Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins doomed in a shootout, but show heart against the Devils
Episode Date: February 5, 2025The Penguins' woes in the shootout continued on Tuesday night against New Jersey, but there was still a lot to like even in a loss. Patrick and Hunter discuss how the Penguins once again were unable t...o get the extra point in the shootout, but still talk about how they were able to battle back against a very good New Jersey team. They also dive into how the Penguins made adjustments as well as erase a multi-goal deficit in the face of adversity. Finally, it's Wednesday, which means it's time to give out the weekly MVP as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelSuper Bowl 59 is here, And there’s no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet just FIVE DOLLARS, and if you win, you’ll score TWO HUNDRED BUCKS in Bonus Bets. Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of Super Bowl Fifty-Nine. 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.
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The Penguins lost a hard-fought game to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Three to two in a shootout.
Hunter and I are going to break down that game as well as give our picks for Warrior Helmet Wednesday
on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
Your Locked-on Penguins.
Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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Welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
I'm one of your host Patrick Damp.
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Hunter, lot to like about last night's game except for the result.
The Penguins fall 3 to 2 to the New Jersey Devils.
in a shootout. So for all intents and purposes, we're going to say they tied the New Jersey Devils
two to two after what was a very hard-fought game by the Penguins. The main thing I want to focus on
first is the heart that this team showed. We can talk about the X's and O's. We can talk about the
statistics. We can talk about everything else surrounding this game. But the most encouraging thing to me
from last night was the fact that they go down to nothing to a team that has just had their number
for the last few years into the point where we talked about it yesterday.
They have had the devils have had the Penguins number for the last few years to the point
where these games barely even look competitive.
The Devils pretty much just come out, skate circles around the penguins,
collect their two points and go on their merry way.
Last night did not look like that whatsoever.
the penguins played a very responsible, very competitive game.
And despite all of that, they went down to nothing to the devils off of a defensive
miscue near the end of the first period.
And then just an incredible shot from Jack Hughes in the second period.
But to the penguins credit, they kept battling.
They kept playing extremely well because despite the devil's getting two goals,
in no world were the devils dominating this game.
The Devils were opportunistic with the chances that they got, and the penguins just continued to battle.
They get a great wraparound goal from Ricard Raquel after he has a goal disallowed earlier in the game,
which hilarious that they even reviewed it because he went full pay-lay on that thing and just booted it into the net to the point where he knew that that was not going to count.
Stunned, they reviewed it.
But he scores on a great wraparound goal to pull the penguins within one.
and then it looked like the penguins were going to be without the services of Captain Sidney Crosby after a very weird looking hit.
He leaves the ice, goes to the locker room, he's gone for quite a few minutes.
And in his absence, P.O. Joseph and Kevin Hayes team up for a tremendous four-on-four goal to tie the game at two.
And the Penguins overall, Hunter, I loved their resolve in this game.
I loved how hard they worked.
They did all the things that you need to do to get a win against the New Jersey Devils.
And unfortunately, you go to the coin flip that is the shootout.
They're unable to get the extra goal or the extra save after a seven round shootout.
But let's just start there.
I thought they played extremely well last night.
They just could not find that extra goal.
Well, it's not a coin flip for the penguins in shootouts, Pat, is it?
I think it's probably like a 80-20 coin flip that they'll lose.
in shootouts at this week, maybe a bit higher with the way they play in shootouts this season.
They've been honestly awful in shootouts these last two or three seasons,
if I'm being completely honest.
But no, in all seriousness, they played their butts off last night.
I really like the Penguins effort in that game.
You mentioned Hart, and I've seen that a lot in these last three games,
especially.
Going back to the Utah game, Pat, to really end that seven game road trip,
the heart that they showed in that game to come back to tie it before Crosby,
won that game at overtime, was awesome.
The way they were able to dominate Nashville this past weekend was nice.
I don't know Nashville stakes, but the Penguins played really well in their own zone,
and they carried that over into this game against the Devils.
They only allowed 21 shots in 65 minutes.
It was 19 at the end of regulation.
That is one of the best numbers of the season for a Penguins team that is usually horrendous
in their own zone.
But these last three games, at least, they have been more committed.
to playing good hockey in their own end.
I know they're not getting the offense right now,
but they're at least staying in games
because they're playing better defensively,
and of course, they have been getting the timely saves.
Alex Ndilkevich was sensational in those 65 minutes last night.
Yeah, he struggled once again in the shootout,
but honestly, people, the entire team continues to struggle in shootouts,
as I just mentioned.
But that was a really nice effort by the Penguins,
especially in their own zone.
The devil's only had six side-end your chances last night.
