Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins drop crazy one to Canucks, look for rebound against the Canes!

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost a thriller to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night but they were able to get a point, which is still a big win. To start Friday's show, Hunter and Pat recap that game and how the Penguins were able to battle back despite being outplayed in the first period. They analyze the play of Tristan Jarry and especially Sidney Crosby as the latter once again put the team on his back. They marvel at how he continues to do this and again petition for him to get the Hart Trophy this year. They also praise Jansen Harkins for a sound performance before diving into Reilly Smith's injury. The two look at what Kyle Dubas should do to address his absence even though he hasn't been that good in the last several weeks. Should a player be called up? Should Dubas make a trade? They look at the options before discussing the latest Jake Guentzel rumors and why it makes no sense to deal him unless they're out of the race. Finally, they preview Saturday's massive tilt down in Raleigh against the Hurricanes.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order. SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED when you place a FIVE DOLLAR BET.  Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins dropped a tough one of the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. And on today's episode, the Locked on Penguins podcast, Pat and I are going to recap that game. Plus get you all set for Saturday's massive tilt down in Raleigh against the hurricanes. You're locked on penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Penguins.

Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes, joined by the best coast on the planet. Patrick Camp. You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, and you can follow these shows Twitter at L. Lawrence for Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Sleeper Download the Sleeper app and use promo code locked on NHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit, terms and supply, sea sleepers, terms of use for details. So Pat, Thursday night, what a crazy game between the Penguins and the Canucks. The Canucks were really just taking it to the penguins

that entire first period. As I said during the episode on Thursday, you know, they made the Rangers look like a pee-wee team earlier this week. They were making the Penguins also look like a pee-wee team. But credit to this team, they fought back from two multi-goal deficits to at least get a point in this game. And honestly, they could have had too if they converted them a couple of chances in overtime if Demko wasn't insane in the third period. I actually like the way the Penguins played for most of this game. It was just a really poor first period that kind of doomed them in this one.

I'm not really going to blame Alex and Delkevich too much. Those three goals were not his fault. I agreed with a decision for Mike Sullivan to put Jari in just because you've got to give your team a little bit of a spark. But if they had just played a bit better of a first period, they potentially come out with the result in this one. But to get the point against what I think is the best team in the Western Conference, that's massive as right now they pulled ahead of Washington,

which is also big and they're tied with New Jersey for fifth in the Metro. I saw a lot of takes last night after Pedersen won it in overtime that the Penguins stole a point. And I disagree with that take. They didn't have a great first period. This is true. But Vancouver's a hell of a hockey team. That is a great hockey team in the Western Conference and really just the NHL. And the penguins went toe to toe with them.

There was going to be, you know, I said the same thing or something similar on Twitter in the first period. You know, a lot of people were kind of doing the whole, oh, God, the penguins aren't showing up. Oh, God, what's going on with the penguins? Nothing was going on with penguins. Vancouver's just really good. And sometimes really good teams get off to really hot starts and you've got to respond. And I loved their effort for pretty much the entire game, with the exception of maybe the first 10 minutes of the first period.

And overall, you watched the game last night. The Penguins went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league. And there was one thing I thought was really funny and really enjoyable. What brought the Penguins back in that game is they made a bet that Vancouver can't play a trading chances kind of game. Vancouver needs puck possession in the offensive zone. They need to establish a four check and they need to establish possession. They're not a very good team. Well, I don't want to say not a very good team, but they're not as effective as a team off the rush than say the Penguins because there was a part of me in that second period that started to wince. And I was like,

oh God, they're playing wide open hockey against maybe the best team in the NHL. This is not going to go their way. And it went the exact opposite way. They took it. to the Vancouver Canucks from about the halfway mark of the second period to the end of the game. Right. It's funny because usually for the team this year, that doesn't work, right? Trading chances. I mean, we saw that happen in Toronto just a few weeks ago, Pat, and they got blown out. You've seen it happen in a couple other games this year where it hasn't gone their way. But it did in this one, but it also helps when you get the saves from your starting netminder.

