Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins fly over the Jets in BIG shutout victory!

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins started the unofficial second half of the season with a bang on Tuesday night and Hunter and Pat are here to talk all about it. They first start with how great of a performance this was by everyone involved for this team and how they stuck to the blueprint defensively. They also analyze Kris Letang's performance and how he continues to be a rock on the blue line. After that, they analyze Brenden Dillon's dirty hit on Noel Acciari and why they're tired of the people who are defending the hit. After that, they analyze the PP and how it was able to score in a massive situation for once. They also look at Tristan Jarry's performance and how he continues to shut a lot of us up before ending the show with Warrior Helmet Wednesday.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.IndeedIndeed knows when you’re growing your own business, you have to make every dollar count. Visit Indeed.com/LOCKEDON to start hiring now.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.RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer. FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your best bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. 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 took flight over the Jets on Tuesday night. And on today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, Pat and I are going to recap that game. Plus dive into our thoughts about Brendan Dillon's dirty hit on Noal-Chari. Your 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 podcast.

I am one of your hosts, Honrohodes. can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join by my host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Cinderumfrew Wet. And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at LLO underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandul, make every moment more right now.

New customers get $200 in bonus bets. If your best bet of $5 or more wins, visit fandle.com slash locked on to get started. So the Penguins come out of the All-Star break, absolutely kicking Winnipeg's butts on Tuesday night, a 3-0 shutout victory for the Penguins. Kind of a statement win, I think, in my opinion. I thought this was a great win in every single phase. The power play was great when it needed to be. The penalty kill was very good.

The 5-on-5 play was very good. The goal-tending was very good. You got strong play from your forwards and your defense. I don't think I have a single criticism to really give the Penguins in this game, to be honest. Chris Lentang got things going for the penguins in the first period. And I loved everything about that goal because Latang steps up when the puck is at the point and then makes a nice little move. And then, again, you give him the smallest bit of space, boom, that puck's in the back.

And that really nice backhand from Lutang as he continues his really stellar season. Outside of that goal, though, I mean, I like that first period in general. I know they were kind of handling the puck like a grenade at times. I mean, that kind of happens when you've been off for about a week and a half. I mean, the Jets were kind of doing the same thing. But all things consider first period, second period, and third period, this was a very stellar performance by the Penguins coming out of the All-Star break and getting two points where they really needed them.

Yeah, that's a big win. And I think one of the biggest things that stands out to me is that last night, yeah, you can make the case that Brian Russ Scornigal is one of the key contributors. And same for Chris LaTang. But, you know, Chris LaTang has only, ever reached more than 15 goals twice in his career. So he's not a big goal scoring defenseman. So getting goals from him and Jeff Carter and then the power play going two for three,

you had your role players stepping up in a huge game against a great team coming out of the All Star break. We've been talking on this show endlessly about what a great season Sidney Crosby is having. And in no way was he bad last night. He played very well as always. But you look at the way the team played last night. night. That was a full 60 minute team effort top to bottom. We didn't have a night where we said,

oh, this line's not doing great. This pairing, struggling. Everybody on board was a huge part of that win last night. So you want to hope that this is a sign of things to come in the second half, but we don't want to make too much of one victory out of the All Star break. But it's an encouraging sign that they got contributions from role players and the power play did well in a moment that could have absolutely swung the game in a different direction. So overall, a very, very solid victory coming out of the All Star break. Yeah, it's that type of win or I guess rare win where you're not getting any contributions from Cindy Crosby or even Jake Gensel, I'll throw in him in there as well because he's been outstanding for this team as well this

season. You get goals from players who, let's face it, they haven't scored as much as they have in other seasons, and that's big for a team like the Penguins here. Another thing that I thought the Penguins did really well of, they stuck to the blueprint that you and I have talked about a lot on the show this season. They have been able to shut down some of the league's best teams, and they do it by playing committed team defense, and you saw that in this one. Did Tristan Jari have to come up with a couple of really big, timely saves at times? Oh, absolutely.