Only four for the Penguins.
It was a pretty low event game I felt like for a lot of this one.
Kind of was a throwback pat to, you know, the late 2000s,
if I'm being honest with how this game was being played.
It wasn't, you know, the high-scoring games that you see quite a bit now in today's
NHL, but it was still a fun game to watch, at least after the first period.
But I like how the Penguins have played these last three games.
They're 2-0-1.
Yeah, we know.
They're not going to make the playoffs this year.
but I will at least take games like this
where they're more than watchable over the slop
from earlier this season where they were just getting blown out
on a nightly basis and they just weren't fun to watch.
They've at least cleaned up some of their issues
in their own zone for these three games.
Again, very small sample size
and I don't expect it to continue,
but it's at least nice seeing them be able to play like this defensively.
Like they have it in the mat.
They're just not able to do it on a consistent basis.
But really nice job to balance.
back from 2-0-0 down.
Ricardo Raquel gets his little puck-don't-lie moment.
Then you have Kevin Hayes.
What a celebration, by the way.
And also, what a pass by P.O. Joseph for that goal.
Really nice performance I thought last night from P.O. Joseph, by the way.
And then they get the glorious chances in overtime.
Cindy Crosby, my man, I'm glad that you were thankfully able to come back.
But please be selfish in overtime there and shoot the puck.
You do not need to pass it there.
You have such an underrated shot.
Use it.
That was a three-on-one.
Just fire that puck into the net, man.
You don't need to go for the pass there.
I just wanted him to rip that puck.
And then in shootouts, look, I wish I could get so angry about shootouts.
I kind of just laugh about it now.
But it is funny seeing how poorly they struggle in shootouts, Pat.
Like, their record in shootouts, like especially these last few seasons,
has been treble.
According to Penguins' amazing historian Bob Grove, Pat,
since the start of the 21-22 season,
the penguins are 7 and 16 in shootouts.
Really bad.
That's not good.
It looked like last night, Anthony Bavillier,
he gets the potential shootout winner.
Oh my God, they might win a shootout.
You just need one save from dead.
Nope, his five hole is so open
that you could dig a hole to China under there, honestly.
So it's everyone in shootouts.
And also some weird decisions.
I would have gone to Philip Tomasino maybe a little bit sooner.
I would have gone to Eric Carlson over Chris LaTang
because we know Crystal Tang.
Crystal Tang really only has one move in the shootout, but I digress.
It's whatever.
I'm not mad about it.
Just some curious decisions, excuse me, in that shootout.
For sure.
And like you said, I can't bring myself to really get all that upset at a shootout loss,
especially because at this point, I maintain my opinion of, I think at this point,
and it's not just the Penguins, I think it's the entire national hockey league.
The players are just over them.
they don't want to be a part of them anymore.
They just want to get it done and go home and just finish the game.
So overall, can't get too upset about that.
But back to the overtime thing, I mean, everybody on Earth knew that Sidney Crosby was going to pass that puck.
It was a moment where I think the big surprise would have been if he fired it on net.
And chances are, if you go back and look at some of the film like I did this morning,
while Nico Dawes wasn't exactly off his angle, he was.
certainly preparing for a pass. And so was the defenseman. So if he shoots that, he's got a pretty
good shot of putting that in the net and ending the game. But you just knew that he was looking for
the dish. And that's exactly what ended up happening. And the thing that I really was impressed by
with their overtime effort last night was they did all the things you need to do against a team
like the Devils. And they had one hiccup near the end. Ned was able to come up with a huge save,
but they were able to possess the puck. They were able to work on finding two-on-one mismatches.
They were able to quickly transition, which was very surprising because, as we've talked about with
the Devils, they are a team that absolutely murders you in transition. So they were able to
neuter that part of the devil's game and keep it so they had position.
or they were able to quickly turn the puck up ice, which was a very encouraging sign.
But we're going to pause this first segment in this recap of the game because despite it only
being a three two shootout loss, there is a whole heck of a lot to break down from this one.
We will continue the conversation when we come back right after this.
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All right, we're back here on the Wednesday edition of Locked-on Penguins.
I'm Patrick Damp, joined as always alongside Hunter Hodes.
And we're going to keep the recap of the Penguins 3 to 2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils going here.
Because again, might have been a loss, might have been a shootout loss,
but they gave us a lot of meat on this bone because there was a lot to talk about from this game.
One thing I want to discuss a little bit,
I don't so much consider it a negative as in a critique for an individual player that I
would like to see should he remain a penguin into the future. And that's P.O. Joseph.