And I thought Tristan Jari gave them more than just a spark when he came in. he was making save after save after save to start that second period. If he doesn't make those saves, then Hoover potentially runs away with this one, and there's really no comeback from the Penguins. But credit to Jari, he made those saves. And I saw people picking him apart a little bit for that Pedersen winner in overtime. That's just a nice move from a really good player. Sometimes the puck goes in there in that situation.

I'm not really going to put that on him too much. He was one of the main reasons why the Penguins were able to get a point out of this game. So I'm not really going to go at him that much. But the main reason I think why the penguins got a point outside of Jari, Cindy Crosby, I'm going to blame you for this because you asked me on Thursday, is this a vintage Cindy Crosby game? And you put me on the spot. And I said no.

And now I look like a complete idiot because he played his tail off once again, showing why he deserves to be in the conversation for the Hart Trophy. The release that he had to pull the Penguins within 3-2 on that shot was disgusting. And then he scores the game tying. goal with less than 30 seconds to go in the third period. That was probably one of the best six on vibes I've seen the Penguins orchestrate this season. As I tweeted, everyone that watches this team cherish this stuff from Sydney Crosby because

he is not going to be playing at this level forever. He's 36 years old. You never know when the wheels will start to fall off even a little bit. The fact that he's playing this good despite being in his upper 30s, it's something to behold. just another masterclass of a performance from 87. It really was. I didn't want to interrupt you because you were really cooking there.

To go back to the goaltending for a quick second, obviously no moral victories in the NHL, especially not at this point of the season. But I do think this was a master class in coaching and motivation by Mike Sullivan in when it comes to putting in Jari and pulling Nadelcovic, because one, Jari played very well, and he was in need of a confidence boost. He was in need of, as Josh talked about, a way to get over some of those mental hurdles. And I really think he did that last night.

As for the winner, that's just basic physics, because Jari tracked him left to right. And when Pedersen put it five whole as he's sliding, the puck kept on sliding. And that just happens. And then on the other end of it, there was no. need at that point to keep Alex Nadelcovic in. And if you were, that would wreck his confidence, that would wreck his, his momentum. So it was a smart play to get Jari's confidence back and hold on to the confidence that Alex Nadelcovich has built so far this year.

As for Sid, just a masterful performance. And I know we've kind of lightly broached the topic on this show. But I think it's time to have a legitimate. conversation about the heart trophy in Sydney Crosby. He's not going to blow you away with points. He's not all the way up there. He's not as dominant as he once was. He's not Nathan McKinnon.

He's not Connor McDavid. He's not having the season that Kucharov is having. But the value he is bringing to his team right now. I think this team is much better than it was last year. I think they're trending upward overall right now. I think it's a very competitive playoff team. But without Sidney Crosby, this team is probably a middle of the pack, playoff bubble to out of the playoffs kind of team.

Put him in the conversation. And I think over the next couple of months, this team is going to go on a serious run and make the playoffs, as well as maybe push to finish in the top three of the Metro. Well, I don't think they're a playoff bubble team with Al-Said. I think they're well below that, to be honest. I don't even think they're in the playoff race right now if Sid is not doing what he's doing this season.

At least that's how I see it, in my opinion. Outside of that, another player who I did want to highlight for this game, Pat, I've been a bit hard on him this season, especially on the show. I thought Jansen Harkins had a pretty solid game on the fourth line. The play that he made to set up that opening goal for Marcus Pedersen, who, yes, He can bring some offense as well. That's awesome. That was a really smart play by Harkins.

He dangled around a couple of Canucks defenders, excuse me, got the puck to Pedersen who fires it past Emco. I thought that was one of Harkins' best games as a member of the Penguins. Hopefully he can build on it, but I wanted to shout him out on the show because, again, I know I've been hard on them, but I have to be objective as well. I thought he played a pretty solid game in this one.

he's starting to really play with some confidence. He's starting to become abilities. Even that, you know, at this point, I can kind of take that because he's playing with an intensity and a physicality. He's involved in the play. He's trying to make something happen. And we saw that on the goal. Yeah, there was a lot of skill involved in that. But more than anything, that was what you want to see from a bottom six player where he was,

it was effort and heart. It was him sticking with a play and stay. right with it and then making the smart decision. And on the other side of that, Marcus Pedersen, man, what an absolute animal this guy has become. And I know this sucks. You know, I don't want to get any Penguins fans too angry here. I wanted two points.