The Winnipeg Jets did have a couple of times where they were pushing back, and Jari was there to make the saves. But for the most part, I thought the Penguins did a really. a nice job, limiting the jets to the outside, not allowing them to get to the high danger areas. And now we can add that to the collection, I think, of games where the blueprint has been there, whether it's Colorado, whether it's Vegas, whether it's Carolina to a degree, Washington, that Seattle game a few weeks ago as well before the Steelers played. The Penguins, they have shown an ability to get up for these types of games and play like this so many times

this season. They just need to do it more on a consistent basis. I know we keep saying that on the show, but until they keep doing that, I'm going to keep saying it. But that was just a really nice effort defensively. And again, man, I just want to keep seeing it the rest of this week and the rest of this season, to be honest. We have to. And the biggest thing that stands out to me is that at all situations last night, when you look at natural statrix recap of the game, they held the Winnipeg Jets to three high

danger chances in the third period. That is clamping down in the third period in the biggest moments. Now, they had more of the possession and the shot attempts in the third period, but that's just score effects. The penguins didn't really go into a shell so much as the Jets started to push in the third period as they had to being down 3-0. So you really like that defensive effort. And like you said, it's a nice security blanket to have when maybe you have a breakdown or two, or maybe you just play a team like Winnipeg who's very good and is going to get their chances. You have Tristan Jari back there to make a save and he stepped up in the moments he needed to step up.

And now he's the league leader again in shutouts this season, which is it's starting to look like all of us kind of side eyeing the contract he got this summer. A lot of us are eating crow on this one. And I don't mind eating crow on it. We'll get to more of Tristan Jari in the second segment. But yeah, I mean, he was one of their best players by far in this game. Tuesday and he's at this point I haven't even made my choice for the Royer Helmand. We're kind of going to do this on the fly because I have three players in mind, but he is definitely still in consideration. But let's move to another topic that we have obviously

touched on so many times on the show this year. The power play. I have been wanting the power play. You I know have been wanting the power play as well to score in big moments. And this one, when Brendan Dillon got assessed the five minute match major penalty, this is where it could swing the game in two directions. Either the penguins let a valuable opportunity go to waste or they take full advantage and put this game out of reach. Well, they did the latter. They get two goals on that five-minute major,

even though the first two minutes definitely looked a bit dicey. I did not like the zone entries. I did not like the passing back and forth at the top when the second unit especially came on. But after those first couple minutes, the power play started to settle in a little bit. They had more of a shoot-first mentality. and where were both of those goals scored right around the net?

And the first one, Jeff Carter, you said it on Tuesday's show. He parked his big butt in front of the net and gets a deflection and then sweaks the puck past Carter, Hellebuck's pat. That's what you can do with him in those situations because he is still quite a big body. Then you have Brian Rust around in front of the net. He gets one into a wide open net where Hellebuck just had no chance. Those were really nice plays by the Penguins on the power play. They showed more of a shoot-first mentality.

they were zipping the puck around like it was nothing. You finally got to see this power play with conviction. I feel like for one of the first times all season. And it was nice to see them come through in a massive moment because if they don't score there, I mean, you could easily make an argument that Jets potentially win that game because it was only a one goal game at that point. It's exactly what our pal Jesse Marshall talked to us about last week. They took advantage of having an advantage below the goal line.

They took the numbers and used them to their advantage because I noticed one thing during that five-minute power play. Now, we'll see if this was just a coincidence or if they have made the necessary adjustments. You know what I noticed last night? They had a guy in the middle of the ice with a shot first mentality. They had to make the Winnipeg Jets choose who to cover and who to leave open. There was always somebody, whether it was Gensel or Rust or whomever, was open in that soft spot in the slot, pulling some of the defense away. And sure, that didn't lead to a goal specifically, but what it did is it opened up those opportunities down low, which led to the two goals because you look at Rust's goal. It's a net mouth scramble.