If there's one thing about P.O. Joseph that I'm starting to get a little bit concerned about,
if I'm Kyle Dubus, if I'm Mike Sullivan and the penguin's training staff, this summer,
I am sending him home with nothing but protein powder, red meat, and a workout plan.
because he shows flashes at times.
And you saw it on the assist on Kevin Hayes' goal.
He protected the puck really well.
He used his body to shield the puck and make the pass.
But all too frequently, I don't want to say that he's weak because that's certainly not the case.
But you can definitely tell he needs to get stronger.
He has to spend a lot of time in the weight room, start eating the protein pancakes, start having
protein shakes.
Take a little of a little bit of advice from Owen Pickering.
Start doing shots of olive oil because the talent and the vision is there,
but he's just got to put on a little bit more muscle.
Yeah, he's got to bulk up a little bit more just because when more physical players
around him, it feels like it's easier to get the puck off of the stick just because
he's not as strong.
Now, granted, he did have that really nice pass last night where there was a stronger player
on him bat, but he was still able to get that pass to Kevin Hayes for the Penguins' first
four-on-four goal in checks notes.
Two years.
That's how long it had been people since the Penguins scored a four-on-four goal.
It's crazy that it took that long.
But again, you're right.
You see the flashes there, especially with that type of play, even though he's not the
strongest player, he still was able to make a really nice play.
Now, I want to see that more on a consistent basis, especially if he's able to bulk up.
I felt like last night was one of his better performances.
coming back from St. Louis, I just want to see it be a bit more consistent.
Because right now, he's getting the top minutes with Crystal Tang, which, again,
not good in a perfect world, but look where the team is right now, people.
They're not going to make the playoffs.
You might as well just give him these minutes.
Matt Grizzlik is probably going to get dealt in the next five to six weeks anyway.
So you might as well just keep giving him those minutes because this team is really not
going anywhere this year.
There'll be other opportunities to make, I think, more upgrades during
the offseason and also keeping it with the defenseman pat i love viny day or nay last night was
fine i think he's honestly been okay these first two games he's not really doing anything to
fully stand out like oh making this great offensive play with the puck on his stick or you know
making a big hit or anything but he's just he's there and he's not making any dumb place with
the puck which is all i can ask for because he had been bad in vancouver before coming over to
the penguins in that big trade with for marcus peterson and drew o'connor but so far at least in just two
I think he's been totally fine.
He has.
And it's very similar to what you said about him once he was acquired.
He just has to play within himself and play in certain minutes where he's not up against
the top talent.
Yeah, if it happens every now and then in the course of a game, it's not going to kill you.
But as long as he is playing a simple game, he's playing physical, he's clearing the
front of the net and not making any glaring mistakes. He is a valuable bottom pairing defenseman.
Is he making a little bit too much? Yeah, probably. But again, that is a Jim Rutherford and
Patrick Alvin issue, not a Kyle Dubus issue. He did not sign him to that deal. Plus, like you said,
where this team is, you're at this point getting warm bodies as you're trying to stack assets and
draft picks. So overall, though, I agree. I thought he had a very fine game. I thought he actually did
quite well physically. He was going up against the team that we have said a million times to this
point, loves to throw on the burners. And that should be a game where Day Arna is at a bit of an
disadvantage, but he was able to keep guys in front of them. He was able to clear the front of the net.
And he had a couple hits. So that's really all that you can ask from Vinny Day Arnae with the
role that he's going to be expected to play with the Penguins. Another thing from last night's game that
I'm not going to say I was overly impressed by, but it was something that I took note of during the game.
It was part of our preview.
And that was the special teams battle.
First and foremost, they're able to kill off a four-minute double minor to P.O. Joseph.
That was a massive kill.
But I want to put the focus on the power play.
They got three opportunities last night.
And what did I say on the show yesterday?
That the devils basically run a power kill.
They are very aggressive.
They put a lot of pressure onto the points, and you have to move the puck quickly.
Their first power play opportunity, the penguins played right into their hands.
They tried to work the puck up high.
They tried to use their points, and the devils did exactly what we expected them to do.
But the next two opportunities, the penguins made the adjustment.
They were working the puck down low.
They were pulling the devil's penalty killers down low,
and they actually were able to get chances from up top,
whether it was in the slot or at the point,
because they were doing enough work down low
that they were pulling those aggressive penalty killers down,
and it opened up those lanes.
So while it wasn't a totally successful night
because they were unable to score a power play goal,
and Nico Dawes made a couple very good saves
when the devils were on the penalty kill,
you saw them make the adjustment,
and they did the thing that they needed to do
to keep the puck in the zone, as well as neutralize that very aggressive devil's penalty kill.