I wanted them to win. Yes, it's a loss. There are things to pick apart. But when you play the best team in the league and you play them to an overtime and you take it to them for large stretches of the game, this is a positive sign. And Marcus Pedersen has been one of the consistently, I'll say it, great penguins this season. He has. His season has really gone maybe unnoticed by some fans in this fan base.

He has been awesome for the scene, especially in his own zone. It's been awesome to watch him on a nightly basis. If there's one thing I maybe want to nitpick about this game before we had to break, in overtime, the Penguins had that three-on-one, Eric Carlson was coming in. My man, just shoot it there. Don't force the pass. I know Pedersen is kind of cherry-picking by center ice. Sid kind of also went for a little-advised change in that situation.

I wish he didn't there. It was hard for him to get back. But Carlson, my man, just rip it. You got one heck of a shot. That's the only nitpick in overtime that I have. outside of them, needing to start winning some more games in overtime just because they've really struggled in the three on three these last couple of years. I mean, it comes back to the same deal with the power play in three on three overtime.

Everybody's being just a little too polite with one another and trying to be good teammates. Eventually, you got to be LeBron James on the heat and understand that this is my team. I'm that good. I'm going to score so we can win. And if my teammates don't like scoring and winning, that's too damn bad. Right. And speaking of the power play, actually, this is the last thing we'll discuss before going to break. I was about to tweet it if the penguins did not score on that 6 on 5. This was going to be another game where the power play had chance after chance after chance to get them at least a point, if not a win.

But the unit was not able to do it. And honestly, the unit at times looked fine, but a lot of other times, it was more of the same crap, I feel like. And it's still not good enough at the halfway point of the season. Yeah. And I tweeted the same thing last night that I'm going to say here. We're back to the point we were in late October, early November with the power play. And it's frustrating. They're getting chances.

They're getting opportunities. Some. They're just not going in. And at this point, you have to figure something out, whether it's a personnel change, whether it's a systematic change. I don't know what it is, but if nothing else, they're getting chances, but eventually you have to start scoring in games like this,

where it can get you a point or two. Right. And there's not too many games in the month of January for them. I mean, there's some, obviously, but there's quite a few practice days that this team will have to hopefully figure something out with this unit. I mean, we've been saying that for the past few months. We'll have to see if it changes, but who knows.

But that'll do it for this first. coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss the news regarding Riley Smith and how it's bad and what Kyle Dubas should do moving forward with regards to this injury. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Sleeper, which is the official Daily Fantasy app of the Locked-on NHL network. Sleeper is our number one choice for daily fantasy sports and especially Daily Fantasy Hockey because with Sleeper you can win 100 times your cash in Daily Fantasy Hockey contest. You can do this with your friends.

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sleepers, terms of use for details and locational availability. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by Mike Ho's Patrick Damp. So the Penguins didn't really get good injury news on the Riley Smith front on Friday. He went into the boards pretty hard during Thursday night's game.

He goes back to the bench, obviously in pain. He goes to the locker room, comes back out, plays a couple more shifts, and then goes back to the locker room. And usually in that situation, Pat, that's not good. And sure enough, Mike Sullivan announced on Friday that he was going to be out longer term with an injury, though he is still being evaluated. I'll say this. I know Riley Smith has really struggled the past several weeks, two goals in his last 30 games,

but this still creates a pretty gaping hole in their top nine. Was he demoted off the second line in favor of Drew O'Connor? Yes, and I was in favor of the move, and I am still in favor of that move. But now with Smith out, you have a pretty big hole on that third line that I don't think this team can fill internally. Yes, you have Redeems O'Hourna available as an option. you can maybe call up Sam Poulan as well. But I don't think those two players are going to move the needle that much in that spot. It's why if I am Kyle Dubus, I am maybe being a bit more aggressive in trying to search for a trade for someone to replace Smith for the time being.