They lose track of him because he's one of the guys in that spot. And then you look at Carter's goal. He's the guy in front. And again, they have the numbers advantage. So he gets a little bit of extra time after that deflection to put in the net. If they continue to do things like that, this power play is going to revive itself. Now, the challenge is they have to do it consistently. It cannot be once every few games.

This has to be night in and night out. Right. You took the words right out of my mouth because this team needs to take advantage of others' teams' mistakes, especially on the power play, if they want to get further back into the playoff race. Now, one more thing before we had to break, Brendan Dillon's really dirty hit on Noachari. I thought the officials actually got the call right on the ice,

a easy five-minute major call. That's a direct hit to the head. That should be a major every time, in my opinion. But one thing that I've been seeing too much of on social media today are people trying to defend this hit. You have idiots like John Butcher Grossop, ESPN, saying, I don't think this was worthy of a suspendable hit. There is not enough physical contact in the game right now.

What are you talking about? there is a difference between physical hockey, a clean open ice hit or a clean hit along the boards, and whatever the heck Brendan Dillon did, which was, I mean, basically a direct headshot. And there's other people also saying that Nootari's head was down. I don't know what replay people are watching. Noachari's head is up the entire time. If you like that type of hit in today's NHL, then you just like violence and you like people's heads being turned into mass. potatoes. That's the only conclusion that I can come to at this point. In a well-run league,

this should be at least a five to ten game suspension. Now, granted, I don't think it's as bad as the Gallagher one. That one was awful. But I will say this one was really bad too. It should still be met with a five to ten game suspension. But what you're probably going to get, though, is a one to two to three game suspension, kind of a pat on the back from Mr. George Farrow's because that's what he does as the NHL's Department of Player Safety Leader. But I am sick and tired of these types of hits. They don't belong in the NHL. People don't need to defend the hit for the sake of defending it.

It is a clear headshot. There was no other, there's just no other way to describe it, I think. I'm tired of this, man. The one take I haven't seen that I would agree with is that it was a bang, bang, unfortunate play. Nolachari goes to chip the puck in. He's leaning forward a little bit. Dylan has already committed to the hit.

And that happens. that is a risk in the sport of hockey. And if he would have kept his elbow tucked, I would have been like, you know what? That's just unfortunate. He didn't intentionally target the head. He didn't intentionally fly at the guy. And that's the difference between the Gallagher hit

because that one, you knew what he was doing. That was fully intentional. I don't think this one was intentional per se, but Dylan still knew what he was doing when he was lining up that hit. I just don't think it was intentional like the Gallagher one because he came right off the ice. and went at Pelik fully knowing that, oh yeah,

I'm just going to decapitate this guy. I don't think Dylan wanted to do it, but when you see the elbow come up and when you see the guy looking right at you, you just can't throw that hit there. No, it was, that's the reckless part of it. And I want to highlight what Jansen Harkins,

a former jet, said to Josh Yohe after the game. And this is, he directed these comments at the people you're describing who talk about how it has to be physical and blah, blah, blah. he says, quote, hockey is a contact sport. You should be able to finish your checks. No one is saying you shouldn't.

But you still have to be responsible for yourself and for others. I don't think anybody liked that hit. Honestly, when he sees it, I doubt Dylan will like it. Anyone who saw that replay, it was ugly, end quote. And that's it right there. It's still a physical game. And as I was saying at first, it's a bang, bang play. It's a quickly developing play because Nolichari's not exactly a slow player.

And neither is Brendan Dillon. And it's a fast-paced game, faster than it's ever been. This is a risk that you run. And again, if he keeps the elbow tucked, I would have looked at it and gone, yeah, you know what, you can't call that a five. You got a, that's a coincidental two-minute roughing, whatever you, boarding, whatever you want to call it. But the fact that he has the elbow out and makes head contact is what turns this into a legitimate five-minute match penalty.