Yeah, man, I think another big thing for the power play this year for me has been the way that the players
and the coaching staff has been able to adjust to what other penalty kills are doing.
Say, for example, the devils, they have one of the best penalty kills in the league.
You said that they run a power kill.
Credit to David Quinn for making some adjustments, having the power play go low a little bit,
having Crosby work in his office a bit more, which is what I also said during the preview yesterday,
I wanted them to start working down low to bring the players at the point down a little bit,
and that leads to better quality scoring chances.
You saw that on the second and third power plays, especially from Matt Grizzlick on the top unit.
He was able to fire a couple of pucks to the net, create some traffic.
Nico Doss had a couple really nice saves.
But that's the type of things you're looking for when you're playing a penalty kill like that.
So credit to the players and David Quinn for making those adjustments.
Honestly, Quinn has been quick to make adjustments on the power play all season long.
you really weren't seeing that last year with Todd Reardon. Yes, I understand people.
Mike Sullivan is involved on the power play. He is the head coach.
But it is so nice seeing the assistant coach that, you know, quote unquote runs it,
is able to make more adjustments this year compared to last year.
And you talked about the penalty kill.
That four-minute PK was the best I've seen the penalty kill play in a month.
And I'm being serious when I say that because this unit has really struggled as of late.
They're not usually getting the clears.
They're way too passive on this penalty kill.
They were aggressive.
They were getting the clears.
They were blocking shots.
They were leading the shooting lanes open so Ned could see the puck when it would come through.
Really outstanding job by that unit on that PK.
And again, shout out to Ned for another really good performance.
Maybe a hint to who could be getting the warrior helmet coming up in the final segment.
But still, PK was great.
And I did want to bring up a little bit of something from overtime you talked about in the previous segment.
Pat. I loved at the end that the refs decided to put two seconds back on the clock for a meaningless
face off that you're not going to score in that situation. Awesome saved by Ned there that he tried
to do the pass to spring a player for a breakaway. And also during that, I loved how Carlson
raced behind Jack Hughes, slammed his stick down, be like, hey, pass it back. I'm right here.
He tried to like fake Jack Hughes out. Obviously, he's not going to fall for that. But still,
found that to be a pretty funny moment during that overtime. But yeah, yeah, the special teams battle
was fairly fun in this game, as I expected it to be, you know, strength on strike with the
Penguins Power Play and the Devil's Penalty Kill. And then with the Devil's Power Play,
also a good unit going up against a Penguins Penalty Killing unit that's been struggling a bit
lately. Still, Penguins Penalty Kill was really good in that regard. For sure. One last thing,
you brought that up right there. I did want to bring up Carlson. It was not one of his stronger games
overall, but the effort. I think he bounced back pretty well in the final 40.
Just in that first period, though, was making too many wrong reads, was turning the puck over too much, just having a period to forget.
But he cleaned that up in the final 40 minutes, I thought.
Believe it or not, folks, that was Hunter Hodes who said that, not Patrick Damp, because we've been doing this show together for long enough now that he's basically reading my thoughts.
That was exactly what I was going to say.
And then obviously, I was going to butt end it with that funny moment that you brought up in overtime.
but what can't be discounted about that aside from the hilarious moment where he tries to fake Hughes into dropping him the puck,
that is one of the best skating efforts I think I've ever seen from Eric Carlson in a penguin's uniform.
He was flying and granted Hughes is the kind of player who maybe there's three or four players in the
NHL that can keep up with him or beat him. Carlson isn't one of them, but damn if he didn't put together,
other one heck of an effort on that. So I have to applaud them for that because we have seen it from
him. We have seen it from several other players on the penguins this season where they give up
that moment where there's a breakaway and they do what I like to call getting out of the highlight.
They act like they're hustling back, but they're not really hustling back because when that goal
inevitably goes in the net, they don't want to be the guy who's seen on camera in the post game
highlight. So credit to Carlson for bouncing back last night as well as having that effort in
overtime because he was a huge part of the penguins keeping possession and getting chances.
So you'd love to see him bouncing back. You'd like to see a better overall 60 minute effort,
but there is something to be said for a guy who notices the mistakes and bounces back.