And also to just get another four because I think they need another four to begin with. That's what I would be doing if I were Dubis right now. What are your thoughts on the Riley Smith situation? it's tough because like I had said before, he's been playing better. Yes, the production was not there, but he has actually started to play a bit better.

So you lose that player. And I'm with you. There's not a lot internally. There's also Vinnie Hinnisroza. I don't know how much of an option that really is. Sam Poulan doesn't appear like he's ready to take any kind of a jump yet, unfortunately. And here's a name that I want some Penguins fans to keep in mind

because I texted Hunter this. And I think this very well could be an answer both at the trade deadline and right now just to fill out the penguins depth. And that name is Sean Monaghan in Montreal. He texted me that yesterday. This is a guy that I think the penguins should target for some depth right now. He's 29 years old. He's a pending UFA. He only makes a little under $2 million a year.

He's already scored 11 goals and 24 points. And at this point, we know Montreal is not going to be a playoff team. They can try to convince themselves that they're going to make the playoffs, but that's just not going to happen. And if they're really looking to get somebody into a new environment, get them a fresh start, I think POJ would be a good starting point. He's a younger defenseman. He fits Montreal's timeline. And Sean Monaghan would help us with depth scoring.

So if nothing else, if I'm Kyle Dubus, my next call is to Montreal to see what they want for Sean Monaghan. And this also wouldn't be the first time that these two teams have done a trade. I mean, they've been trading a lot these last couple of years. And this also wouldn't be the first time that the Penguins sent a defenseman to the Canadians, hence the Matheson for Petrie trade and obviously Ryan Paling from a couple of years ago. I would be down for that. I mean, Monaghan would instantly, I think, become one of, if not the best bottom six player for the Penguins. side of Lars Eller. And I mean, goal scoring-wise,

Monahan would easily be their best player down there. I'm just throwing Ellor there. Just his defensive impacts have been really good this season. But I would be down for that kind of upgrade to the bottom six. I would also potentially be down to be sending POJ out, though. Again, I think in terms of the bottom pairing, I think he's their best option on the left side, but I don't think it's by much considering his level of play since he came back

into the lineup. Yeah, I would agree with that. And it's really not even an anti-POJ thing. I don't want to sit here and pretend like I'm against his play. But I do think that it's just not working. He's had a lot of mistakes. You know, I look at last night, I believe it was the third Canucks goal.

He just, he was useless in front of the net. He had two options. It was pick up a. stick or pick up a body and he did neither. And in the process, he screened Nadelcovic, which led to the goal because they talked about it on the broadcast. Ndukovic had no idea where that shot was coming from. And a lot of that was because POJ was set in a screen and he wasn't really doing anything to the players in front. And we saw that was how the Canucks scored all three goals. They got in front of the goalie. It was either a tip or a deflection. And at that point, if you're a

penguin's defenseman, the second you see a body in front of your goalie, you have to move it. Right. And to your point, yeah, P.O. was just standing there, not really doing anything. In that situation, either get out of the way yourself or move someone else out of the way, and yourself included in that situation. One more thing before we had to break. I keep seeing all these rumors surrounding Jake Gensel. I'm tired of them, to be honest. The Penguins are very much in a playoff race right now. I keep seeing takes like, oh, even though they might be in the playoff race by the deadline, you got to move them, you don't want to lose them for nothing. I don't know what these people are talking about, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to move Jake Gensel

if my team is in a race for a playoff spot. Whether the penguins are tied for the final playoff spot in March or whether they're even one or two points out, I'm not trading Gensel in that situation because a lot could change in that final four to five to six weeks of the season. And the only way I see Jake getting traded is if they're five to ten points out of a playoff spot. And even then I don't even think they're going to be. They are very much in the race for a spot right now.

This should not be a big talking point. I understand why it is considering his contract situation. But with where the team is, why is this even being talked about so much? Because they're not going to move them if they're in the race. No, this was the subject of my column on KDCA today, Penguin's Perspectives. the talk around Jake Gensel possibly being traded is absurd because like you said, they would have to be so far out of the playoff race in selling off assets to do a quick retooling around Crosby, Malkin, Lattang, and Carlson.