And again, if this league took player safety, seriously. We would not see him for five to ten games, but we're probably, we're not going to see him on Saturday in Winnipeg, but he's probably going to be back in three to four games. Right. No, I agree with you. And another thing for what you said about how it's a fast-paced game, I think this type of hit would maybe be okay 10 to 15 years ago, but it's not today with how fast the game is now. And just with everything else. involved in hockey. It's just, it's not. And at the end of the day, that's what matters, man. That is truly what matters. And I'm just tired of seeing these types of hits every single year in this league.

I want them out of the sport. This is not why I fell in love with the sport over two decades ago. I fell in love with the sport because I love seeing players make plays with the puck on their stick. And I also love seeing clean, open ice hits. This was neither of the two. So get this type of hit out of the league in general. But I think that's going to do it for this first segment of today's episode. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to get into Tristan Jari's performance from this one and how he continues to play really well this season and so much more. But before we can do that, we got to tell you all about Fandall.

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If your first bet of $5 or more wins, just visit fandul.com slash locked on to sign up. That's fandul.com slash locked on. All right, we're at you on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Dam. So Patrick and Jari gets his sixth shutout of the year was tremendous throughout this game. There were two saves that I really put down to my notes where I was watching this game and when I was doing my notes for the show today that I really wanted to highlight.

The first one was on Mark Shifley while he's coming down the right side, gets the poke check out there. Really nice saves. And then the one with Adam Lowry right in front. That was one hell of a save from Tristan. And you said it earlier in the show. I think you said it best. He continues to make a lot of us eat Crow this season because when healthy, he has been one of the best goaltenders in the league,

a 9-60 percentage that's well above average for this season, continues to give the Penguins a chance to win night in and night out. And honestly, at this point, one of the biggest reasons I want this team to get into the playoffs is to see if he can get that redemption from 2021, where he kind of just crapped all over himself in that series against Islanders. We really only saw him play one game against the Rangers because of that broken foot. A couple of years ago, he got banged up for a good portion of last year, but he's been able to stay healthy a lot this year.

If this team can find a new consistency level in the second half, and he continues to play well, this team can get in. And one of the biggest reasons, again, that I want to see them play play playoff games is to see what he can do with a second chance in the playoffs because he deserves it after what happened a few years ago. And he is playing perhaps the finest hockey of his career right now. It really sucks to say that we got to wait to see what he does in the playoffs because it feels like we're missing out on a very tremendous regular season. And I agree that he deserves it because if you think back to the 2021 or 21 22 season in the lead up to that Ranger series, he was playing fairly well that season.

He was looking every bit like a guy who was going to completely bounce back from that Islander's debacle. And then he gets hurt and he has no chance to do it. And he's a very good regular season goalie. The numbers bear that out. He has been very solid since he took over the starting job in Pittsburgh in the regular season. But we all know what the quote unquote standard is in Pittsburgh. It's not how well you do. in the regular season, it's what you do in the post season.

And at this point, I have a lot of confidence in him going into the playoffs should they get in this year because he is playing with a certain level of confidence. I don't think we've seen from him since that 21, 22 season. That poke check save you were talking about, that's not something a goalie does if they're questioning their abilities. that's something you do when you know you are locked in and in the zone and playing well. So I really want this team for no other reason other than Crosby playing in a ridiculous level. I want to see this team get into the postseason to see what Tristan Jari can do.

And to see if the rock solid goal tending that they've had this season can carry over in the postseason. I mean, we all only hope I should say that it can. Outside of Tristan Jari's performance, another thing I want to get into for this segment, Yes, he pulled Yardy, his first game as a penguin. Overall, I really liked what I saw from him. I thought he was a aggressive forechecker. I thought he was responsible in his own zone. I thought he had a couple of pretty quality chances,

especially on one of his first couple shifts of the game, came right in front of the net. He was trying to squeeze it past Connor Hellebuck. It was a nice pass from Lars Eller behind the goal line, and just trying to find the slightest bit of daylight. But overall, I mean, that was a pretty good debut from him. I wasn't expecting perfection just because he hasn't played in the NHL in so long. And, you know, he's coming off that major surgery.