But I think that's going to do it for our recap of the Penguins 3-2 loss in the shootout to the New Jersey
Devils. When we come back, it's Wednesday, ladies and gentlemen, that means it's time for us to
hand out the Warrior Helmet for Warrior Helmet Wednesday. And we will do that when we return right
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All right, welcome back to the,
Wednesday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And it is Wednesday,
my friends. It is Wednesday, my dudes. And that means it is Warrior Helmet Wednesday. We have gotten
some new subscribers and listeners over the past week or so. So if you are new here, we do this every
single Wednesday. We hand out our weekly MVP for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Doesn't have to be a player,
doesn't have to be a coach. It can be anybody. But for the most,
part, we keep it to the guys on the roster. And for those who may not know, this is us paying homage to
the 2016 Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins. Their locker room team MVP was a warrior
helmet. So this is us paying tribute to one of the most fun teams in the history of the Pittsburgh
Penguins. So without further ado, Hunter, I think we're both in agreement on who is going to get
our warrior helmet this week. While it would have been very easy,
to once again select Captain Sidney Crosby.
He had himself one heck of a week,
scored four, had a four-game goal-scoring streak,
excuse me, and continued to look every bit like Sidney Crosby.
But there is one other player on the roster
who I think is deserving of the MVP this week,
and it's goaltender, Alex Ndolkovic.
Over the last week, three games played.
He has a shutout,
and he has had save percentages of 931, 1,000, and 9.05.
He has been everything the penguins have needed from their goaltender as of late.
And it's once again another late season surge for Alex Nadelcovic.
He's looked very good, made a bunch of timely saves, obviously got a shut out.
He's been a rock back there.
He has.
And I think I'm going to make a last minute decision and split this right down the middle.
I think half of it goes to Ned and half of it goes to Crosby.
With the way that Cid has been playing,
especially over the last week, Pat, putting this team on his back once again,
I got to give part of it to him, man.
I mean, he has been so awesome,
got an assist last night on one of the goals for the Penguins.
He then had the crazy game winner against Utah last week.
He then also goes down to one knee against Nashville game over right after that.
He'll score on those goals 10 out of 10 times.
I got to give half of it to him.
And then the other half, you said it.
and Delkevich, she has made timely save after timely save for the penguins for these last
couple of weeks. And you go get his starts ever since this one against Buffalo,
952 in that game, LA, 962. Anaheim wasn't as good, 879, but after that,
929 against the sharks, 931 against Utah, gets the shot out and then 905 against the
devils. But again, that's a little misleading because he had a 1.85 goals against average,
and the two goals that he gave up were not his fault at all. You know, you go back,
not even just this past week, you go back to January 17th when that road trip started in Buffalo.
He has been really good in that.
Yeah, have I come on the show at times and I've complained that Yoal Blumquist is not getting starts.
Yes, I have.
Pat has as well.
But at least to a degree, I get it because of the way Ned is playing right now.
He is playing like a goalie that can give you really good saves.
He's red hot right now.
So I think they're trying to ride that for as long.
as they potentially can while not having him be gassed.
Like, Yul Blumquist is going to get a start this weekend.
We all know that.
It's a weekend back to back.
You just have to determine, okay, which team do you play him against the Rangers or do you play
him against the Flyers?
But as a whole, Net has been fantastic this last week, but he's also been great going
back to mid-January.
And it's been really nice seeing that because of the way he started this season where he
just really was not playing well at all.
But at least for the last three weeks, he's been on a little bit of a huge.
heater and that's good. But just to tie a bow on this, Penguins, these last three games,
you know, they've played mostly fairly well, playing well in their own zone. They could
probably use a little bit more offense. They're not generating enough, at least for me,
in my opinion. But you have a chance to really end this week on a high no with two more
division rivals coming up this weekend against the Rangers and the Flyers. You win those two
games. It's also the dad's trip, by the way, but you win those two games. You're 4-0-1, your last
games heading into the break, you're riding at least a little bit of momentum, a little bit of good
vibes heading into that two week break. So these two games this weekend will preview pretty soon.
Really important for this team as they try to end this week on a good note and also kind of
screw over their division rivals that they can. Yeah, it's a huge week coming up for them.
And I'll add this to close out the show for Nadelcovich. I do think there's two things at play here.
One, Mike Sullivan is absolutely riding the hot hand. He has been very good since the road trip began a couple
weeks back in Buffalo. He's really stabilized and given them, at least in the short term,
a reliable option in net. The other thing, and I've said it on the show before, is I do think
there is a world where they're showcasing him to the rest of the league and seeing if they can
inflate his value and maybe move him at the deadline or this summer. And if he has another strong
end to the season with just one year left on his deal and a salary cap that's set to explode over the
next few years. He very well could be an option for a team that needs a 1B or a backup goalie.
So we'll see what happens with him. But overall, it has been a very good couple of weeks for
Alex Nadalcovic in net. But that is going to do it for this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
We appreciate you, as always, taking time out of your daily routine to make us part of your
daily routine. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode tomorrow with any news,
notes from practice, or anything else that happens in Penguinsland. But for now,
for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you again for tuning in. And we will be back on Thursday.