And that's just not the case. And you look at the trend of the last month. This team is trending upward. They're not trending downward. Yes, Jake Gensel is going to command a lot of money on the open market this summer, especially if Dubis and his agent don't find an extension before the, end of this year. But I also have to mention the captain factor of all this. I don't think Crosby's ever going to play anywhere else in his career. But if there's one way you can make him start thinking

about possibly going somewhere after his contract expires next season, it's trading his preferred winger in the middle of a playoff race. So unless somebody comes to you with the sun and the moon and you can say to Sid, don't worry, we got you a very suitable replacement. Jake Gensel is playing out the rest of his contract as a penguin, and maybe he comes back in free agency, but we'll see. And in a way, Jake Gensel is a acquisition at the trade deadline if you keep him for that home stretch and into the playoffs. I'll just throw that out there kind of this.

In a way, he kind of is an acquisition if you're not moving him. And again, I don't think he should be moved, nor do I think he will get moved unless this team just bottoms out over these next six to eight weeks. But that'll do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, it's round three of Penguins Hurricanes down in Raleigh. This is a monstrous game for the Penguins. Pat and I are going to preview that game for the final segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about the Jace case.

I know we come to sports to escape from some of the crazy realities of real life, but can we talk just for a minute about preparing for real life? According to the FDA, pharmacies are running out of antibiotics right in the middle of the worst flu season in over a decade. This is scary. I can't imagine a more helpless feeling than if my girlfriend got sick while a supply chain issue kept them from the life-saving medication they needed. Thankfully, we'll be okay because of Jace medical. The Jace case is a pack of five different antibiotics to treat a long list of bacterial illnesses, including UTIs, respiratory infections, sinuses, skin infections, and so many others.

others. This stuff could happen to any of us. Visit jesmedical.com and complete your physician encounter. It will be reviewed by a board certified physician and your medications will be dispensed by a licensed pharmacy at a fraction of the regular cost. It's never been more important to be repaired than today. Go to jesmedical.com and use offer code locked on to get up to $20 off of your order. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Tangans podcast. I'm Hunter Hodes, joined by my coast, Patrick Dam. So we have a season split between the Penguins and the Hurricanes so far. Hurricanes took round one down in Raleigh.

Penguins took round two in a shootout in Pittsburgh just a few weeks ago. And this one feels bigger than those two games, especially for the Penguins. The Hurricanes have really, and I mean really figured it out as of late. They've won seven or the last 10 games. They only have one regulation lost during that time. They're 23 and 13 and 5. 51 points, only three points behind the New York Rangers for first in the Metropolitan Division. Remember when this team was right with the Penguins in that fifth, six, seven spot?

Well, the hurricanes have shot up pretty far, considering how hot they've been. They're getting contributions from all over their lineup. They're playing Rod Rindamore hockey. This is another big test for the Penguins in a game that they have to have, considering they don't play a lot of Metro games these next couple of months. No, they have to get another big two metropolitan division points here. And in my account, yes, that's why I said two points. And this looks like that Carolina hurricane hurricanes team, everybody expected they were going

to be at the start of the year. They are scoring goals and they are not giving them up either. So you look at the, you look at just the way they've started, 24, 6-1 win over the New York Rangers. A couple nights later, they go and put six up yet again. against the Washington Capitals. Then they losing a shootout to the St. Louis Blues, which shootout, no big deal. We're counting that as a tie, especially since the Western Conference game.

And then a couple days later, six spot again against the Anaheim Ducks, six to three last night against the Anaheim Ducks. This is a really, really good hockey team. But Penguins might get some help knowing that Kachoff has been put in concussion protocol and there's no timeline on it. they have said out indefinitely. And with that, Pat, that means Antironta will probably get the start in this game. And Ronda has not been that good this season. 3.27 goals against average, 862 C percentage. This is a big advantage for the Penguins in that.