But that was still a above average debut. And he can continue to play like this. The Penguins, I think they could have something here for one of the players in the bottom six. What did you see from Yos He Pull Yerby in his first game as a penguin? Outside also of his hilarious facial expression where he puts his tongue up near his nose. I can't even do that. It is just hilarious seeing that connection. But again, overall, man, a really.

steady performance I thought from him. Best way I can describe the way Poo-Yarvey looked last night was he kept it simple, but he wasn't timid. You kind of hit on it there. It's his first NHL action in a long time after that injury. So there could have easily been some hesitation. There easily could have been some questioning his ability in being hesitant upon making plays,

but that didn't happen last night. He played a very simple game. He did nothing overly complicated. He didn't do anything extravagant, but he was solid on all three zones of the ice. He was very good on the forecheck. Like you said, a couple scoring chances, which you want to see from a bottom six forward. He was very responsible in the defensive zone. I don't think I ever saw him out of position.

So that is a very good early sign for where Jesse Pooey RV is as a penguin's bottom six forward. So if he can keep that up, I do think the goals are going to come. they may not be in bunches like we want, but I do think he keeps playing the game the way he played it last night. He's going to keep getting chances and eventually they're going to fall. I just want to keep seeing that 200-foot game from him all the way out because he wasn't just good in the offensive zone, wasn't just good in the defensive zone, played well in all three zones, and that is a very encouraging sign. And he could get a promotion if he continues his play as well because both Riley Smith and

Ricard Raquel were not good to say. the least on Tuesday, especially Riley Smith. His underlines were atrocious. He continues to just be invisible out there. And that's really hurting of getting Malkin, who I thought, in my opinion, had a pretty solid game. There was a sequence in the late stages of the third period. He comes right off the bench, comes in the offensive zone, steals the puck from a

Winnipeg player, circles in that, tries to do a wrap round, but then sets up a couple of more quality chances. When he's playing like that, aka puck hunting, he is on top. top of this game. And I made a point to tweet that out once I saw that sequence because I thought that was one of his better games of the season. The Penguins easily could have had a goal there. So overall, even outside of that sequence, I thought Gina was galloping all night long. He definitely needs some help, though, from his line mates. Because to say that Smith and Raquel are not doing enough right now is a pretty big understatement.

Yeah, Smith had maybe one chance. I remember last night, it was off a net front scramble. but outside of that did not notice him at all. Same with Ricard Raquel. Well, I should say, Raquel has been bouncing between the second and third line. He was getting some time with Malkin last night, but also Drew O'Connor was as well. My apologies on that,

but I know Raquel has spent quite a bit of time with Gino this year, but he's just also not doing it. So I did want to clarify that for everyone. And the main thing is with guys like Smith and Raquel, they're not the kind of guys that I want to say I didn't notice them. I have to notice you every game. you have to contribute something every game given the rules that you're playing. So those two really have to start stepping up or the penguins could be in some trouble there.

Right. I agree with you. We did see O'Connor start the game with Gino. And I thought he was also pretty solid, but we also did see him go down at times and moving up Rickel. But again, Raquel and Smith, they're just not doing enough. And that needs to change also down the stretch. But that would do it for the second segment coming up to

end the show. It's Wednesday. You all know what that means. It's Warrior Helmet Wednesday. Pat and I are going to give our picks for who gets the Warrior Helmet for this past week, even though the Penguins have only played one game during that time. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Indeed. We're driven by the search for better, but when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search, match with Indeed. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. Indeed, is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indy data and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast.

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If you need to hire, you need indeed. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodes. You can follow Patrick's Twitter at Center for Wet. And Pat, I'm going to hand the floor over to you as you did for me last week. I feel like I know who is going to get your warrior helmet considering whose jersey you have hanging up behind you.

