Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins-Flames recap, plus, an early look at the week ahead!

Episode Date: October 16, 2023

Happy Monday! The Pittsburgh Penguins are atop the Metropolitan Division and it feels good! Pat and Hunter recap Saturday's win against the Calgary Flames and how the Penguins had a great third period to steal it. They start with how Sidney Crosby took charge on his first shift, which led to the Bryan Rust goal before Reilly Smith scored just a few seconds later. They especially shout out Evgeni Malkin for his performance as he's been a one-man wrecking crew with the puck during these first three games. They also analyze the play of Alex Nedeljkovic and how he answered the bell when he was called upon. Is he already an upgrade over Casey DeSmith? They also get into that before discussing if they're concerned with the bottom six through three games. They even go at Jeff Carter since his play has not been good enough. Finally, they give a brief outlook on the week ahead for the team.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Jase MedicalGet $20 off these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.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.BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNHL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNHL for a free water bottle with any order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.AG1If a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to drinkAG1.com/NHLNETWORK.eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime.Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS - GUARANTEED. 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 Pittsburgh Penguins sit atop the Metropolitan Division after a 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. And Pat and I are going to recap that game for you all 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,

joined by the best host in the world, Patrick Tamp, who is back for this episode, the Lockdown Penguins podcast after a one episode hiatus. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can follow Pat on Twitter at Center for Wet.

And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. and for Penguins, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. And today's episode is brought to you by Sleeper, down the Sleeper app and use promo code Lockdown NHL

to get up to a 100, match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See sleepers terms of use for details. So Penguins 5, Flames 2 in a game that did not look like it was going to go the Penguins way heading into the third period. It's funny. On my preview Friday night into Saturday morning, I said, the days of Daryl Sutter hockey

and Calgary are over. Well, even though Daryl Sutter is not the head coach of the Calgary Flames anymore, they played like he was in those first two periods. It was a very boring watch. Alex Ndilkevich was keeping the penguins in it, even though they were getting some chances on Markstrom, he wasn't lending anything by him. But in the third period, everything flipped.

And the main reason for that, the opening shift by Sidney Crosby, was trying to go on his backhand, fell down a little bit, but he chased the puck below the dots behind the net area, got the puck back to the point. Latang fires it to the net.

Brian Russ with a 200 IQ play, bangs off Markstrom's patting in, and then the flood gates open. You have Malkins beautiful fast to Riley Smith. You have Chris Littang's insane pass Jay Gensel to get his first of the year. I hope everyone chronicled that pass, by the way. And the floodgates just absolutely opened. Again, after that's Cindy Crosby shift. I thought that third period was some great hockey by the Penguins. In my opinion, they lose that game if this was last season. But they showed a different

level in that third period that they never really showed during back-to-backs, especially last year. And it was really encouraging to see. Yeah, three games in, and I know you recapped the Capitals game Friday, so I'm not going to get too deep into it. But I do want to say that there is a consistent theme between these two victories for the Penguins. And it's resiliency, like you said. It's the fact that in the Caps game, first period, caps come out, hair on fire, punched Penguins metaphorically in the mouth. Penguins respond, come back at a win. Same thing on Saturday.

The Calgary flames come out. They play a smothering defense defensive kind of game. And that's a game that last season and even prior to last season we've seen, the penguins usually don't respond well to because we know how these rosters are built. They're built to score goals. They're built to play uptempo hockey. They're built to push the pace. And when they get locked in those defensive battles, they get a little frustrated.

So big, big four points in the bank over a back. backstretch. And you can see this because the penguins themselves have been talking about something we've been talking about on this show. And it's the importance of banking those early season points. So you give yourself more of a cushion at the end of the season. So taking four points in a back-to-back, especially one of those games being against the divisional rival, huge. And I really liked their game on Saturday night in the third period. And I really like their game in the second and third against the capitals. I agree.

And just going off that point about banking points, Gennie Malkin said that to the media over the weekend, saying two points right now, it's just as much as it would be February, March or April. So you're right, you have to bank those points now. We saw what happened during the early parts of last season where the Penguins weren't banking some points at times, especially against some MET teams in the standings,

and that played a role down the stretch. And you look at the flames, I like them. I don't think they're a playoff team, but they still have talent. The way the Penguins were able to really defend that lead in the third period was also really encouraging. I honestly think these last two games, they have been defending leads really well once they get them. They're not sitting back. They're getting into that one-two-two neutral zone trap that Mike Sullivan instilled upon this team when he took over late 2015 into 2016.

