Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get the win of their season (so far) on Friday!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins had the win of their season on Friday against the Washington Capitals. And on this edition of Marshall Monday, Jesse's going to help me break down that game. Plus get you all set for Penguin stars. That's all coming up right after this. Your 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 Lockdown Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:31 I'm one of your host, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. normally my co-s, Patrick Camp, will be here and you can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet, but he is still very much getting drunk in Mexico at this wedding. He'll be back for tomorrow's show and for the rest of the week and for the rest of the year, if we're being honest, you can follow him again on Twitter at Center for Wet and joined, as always today for Marshall Monday. He's back after a scheduling conflict last week is Jesse Marshall.

Starting point is 00:00:57 You can follow him on Twitter at J. Marsh, F-O-F. Jesse, really great to have you back, and I'm glad that we can keep doing this, man. Yeah, absolutely. How many drinks do you think it takes someone of Pat's size to get drunk? I'm going to go actually a half drink because you get like a 50% around there. I mean, he might be stumbling. He's somewhere around. Let's hope he comes back. He's five foot four. I think he probably gets drunk off, not even one drink, to be honest. Yeah. Hopefully he doesn't get drunk and wander off the resort and get lost in kidnapped or something like that would be terrible. I don't want that to happen. But be careful out there, Pat, if you're listening to this.

Starting point is 00:01:33 Yes, God forbid, Pat, we don't want anything to happen to you. But getting a couple more things out of the way. Of course, thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch the show. And of course, today's episode is brought to you by Game Time, down the GameTime app, create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. So, Jesse, Penguins get the win of their season on Friday against the Washington Capitals. They had a great start in the first period. Eric Carlson gets the scoring started.

Starting point is 00:02:00 And then he makes a pass that I think only. five other defensemen in the league can make to Michael Bunting, who makes it two nothing. And it's just, I want the consistency to be there for this player. It's been so Jekyll and Hyde this year, so up and down. You see the plays that he can make with a puck on his stick that makes him such a special player. But then there's other instances where it's like, man, what was that? Because you weren't that bad last year at times.

Starting point is 00:02:29 I just want to keep seeing more consistency with Carl, and I thought that was a great game from him. And just seeing the way the Penguins also defended that lead in the third period. And just the way they played in the third period as well, they didn't allow Washington to have a shot for virtually half of that period. Evgeny Malkin gets the goal. And they played mostly pretty good defense after that. Yow L. Blumquist had to make a couple of really good timely saves in that third.

Starting point is 00:02:55 But I was left wondering after that third period after they got this win, where in the heck has that type of third period been all year? Were you having the same sort of question in your mind? No, and I'll be the Debbie Downer because I just think the capital stunk. I've watched a lot of Washington this year. I think that they're an interesting story given in how they've pivoted their franchise into being, like, competitive. I think there's some level of smoke and mirrors to their performance early in the season. I don't think they're as good as their record is right now.

Starting point is 00:03:26 But I think that is also, like, probably arguably the worst performance Washington's had all season. like top to bottom it just wasn't their night and i don't i don't want to discredit the penguins because they didn't blow it right and like the bar is so low hunter that blowing it is the bar right like that's that's it like don't blow it um they didn't they didn't blow it so you can't be too critical of them right um and they got i thought even the beginning of the game there was a lot of a feeling out process i thought early like a lot of chance trading off and on two teams i think trying to navigate the neutral zone but i think is it wore out i thought the penguin's became the better team and probably should have won that game.

Starting point is 00:04:04 But I also think that's probably not the best showing that we've ever will get from the Capitals this year. I do think the important note I want to make here is that Michael Bunting scored again. So that's huge, right? Because like complete milk carton to start the season, just no idea where he was offensively and defensively. I thought he was bad in both zones. And I think that's finding its level a little bit.

Starting point is 00:04:30 Yeah, man, you're Eric Carlson comment. I said this on Twitter. What's wrong with him? Right? Like, I don't know. Friday night, I would. Because Friday night was so bad, right? You get this like two ends of the spectrum on back-to-back games.