So why don't you just say who is getting your warrior or your helmet for today? I am going to give it to Jeff Carter, but I'm also going to reach back to pre-all Star Break since we didn't really have, you know, a lot to work with. We had one game. I think as of the last four or five games, we have seen it from him that he's really embracing the role of being a fourth line player on this team. We can hump him and ha about the contract all we want. If you get offered $3 million, you are going to sign that more than likely. So we can't fault him for signing a contract like that that was put in front of him. But obviously he gets a power play goal last night,

exactly what we talked about on Tuesday, him posting up in front of the net and being a big body and a big presence and helping that portion of the power play out. But then you go back to the Montreal game. You go back to last night. You go back to the Florida game. And when the game's been getting chippy, who's right in the middle of it? Jeff Carter.

It happened in the first period last night. it happened after the Dillon hit when guys were starting to come together to respond to the hit, he was right in the middle of it. Most of the time on the Friday before the All-Star break against the Panthers, same deal. When they were trying to agitate, Jeff Carter was stepping in and being the sheriff that this team kind of needs. And I don't expect him to become a bruiser.

I don't expect him to become an enforcer and fight and drop the gloves and all that stuff. But the fact that he has been put in a four- line wear role and he's embracing it is a good sign for the penguins because we've talked about it before he still has a very good shot for an NHL player of his age so if a guy like that can play in a fourth line role get some chances and chip in which he has been doing that's good news so got to give it to Jeff for a really good performance last night and he's really starting around in the form the last couple of weeks if he can play like that on the second power pole unit then I won't laugh at him being on that unit for the rest of the season,

or at least the next week or two potentially. But I'm going to go in a different direction for the Warrior Helmet. I almost gave it to Carter, but I'm going to give mine to Chris LaTang. I thought he was tremendous in this game. That goal that he scored, as I said earlier in the show, was awesome. But it wasn't just his goal that really stood out to me. It was, again, his play on the penalty kill, getting to loose pucks a lot quicker than the other players,

getting them out of the zone, sacrificing his body to block shots, also his play on the power play, running that top unit yet again, even though he hasn't run it that much this season, he looks so comfortable in that role because he's done it so many times. And the top unit just looks and feels better when he's running it. And I thought it was one of his best games by far this season. And I don't think enough people are talking about just how good of a season La Tang is having. I know maybe the goals haven't been there. The points haven't been there either.

But he has been super consistent in this one. And yes, my dogs also agree because they're barking downstairs. But this was a great performance from him. And I would give him the warrior helmet every single time for this game. He was definitely my second choice today when thinking about who to give the helmet to. Just be, in a way from the goal, he was rock solid last night. It was he has just been consistently putting together great performances all year long. and it's kind of going unnoticed.

He knew he was going to get a demotion when Eric Carlson came in. And we can have the Carlson discussion on another episode, but he could have very easily played a different way this season. It could have been very easy for him to pout to kind of throw it in the tank a little bit because he's no longer the top pairing guy. They bring in this stud Eric Carlson and all the attentions on him. And I think in a younger age, he would have been, that would have been the case.

But now he's a mature guy. He's a leader on this team. And he's fully embraced his role, just like Jeff Carter, of being more of a penalty kill, more of a defensive defenseman. And he has been very good with it, which I think is surprising to a lot of people, because people were always quick to criticize his defense. Right. I agree with you overall.

And just that top pairing with him and Pedersen, it's funny. we obviously think of Marcus Pedersen as the defensive defenseman on that pairing. But we should throw Latang in there a little bit as well because I do think his defense has gotten quite a bit better this season compared to at least a few other seasons. I mean, I've always thought he's pretty decent in his own zone, but he's really taking it to another level, I feel like this season. And yeah, my dogs definitely agree because they're just barking in the background right here. When you have a good take, the dogs bark. Absolutely. You know, the German Shepherd and the lab, they probably see something outside, seeing someone walking.

walk by, but hey, they both agree that Chris Lutang has been fantastic this season. But I think that I'll do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Thursday before we preview both of the weekend's games on Friday, the one against the wild, because Mark Andre Fleury is going to start, potentially his final game against the Penguins for his career. And then the Penguins will back in action on Saturday in Winnipeg against the Jets. But again, thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. We'll be back on Thursday.