It's great that he's still having, even though some of these players are new, he's still having them get into that system. And once the penguins get into that one-two trap, there's just nothing going for the opposition. You saw that against Washington and you saw that against Calgary. And I know the Penguins had a lot of trouble defending third period leads last year. It wasn't good against Chicago last week. But these last two games, it looks like they've taken those struggles last year and against Chicago pretty personally. And that's the level of play I want to see in the third period when they get a lead later on this season. Well, and again, we got to keep having the caveat here very early, three games.

But the one big 180 that I've seen from last season, from the Chicago game, into these past two games, is that it does have a vibe similar to those 16 and 17 teams when this team gets a league. Last year, we saw this a lot. Part of the reason that they struggled to defend leads is because they went into a shell. They went into a defensive shell. they sat back, they let the game come to them rather than taking the game to the opposition. You look at the wins against the capitals and the flames. It didn't matter if they were up two, three, or whatever, however many goals.

They kept pushing the pace. They played that one two two neutral zone trap, made the neutral zone a quagmire for the opposition. But once they got possession of the puck in the neutral zone, they weren't happy to just get possession, put it deep, kill the clock, and hope that the other team doesn't come back, they put the puck deep and attacked. And they kept bringing the game to the opposition. And that's one of the biggest things that you have to do in the modern day NHL, because there's more talent in this league than there ever has been at any time,

in my opinion. So going into a defensive shell, especially when you're not built to play that kind of hockey, is asking to lose games. So seeing them continue to pressure, continue to play physical. to the way they play physical and putting shots on the net, even with a lead, is going to pay dividends for this team, especially when you consider they're in one of the most competitive divisions in the National Hockey League.

So when they play those games against Metro opponents and they get a lead and keep pressing, that's going to only help them in the stretch run. And you saw that for sure against Calgary. Even after Riley Smith got his second goal and, you know, credit to Jesse Marshall on this, he said this on Twitter. The goals are going to come like an avalan. And so far they have because he's been getting grade A quality chances all season so far. And I know it's only been three games, but the puck is finally starting to go in the back of the

Neve it. But after that, Gensville scores make it 3-1. And then I loved Evgeny Malkin's patience on the fourth goal, waits out the defender, sees him slide down to take away the pass. And Malkin's like, you know what? I'm going to fire a pass, Jacob Markstrom. He does just that I to really put the game away there. And speaking of if Gennie Malkin, what a start to the season.

Six points in three games. had that hilarious quote saying, I'll wake up tomorrow morning and I'll win the Hart Trophy with him and Austin Matthews leading the league in points right now, they're tied. And he has been on another level to start the year. And it's amazing to see. Everyone is always thinking the people that don't watch the Penguins,

oh, when is he going to fall off? When is he going to fall off? Same with Cindy Crosby. Well, for me, they're going to keep playing like this until they're 40, 41 at this rate. Yeah, I don't know about the long-term prospect. of it and the slumps are going to come they they come for everybody everybody goes a handful of games two three four games where either you just don't get the bounces you need or for some reason the game starts to fall off a little bit but through three games i mean crosbie malkin letang

carlson gansel these guys have been looking as advertised and as they have for their careers and again like i said that's a big thing early in the season Because we know that there is going to be a game against a bottom feeder team in January or February where the players themselves, we as fans are going to just go, oh, God, we have to play this game. And they're not going to look great. But if you have those points in the bank, you have more of a cushion for those games where the slumps come or you just have an off night. I agree. And that's going to be coming up sooner rather than later. You know, it's that January game against, I haven't checked a schedule.

I'm just throwing this out there. the ducks, the sharks, obviously, someone like that. But just going back to Malkin for just a second, his back checking has been unbelievable. And he's not known for his defensive play. But the way that he's being able to take the puck away from opposing players, fire the puck down the ice, especially for that Riley Smith goal against the capitals. That was a thing of beauty. He comes in on the two-on-one, Rith Riley, fires the puck.