Starting point is 00:04:44 Friday night, abysmal, Saturday night, doing things that, as you said, like, maybe there's a handful of defensemen in the league that can do. But I just, you know, to me, and maybe I'm making, maybe this is just my eye test being biased. He doesn't look as fast, right? I think there's a burst missing from a. his game. And I think you especially notice that Hunter when he's transitioning back to play defense. That's where he's seemingly getting cooked, right? Is it right at the blue line, not deep in his own zone, right, at the blue line. So to me, that's like out of camp with this mystery injury, right, like just shows back up and plays. No one knows what it is, right? Nobody knows has any idea

Starting point is 00:05:21 why he was out or what the situation was. But I think there's, I think to speak to your question about the inconsistency, I start there. I think that's where the solution. And nobody knows the answer to that question, right? But I think that's where the answer can be found is what's, what's affecting his legs and what seemingly got him not as fleet of foot as he was last year. Right. And you saw him get cooked multiple times at the blue line on Thursday night. I mean, Sebastian Ahho made him look really silly. But then fast forward one night later to Friday, he's making smart decisions with the puck. He's breaking the puck out of his own zone with control pretty easily. He's making that pass to Michael Bunting that not many other defensemen in this

Starting point is 00:05:59 league can make. It was a completely 180. And I just want to see the type of performance on Friday night way more often for him because he has the ability to do it. He just has to stop being so inconsistent. And I understand your point about how poorly the capitals play. They have been a fun story. I think right now, if you were to rank the teams in the east, they're probably fourth behind Florida, New York, and Carolina. In my opinion, you can maybe make an argument for Tampa Bay, Toronto, but I have Washington fourth right now. But I still think I want to see the penguins try and repeat that third period against other teams.

Starting point is 00:06:37 That should be the blueprint for them going forward. The way they were able to not allow Washington to get a shot for virtually half that period, the way they were able to defend the rest of that period after Evgeny Malkin got that goal. And by the way, what a great goal that was from Malcon. Even better power move from Ryan Russ. He's done that move so many times to the front of the net. really nice seeing him dish it to Malkin there.

Starting point is 00:06:59 But I just want that to be the blueprint for other games this season. Again, I understand this team is not very good right now. But if they have any shot of trying to play their way back into this, I guess, race in the Eastern Conference, they need way more third periods like that. Yeah, unless is more, I think, is the theme, right? They wait it boring. That's the thing. That's great.

Starting point is 00:07:20 Yeah, that's what we want. You know, you don't need to score that extra goal, right? When you're in that situation, you don't, there's no need to keep pressing and pinching. you know and trying to you know drive offense that's not needed you could just make it mucky in the neutral zone or you know i thought they did a good job hunter even when they weren't generating shots themselves they just kept the puck out of their own end right i mean that's that's the thing to me is you didn't leave the door open and you know if you could just leave the door shut you don't even have to lock it just leave it shut uh and i think the lack of pinching aids to that right

Starting point is 00:07:50 you don't have a defenseman constantly out of position uh the forwards have to work less hard And, you know, I don't think they were not trying to be productive offensively, but it wasn't beating a dead horse. You know, I think it was let the game come to you, right? Don't force everything. Let the game come to you and make decisions based off what the other team is giving you. And I thought that we saw a lot of dump-ins. I thought that was great.

Starting point is 00:08:13 You know, I thought they played a lot of dead pucks? You know what's really popular this year? And I don't know if people have picked up on this yet, but like, have you noticed, like, there are a lot of stretch passes coming out of their own zone. And that's like, I thought it was good that you saw less of that in that third period. Because just like all this stuff we've been talking about, like getting killed in transition or pinching, stretch passing is a risky venture, right? I mean, anytime you're throwing a puck that's got across two lines to get it to its recipient,

Starting point is 00:08:41 there's a ton of things that can go wrong. I mean, hell, the ice could be bad. You don't even have to have another player near. You could just hit an imperfection in the ice and screw it up. So, yeah, I thought it was much more measured as the word I'll use, right? and more reserved almost, but in not in a stupid way, not in like a selling out way, just in like a take what the game gives you way. And that's all they have to do.

Starting point is 00:09:03 I think that the approach they have some nights where they just want to kick the door down offensively over and over and over again, that's great if you're up five and you want to pile on, you know, by all means, go for it. But when it's a one, two goal game and momentum, meaning what it does in this game today, you can't keep doing that all night long. You've got it bunt sometimes. Yeah, it kind of reminded me just a little bit of some of the times they would play in 16 and 17, where they would really know how to defend a lead in the third period.

Starting point is 00:09:31 That's at least what it looked like on Friday night in Washington. And it was just really nice to see that come back a little bit. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Jesse and I are going to go over a couple more things from this game, including how Noel Chari has played these last several games and, of course, the goaltending situation. What is going to happen going forward now that Trishon Jari is back. with the penguins and they have this three goalie rotation going.