Now, I will say Ranta did play in the first matchup down in Raleigh. He actually had a pretty good game for the Hurricanes in that one, probably his best game of the year, to be honest. And, of course, it comes against the Penguins. But overall, he hasn't been consistent enough. and no matter who the penguin starts, I think they will, I mean, I know they will have the edge and nest.

So that will be big for the penguins if they want to win this game. Yeah, and they do have to take advantage of that. They also just, they have to play similar to how they played last night against the Canucks, with a little less of the fire wagon hockey. They have to take advantage of what Carolina gives to them. And they've got to make Ranta's life a little bit miserable. They got to shoot from everywhere because this guy is struggling this year.

And if that's a weakness, the Penguins got the shooters that can beat them. And once again, it's going to be another game that comes down to special teams. The Penguins Power Play has to show up. Or this is going to be a really tough sledding to get two regulation points against a really, really good Hurricanes team. Even outside of the power play, I would say it would be nice if someone, other than Cindy Crosby shows up against this team because Sid has been awesome against the Hurricanes in both matchups this season. The Penguins need their other star players to have big games against this team.

And you know what type of game you're going to get when you play the Hurricanes. Is it going to be a little bit boring? Yes, it is. Is it going to be a true coin flip? Absolutely. And the Penguins are going to have to win another one of those coin flips like they did in the shootout earlier this season. the hurricanes do a really nice job defending in their own zone. They also take a lot of point shots offensively.

The Penguins are going to have to block a lot of shots in front of their goalie. And they're also going to have to make sure they finish their chances when they do get them. Because you're not going to get many grade A chances against this Hurricanes team with how stingy they are in their own zone. Again, you know how they play. It's just about finishing your chances. And doing what you did in that second matchup against the hurricanes, eliminate them to the outside, just kind of really playing Carolina Hurricanes hockey.

That's how I felt like they played in that game. They gave them a taste of their own medicine, and that's what I really want to see in this one. And when you play a team like Carolina that takes a lot of shots from the point, you need to reverse that on them and use that as your transition game. You need to get in front of shots, block them, and turn around and go the other way quickly. because if you can catch them on a three on two or a two on two or two on one because of a lot of shots from the point,

you can take their game and use it against them. And if you have a goaltender like Ranta in net, that's when you take advantage of this. Block the shots coming from the point and use that to feed your transition game. Get them with the mismatch and beat the goalie they have in net who has not been great this year. Right. I agree with you overall. And if they're able to get the two points in regulation here, they'll be 21 and 15 and 5, gets points 46 and 47.

There's the chance that they can potentially leapfrog the devils on Saturday and potentially be within a point of the Flyers, Islanders of the Flyers do play on Friday night against the Minnesota Wild. So we'll have to see if the Wild can help out the Penguins a little bit there. But this is a big one. You need the two points in regulation. Do not go to overtime or shootout against a team that you are trying to chase in your division.

I can't stand when that stuff happens, as I've said so many times on the show. But that'll do it for this episode, the Lock Tom Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening to slash walking this one. And oh yeah, thank you to Canucks fans for really just blowing up our YouTube channel,

7,000 views and a lot of comments. I did not expect that at all. But thank you very much, I guess. Can I just say that I think the Vancouver Canucks might be the nicest fans in the hockey world because there were a lot of, like all of the comments were positive. And they were like, oh, we're rooting for the Canucks. Sure.

But good luck to you guys. And it's like, you guys have like half of our cup winning team from 2016. Talk some crap. Talk some trash. Tell us we stink. Something. But for real. Thank you guys so much for that.

That was awesome. If there's a West Coast team I'm pulling for right now, it is the Vancouver Canucks. So thank you guys so much for that. I'm a Vancouver Canucks Simp outside of covering the Penguins for this show through and through. But yeah, Canucks fans, thank you for blowing up our YouTube channel for that episode. And of course, to Penguins fans everywhere, thank you so much for listening to slash watching this episode. We'll be back with another episode for you all on Monday. Hope you'll all have a great weekend.

Go Steelers. And we'll see what the Penguins can do as well.