To Riley, puts it past Jacob Markstrom, the chemistry between them. is definitely there. And it's looking kind of like the chemistry with James Neal, to be honest. I get a lot of James Neal flashbacks with Gino when I watch him and Riley Smith. Yeah, that has been, the chemistry has been immediate with those two, and it's great. And having a guy like Raquel there with them is only going to help. And to keep it on the James Neal train for this, he said it best about Evgeny Malkin when James Neal was here. Ifgeny Malkin is one of the better players in the league when he plays like a bully.

And that's what he's been playing like through three games. And it doesn't mean he's out there blowing guys up and throwing huge hits or doing anything like that. It's just him taking the game over. And, you know, he back checks hard. And whoever he on the opposition, he says without saying, this is my puck, not yours. I'm taking it and going the other way. And we've seen that, especially in the Capitals and Flames games. So this is a very encouraging start for Hvgeny Malkin.

He was spicy in that game against the flames. He was going out to Keita Zedorov quite often. They were probably cussing at each other in Russian throughout that game. When you have angry Gino, he's usually going to do something, and he sure did in that game against the flames. One last thing before we had to break, though. Shout out Alex Ndilkevich. He was tremendous in that game against the flames.

Already looking like an upgrade over Casey to Smith. I was noticing to use his stick quite often, I think, in that game. He's pretty active with that thing. but he also just made some really nice saves on the great A chances that the flames had, especially on the power play in the first two periods. His movement, I thought, looked really solid. Just played a good game. And if the Penguins want to get back to the playoffs this year,

they're going to have to win games when Tristan Jari is not starting. This is a good start. Yeah, very positionally sound game from Alex Nadalcovic. And listeners, I'm not comparing the two, so don't come at me for this one. but Casey de Smith was a lot like early year Mark Andre Flurry, where it was all athleticism, it was not very fluid movement, it was relying on being athletic to make saves, whereas now with Alex Nadelcovic, you have a very positionally sound goaltender who's where he needs to be to make the saves he needs to make.

And again, only one game against a team that in my opinion doesn't have a ton of snipers or big goal scores. But if he can keep the workload off of Tristan Jari, to keep Tristan Jari in that 50 to 55 game range going into the postseason, that's a net positive for this team. And it will give Jari more time off, more rest, have him in a good spot going into the playoffs. Yeah, if he's playing well, he's not going to have to just play the back to backs. Because there are quite a few back to backs that the penguins have this year. But if he does play well, he can start a game, say, against one of the more meh teams in the league and give Tristan a night off if he's playing really well this year too, and he's been great start the year in his first two games.

So I would like to see that happen if Ndilkevich keeps playing well, but all in all, A plus stuff from him on Saturday night, he'll get more starts going forward. But that would do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, are Pat and I concerned about the bottom six so far? Well, we're going to tell you all about that. 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 top choice for fantasy sports, especially daily fantasy hockey.

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That's locked on NHL, C sleepers, terms of use for detail. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Hunter Hodes, joined by Patrick Damp. As always, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. So granted, again, it's only been three games, very small sample size. But I think the bottom six definitely not good so far. And I say it with this, you cannot have all of your goals scored by six to eight players. And I'll throw Chris Lattang and Eric Carlson in there because they're

are going to get their share really soon. But you cannot have all your goals scored by your top six forwards. Riley Smith, Jake Gensel, Brian, Russ, Ricardo, Rakell, Cindy Rosby, Housby, Havgeny Malkin, of course. Sooner later, the bottom six is going to have to contribute when the top six doesn't have it. And so far, Pat, we haven't seen that. I feel like the third line really hasn't been in the offensive zone that much these first three games. Heck, the fourth line really hasn't either.

The only time I really saw the fourth line in the offensive zone during these first few games is when Jeff Carter got a breakaway, had a really nice takeaway on that Flames player, gets the fuck, comes in, fires it 100 feet over the net. I feel like my grandma could have gotten a shot on net there, to be honest. So you get your chance there, but you fire it way over the net. It's just that unit, it's really lacking right now, especially offensively. And we knew going into the season that it was going to be a challenge for this unit to bring offense on a consistent basis, but it's got to be better than this, even though it's only been three games. Yeah, I'm not going to get too concerned about it just yet.