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Starting point is 00:12:22 I'm one of your hosts on Troties, joined for Marshall Monday by Jesse Marshall. So, Jesse, let's start with the big question, and that is the goaltending situation. The Penguins actually just tweeted out that it will be Yoel Blumquist getting the start tonight against the Dallas Stars. I got to say, I know Blumquist is their top goalie right now. I was kind of surprised when I read that tweet because they just recalled Jari. I was kind of thinking, were they maybe just going to give Jari the start tonight just to see what he can do back in the NHL, considering what he did in the

Starting point is 00:12:51 HAL. His numbers were pretty solid. His goals against average was very low. He played fairly well in Wilkesbury. So I was kind of thinking, why don't they just give him a start and see what he can do? But I am totally fine with them going to Blumquist for this game. He has earned this start. He has been their Penguins top net minder this year. I guess that was just kind of thinking again, I thought they were going to give

Starting point is 00:13:11 this to Jari, considering that he just came back up. But Jesse, what's your read on the situation right now now, now that Jari is backed up with Ned and Blumquist? Yeah, I was surprised that they didn't. I thought that they were going to go right to them. You know, they have this plan they keep referring to, right? That they keep referencing as like they're, you know, that everything that they're doing here is scripted according to them, right?

Starting point is 00:13:36 So maybe this is just a part of the secret plan. I think that you want to get them in at home probably, right? Like, I think that makes the most sense. So that's one of the other things I thought that would get them into the net tonight was that they're at home and that's usually a more. stable environment, I think, for most nights. But you said it. I mean, Blomquist's just been their best guy.

Starting point is 00:13:55 It's been their best player in the net. So they need points right now. They can't, you can't take this season, put it on pause. If you were, you know, stacking wins and accruing a bunch of points that you didn't expect to get, by all means, give Jari the night, right? Let them go and take the two points and roll the dice. But you can't do that. You have to stack.

Starting point is 00:14:18 points. Like if you have any chance of even being around the sniffing the playoffs come the holiday season, you got to play the guy that gives you the best chance. I think right now that's that's Joel Blumquist. And if he slips up tonight, something bad happens. He lets in a couple softies by all means, you know, go to Jari and see what he can do. But I'm not also, here's the thing, Hunter, just being frank with you, I'm in no rush to get Jari back into that net. Fair. Got to be honest with you. Like I am not, I don't know, you know, the problem. The problem to me seems so, maybe you can clip this later and play it on repeat to show how wrong I was. I would hope that's true because that would be the outcome that's preferable for the penguins,

Starting point is 00:14:57 right? But I don't know that like a two-week trip down to the American Hockey League fixes the problems that you saw, right? Like that to me is wishful thinking, right? This problem is like much, much bigger than a two-week solution can provide you. But maybe at least stops the flooding on the boat. Maybe it gives everybody a stable moment to kind of align themselves and try again. and maybe you get a little bit of a better result out of that, you know, as a result. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:15:24 But, you know, back to my original point, BlomQuest should be the guy right now. I mean, he's the one that looks the calmest in there and the one that seems to have most control and command over what's going on. And I think as time has gone on, I've seen him grow deeper and out of his net and sort of like challenging guys now and getting on top of the crease more, which is great. So, yeah, keep it rolling. I know at some point, Jari is going to have to get back in there. Hunter, but, you know, don't rush it. Yeah, I mean, he was making some great timely saves in that game

Starting point is 00:15:54 against Washington. The save on Ovechkin is one prime example. The same on Dylan Strom is also another prime example. He was great in that game. And so, yeah, I'm totally fine with them going back to him. I was just kind of thinking Mike Sullivan, she was like, oh, I want to see what he learned, I guess, from these last two weeks and maybe putting him out there against one of the top teams in the league is a good test friend. But on the other hand, I could also see Mike Sullivan at least by starting Bumk was in this game. He's maybe going. like, okay, maybe I want to see Jari against one of the worst teams in the league, maybe like a Detroit who's not that good or like a San Jose this upcoming weekend,

Starting point is 00:16:28 who's not that good either to see what he can do. Both of those games are at home for the Penguins. The Penguins play three or four games at home this week. And actually, you know, you look at the rest of this month, Jesse, they only go on the road twice, and we're already at November 11th. They only go on the road to play once this Friday on November 15th against the Blue Jackets. And then the 29th against the Bruins, every other game this month. month is at home. So they'll have an opportunity or two to go to Jari, especially, you know,

Starting point is 00:16:54 later this week against teams that are really not that good to maybe see what he's learned. So again, I'm good with it with how Blumquist is playing. He's NHL ready. He's shown that. And I'm excited to see what he can do against the Dallas Stars tonight. We're going to preview that game coming up here in the final segment, but just to switch gears a little bit. Jesse, how about the play of Nollachari this year? Start out a little bit slow, but these last several games. I feel like this is the Nootari that we have been wanting to see for quite a while. Last year, he was pretty banged up. But when he was in the lineup, he really wasn't doing too much with this year. He's a penalty killing menace. He's forechecking hard. He's showing his physicality every night.

