been. That's what it comes down to. I mean, your bold prediction for this season with him was 70 plus points. I'm getting there. And I'm close with Novak as well. You are five away. Novak, who is 20 goals. He's at 15. You're very close on this. You know, Carlson's at 49 points. The rate he's going, he's going to hit 70, just because in the last five games, he's got nine points. Like, that's a pretty damn good pace.

And Tommy Novak, again, it was another good game from him as well last night. I mean, everybody was played really well last night. And I wanted to add this at the end, not to a hard break on the Eric Carlson talk, because like you said, it's getting to the point now where I'm just running out of things to say. So I might as well move on to something that I do have something to say about. If Blake Lazot is out for any period of time, my first call to Wilkes-Ber is Rutger McGroarie. And I'm putting him on the fourth line. because the way he has played in the NHL,

the way he has played since he's had his opportunities, no, he's not going to replace Blake Lazot, but that's a good stopgap, if you ask me the way the kid plays, he's tenacious, he's physical, he checks a lot of the boxes, Blake Lizott does. And as much as I've,

as much as I like his talent, Coivinen's going to need some time back in the AHL. He's really struggling. Yeah, I think McGority is more of a finished product right now than Coivant. And they're both not finished products yet. Obviously, I just think the player that's closer is Magrorty. McGroity's further along. Yeah, he is.

And, you know, I think based on what I've seen so far, the initial level between the two players, I think McGrody is the better player. And I think he deserves to be rewarded. Now, Sid is still getting close to returning. We'll have to see if it's on Wednesday in Raleigh or Pat. I won't be surprised that they hold them out until the weekend get a couple of days off. You fly home to get a full practice day on Friday.

Wouldn't be surprised if they'd just say, hey, take one more game off. We're two and one and one on this road trip. We want you at 110% health because I know I've seen some takes out there, Pat. Why isn't he back yet? Why isn't he back yet? Guys, they're not going to rush their best player.

Like, these games are too meaningful for them to just rush him back and not have him be fully healthy and then say he tweaks the injury again and then has to go back on IR. They're going to make sure that he is as healthy as he can be before he returns. Now, they also don't need to make the desperation move. They've kept their heads above water. They've played well enough where, like I said a little bit ago, they haven't given themselves a crazy amount of cushion,

but they've given themselves enough that they can look at Sid and go, no, we want all of Sid back. We don't want some of Sid back. Right. And if it's Wednesday, great. That's awesome. That's a huge game down in Raleigh. But if it's Saturday against Winnipeg, Sunday again against Carolina, I'll take that too.

So he's getting closer, but they're taking their time as they should. He is too important of a player to, you know, mess up, mess this thing up. That's just not going to happen here. And I'll say this just to end the show. Penguins are now two and one in one on this gauntlet of a row. trip, five out of eight points. No matter what happens on Wednesday, I think five points on this trip was a reasonable expectation,

and they have already hit it going into Raleigh. That said, go win that game on Wednesday. I really want them to win that game. Because here's the thing, you don't want to have a letdown after this win. Yeah. And this isn't me trying to put unrealistic or burdensome expectations on the penguins, but you just walked into the best team in the league's building, beat the crap out of them.

And I know that Raleigh is a house of horrors, but you need to win that game in Raleigh to show everybody, yeah, what we did in Denver was not a fluke. We are here where a team you need to be talking about, where a team you need to be on the lookout for. Yeah. And I do think more people around the league just on a national. level should be talking more about the Penguins after this win against the Avalanche, but they weren't going to do it now. Not sure when they ever will.

Maybe if they make the playoffs, but I'm not sure. All I know is that this is a damn good hockey team right now. And we'll have to see if they can finish this off because, again, we really want this team again, the playoffs to give you all playoff content. But that's going to do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much to take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Wednesday, previewing the game down in Raleigh,

and of course, giving you our picks for Warrior Helmet Wednesday for the last week, the team MVP. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Wednesday, especially now that my dog is going nuts at the end of the episode.