It's three games. But the thing I will say is two of the three opponents, not great. Washington, that is, you know, not to steal any thunder from our... They look really bad, man. But not to steal any thunder from our pal Chris Carter over at Locked-on Steelers. That is very similar to Steelers Ravens. Penguins Capitals is the game where you take the records, you take the stats, you toss them out the window because it's a rivalry game.

But I will say this, in the Penguins Capitals game, the bottom six was the reason they got back in that game because they came out in the second period, played very solid, put pressure on the Capitals defense and opposing forwards. And it was like I said, it's like I've been saying all summer. If they're not going to score, which right now they have, their only thing they need to do is wear down opponents. So when you throw the Crosby line or the Malkin line over the boards, that opposing team is tired.

And that's exactly what happened against the Caps. When the Penguins got back in the game against the Caps, even though the Capitals hadn't scored, but controlled the territorial advantage for the whole first period, they went out and they just played a fast, aggressive game against the Capitals, which set it up for them to be tired. get the big guns out there, they go out and score. They go out there, they draw a penalty, the power play comes out and does well.

But that's one game. And they were not good against Calgary. They were not good against Chicago. And the thing I will say, though, small sample size, three games. I've liked the games of most of the players, and it breaks my heart, but Jeff Carter has been really bad. And I don't know how much longer Mike Sullivan can let this happen. Eventually, you just have to take the sunk cost and just say, Jeff, we love you. You're great in the room.

You're a great veteran leader. You've had a hell of a career. But we got to sit you down for somebody else because you are not playing an acceptable brand of hockey. And we said heading into the season that it would be great if Carter could turn back the clock a little bit. That's definitely not happening here. I mean, in that game against the Capitals, right after Cindy Crosby scored his first goal to make it to nothing, Mike Sullivan threw out the cutter line. And what do you know, they were hemmed in the defensive zone for a minute and a half, two minutes. Even though there's two new faces on that line, that's not the line you want to send over when you have all the momentum.

It feels like every time that line gets sent out there. And I like Noachari. I think he's had a really solid start despite not scoring Matt Nietto. I think he's been fine, okay, to be honest. anytime that line gets sent over, it's just hemmed in in the defensive zone. And I think a large, well, the biggest reason for that is Carter. He just doesn't have it anymore. And I don't think he can play every game this season.

If he stays healthy, that's just unrealistic at this point. He's going to have to be scratched at some point this year. He's just not bringing anything tangible in the offensive and the defensive zone. You can look at the stats. You can look at the eye test. I don't know what he's bringing. I wish I did. And I know Mike Sullivan must see something there with Carter.

Maybe it's his ability to take face-offs when needed. Maybe it's his ability to play in the defensive zone to try to shut down the opposition. But that's not happened so far. I just wish I knew what he saw on him because it's not there in these first three games. And don't ever discount the factor of pride. If he gets scratched for a handful of games, maybe it wakes him up. Maybe it kind of tells him, hey, listen, I got to get better. I have to be better.

And I think maybe that's what the answer is here. But I will say on the whole with the bottom six, I'm not pressing the panic button yet, but my hand is hovering right over it. Like, I'm not ready to hit it yet, but it's close. It's close for me too. I again, we knew going into this year it was going to be a challenge for them to get offense on a consistent basis. But if this is still the same after this week's games, which we'll get two in a few minutes, after next week's games, I think it's time to push the panic button a little bit.

Maybe start bringing some buses of players from Wilkesbury over like it redeems the Hornah, like, I don't know, maybe Vinnie Hino-Straza or something like that, because the bottom six right now, it's just not working. I was high on Jansen Harkins heading into the season. I thought he had a great last week of camp. I thought he had great preseason. So far, I don't think he's really meshed into that third line role. He hasn't brought enough offense.

He hasn't done enough in the defensive zone. I kind of think he's been a bit nervous to be on the third line. Just the way I'm watching him, he seems to be, I guess, overthinking it when he has the puck on his stick. I think him in a fourth line would be better. You want to move up someone from that fourth line. I don't know, maybe it's Niedo or Achari or something like that. But I just don't think Harkins is made for a third-line role right now. You know, maybe you want to even call up Zohorna as an extra forward,

send one of the defensemen down, whether it's John Ludwig or Ryan J. or something like that. But I just haven't seen enough from him. Drew O'Connor, I want to see the offense start coming from him. I predicted big things for him this year. It hasn't happened yet. It's only been three games, but I still want to see more from him overall. But again, soon and later, they're going to need a big goal from this unit when the top players just do not have it.

Yeah, and you're right about the next two weeks with this bottom six because we're going to talk about the week ahead and more in depth after this. But Detroit and St. Louis this coming week, those are two very winnable games. Detroit's okay. St. Louis is not that great. But then the week after, it's three games against three very good teams. Dallas, Colorado. And those are three very good teams. and there is going to be little margin for error.

So the bottom six has to figure it out this week. I agree with you. I do think this week is going to go a long way towards seeing what this bottom six can do heading into next week. You just reference those three teams. They're a combined five and one to start the year. We all know Dallas and Colorado are no joke.

They're going to be playoff teams in the Western Conference this year, assuming they don't have a massive wrath of injuries. But Ottawa, this is a franchise that has to make the playoffs in over five years. this team is gunning for a playoff spot this year, and they just beat the doors off the Tampa Lightning this weekend. That's going to be a pretty tough game. Even though all three are at home, they're going to be very tough,

especially the game against Ottawa. But that will do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to look at the week ahead, doing a small preview for the game against the Red Rings before we dive into that a little later on this week. And then we'll also dive into the blues a little bit later on this week, but we'll also look at the game right now, too.

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your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or you'll get your money back because with eBay Motors, you are burning rubber, not cash. Keep your ride or die alive at eBaymotors.com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Hunter Hodes, joined by Patrick Damp. So this week, two games for the Penguins,

two road games for the Penguins. It starts on Wednesday, Little Caesar's Arena, against the Detroit Red Wings. And for those that do not have Sportsnet, Pittsburgh, you are in luck. You can watch this on TNT, nationally televised game. Pat is already celebrating. I am also celebrating with that. That should be a fun game.

You look at the Red Wings lineup and they're one in one to start the year. They've scored quite a few goals. This team, it's time to start seeing, I think, some progress in the quote-unquote Eiser plan. This is a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs in seven years. They've made a lot of moves these past two off seasons to get back into the race. They were in the race for a good chunk of last season until about the trade deadline where they sold off some of their assets, including Tyler Bertuzzi. They traded him to the Bruins, but they didn't get it done. This year, they make even more moves. They signed JT Comfer. They bring in Daniel Strong. They bring in Alex De Brinket. Those are just three of the many mus that they made. But you look down this lineup. Dylan Larkin is still there. He's awesome. De Brinket, we've already discussed a little bit. J.T. Comfer. Andrew Cot they brought in last year. They got Joe Leno there. This is a team that really needs.

needs to show some progress this year, or I think the heat could really start getting up there on Steve Eiserman, but this is definitely a Red Wings team back in score, and the Penguins are going to have to be aware of that. Yeah, this is a solid team. And the way I look at them, they have the great equalizer in net and Vili Huso. I think Vili Huso's great. And he's due for a big breakout year. And what better time to do it than against a powerful offense like Pittsburgh. But you're right. At the same time, I look at these two games. You know, you just come off three games in five days. Now you've got two games, you know, Wednesday and then Saturday.

So it's, these are very bankable points. We've been talking about it all off season. We said, Gino talked about it this week. Early season points are important. And Detroit and St. Louis are two very winnable games for this team. So right now, like I said, last segment, when you got three big teams coming in, not this week, but the week after, these are four points you want to put in the bank. Right. I mean, you definitely will try, want to want, obviously you want to win every game this season, though that's not going to be possible. But these two games here against teams that, in my opinion, I don't think will be playoff teams this year. You want to try to bank those because if you don't, you're going to be forced to bank points against playoff teams later in the year that are going to be tougher matchups. And speaking of that, you know, with the blues, I don't really know what the plan is in St. Louis, to be honest, they kind of, you know, they got Kevin Hayes over the offseason, but they didn't really change months. I'm not really. I'm not really.

sure what they're trying to do. I mean, I know this is Robert Thomas's team now. I know this is Jordan Kairu's team now. They have Braden-Shem there, who's the captain. Paolo Bucenevich is pretty solid. But they have Kisbury-Captain in getting top six minutes, which I don't really think is a recipe for success. You look down their forward lines. I mean, Jacob Rana, I would love to see have a good year for them. Sammy Blague, former Penguin Auster Sunquist. I don't know. I just don't really see it with the Blues. I think they're going to not be good this year defensively. Colton Pereco at least brings some offense. But outside of that, you have Nick Letty playing top pairing minutes, which is just insane, considering how old he is

at this point, how his numbers have kind of fallen off. Tori Krug, I think, is a power play specialist at this point in his career. Justin Falk can bring some offense or bring some of, you know, has some of it go back, excuse me, in the defensive zone. And then, goaltending wise, it's never a bad day to beat Jordan Middington, I should say that, considering how much of a baby he is in that. But I don't, I don't. I don't know. I'm not a big fan of a lose this year. Neither am I. Biggest thing I want to see this week is to see the three big trends I've seen happen over the first three games. We want to see the offense continue. Penguins currently sit second in the league with a plus five

goal differential. Power play is tied for eighth in the league at 25%. And the biggest thing, power play is sitting all alone at number two with 90%. I just want to see the two special teams units continue to get it done. And obviously we want to see a roster that's built the score. continue to score. Power players looked great these last two games. They probably should have potted one against the flames on Saturday. I'm getting Malkin hit the post on one of them. I believe that was the four on three. If I'm not mistaken, they had a couple other really good looks. And penalty kill, I've been complimenting it a lot more of these last three games. I've noticed when the puck carrier on the opposing team has the puck passing center ice, the penguins are being more aggressive.

They're challenging the puck carrier at the blue line. They didn't really do that against the Blackhawks. They did it against the Capitals, and they also did it against the Flames. games, and what do you know? It's leading to better results because you're not just giving away free zone entries like you're passing out candy on Halloween to trick-or-treaters. So if they can continue that, even though they're playing the Red Wings and the Blues, who I don't think are going to be that good this year, the PK should continue to improve. Huttering at about 90% right now, power play is about 25%. You want to see those marks continue to improve. And heck, if your special teams units are thriving and you're getting good goaltending, that's a recipe

be for success in the NHL, especially if you can get competent five-on-five play, which the Penguins have gotten through three games this year. Yeah, and the power play must be that unit and Todd Reardon must be fans of the Locked-on Penguins podcast because last two games, they made the exact adjustment I said I needed to see them make. And that was there was constant movement and not just puck movement. Guys were filling lanes. Guys were getting to open areas.

They were finding the mismatches and they were getting the chances that unit needs to get. Eric Carlson looked very much more defiant as the quarterback of the first unit. So those are all good signs early on. I think Mike Volucci also listened to the show as well, considering the adjustments I think I've seen made on the PK with how aggressive they've gotten. They're challenging the shooters, whether it's at the point, whether it's at the half. Heck, whether it's the slot area. And I know the penguins like to collapse to that area and take away those high danger areas

to make life easier on the goalway, whether it's Shristendari or Alex Nelkevich. But in these last two games, I don't really think they've forced either goaltender to make a crazy save on the PK. Sure, Nadelcovich, excuse me, had to be really good against the flames on Saturday. And sure, Trist and Jani had to stop a pretty decent chance on T.J. O'Shee on Friday. But there really weren't many other grade A chances. And I think that's a big credit to Mike Volucci and his staff for getting the PK to be more aggressive, not allowing those three zone entries, getting the clears as well. Against Chicago, there were so many failed clearing attempts that it was like, what's going on here?

Well, that looks to be cleaned up as well. So Mike Volucci, if you listen to the show, thank you very much. But I think that will do it, though, for this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this one. Pat and I will be back on Tuesday, potentially with a guest for the show. We're still ironing dot out. And on Wednesday, we will preview the game against the Red Wings and then recap it on Thursday. and then Friday this week we'll preview the game against the St. Louis Blues. But, again,

that'll do it for this episode of the show. Thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this one. We'll be back with another episode on Tuesday.