Starting point is 00:17:34 And he's also producing some offense for this team. He got that empty net goal against Washington on Friday. But this is the best I've seen No La Chari play as a penguin. And it's really nice to see after how unfortunate last year was. Yeah. I mean, I think the barometer on him should be like how noticeable is he in his role and how much energy is he bringing to the team. You mentioned all the things for checking. I mean, penalty kills a bonus for me,

Starting point is 00:17:58 even strength minutes, like forechecking, winning loose pucks, getting pucks deep, going in there and knocking a couple guys around to keep it alive while his teammates come to help, getting in front of the net, being a menace there. You know, that's what you expect, right? I think that's what you should be getting. And the goals would be nice, I think, given his salary. I mean, I think you'd like to see him pot a few too on top of that. I don't think that's enough, I don't think that's enough, right, for how much he makes.

Starting point is 00:18:24 So I'd love to see, you know, a little bit more on the goals where I side. The empty netter is great. But at the end of the day, I just feel like that environment is so much more stable, right? You don't feel like in the third period of a game, Mike Sullivan's thinking about ways he can creatively not deploy his fourth line, which is like looking back a couple years since the Hextall era hunters, like really, have they had a useful fourth line? Have they had a line that they feel confident can go out and, you know, not blow the game or get hemmed in their zone for a full minute and 50 seconds?

Starting point is 00:18:57 This feels like, you know, you can attack a little bit with this line. And again, it's not going to score, you know, 20 goals over the next 20 games. It's not going to be white-hot by any stretch of the imagination on the score sheet. But you need to stop this team, Hunter, in my opinion, when the bleeding starts, they hemorrhage every single time, right? You look at these blown leads. They have absolutely no way to collect themselves. And if you have a line that's just all energy, right, forget about the threat of scoring, forget about all that. Just energy, useful checking can play inside the offensive zone.

Starting point is 00:19:36 That's the bandage, right? Like that's what you need to get the game back underneath you. Because right now what's happening is you let one in. Everyone forgets the system. Puck watches in the defensive zone becomes extra passive. And now it's 2-0, 3-0, 4-0-0, 5-0-0. You know, obviously not that bad, but you get the point of trying to make the goals start to go in all the time.

Starting point is 00:19:55 And they blow these leads. They let games slip away and really short margins of time. So, Achari getting the big mention here as a part of this unit, right? But, like, that's what you need. You need a team that can go out there and just be. be a tangible game changer, which is probably something they haven't had since Bluger, Zach Aston, Reese, and Brandon Tanov. I like that comparison because that line really was great at shutting down the opposition

Starting point is 00:20:20 in the defensive zone. I know they weren't giving you a lot of offense on most nights, but defensively, their underlines were always so good. There's a reason why that line was talked about quite often when they were here. But, yeah, I mean, doing back to another point that you made, I still want to see this team not wilt when they have, you know, a multi-go lead. It's happened so many times, heck it happened even against Washington when they went up to nothing.

Starting point is 00:20:42 They allowed Washington to crawl back into that game, even though Washington wasn't playing that well. But once they got to lead in the third period, I was still very surprised they didn't cough that up because considering that they've done that all season long. But I think that'll do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Jesse and I are going to get you all set for Penguin Stars tonight and how the Penguins can get two big points against one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

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Starting point is 00:21:40 That's fandul.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandul and official sportsbook betting partner of the NFL. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by Jesse Marshall for Marshall Mondays. And Penguin stars, Jesse, it comes your way tonight from PBG Paints Arena, one of many home games for the Penguins this month.

Starting point is 00:22:03 And this is a Stars team that has been very good to start the season. they are 8 and 5 through 13 games. They have 16 points. That's good for third in the Central. There are seven points at a second behind the very red hot Minnesota Wild. And the scorching hot Winnipeg Jets, 14 and 1 to start the year. That has never happened in NHL history where a team has won 14 of their first 15 games to start the season. Jesse, that Winnipeg team has been absolutely unreal.

Starting point is 00:22:29 But the Stars team very much still a Stanley Cup contender. I think when you look at their forward group, I think this is the day. deepest forward group in the league. You have Jason Robertson on your top line with Rupé Hins, Matt Dushain. The Ageless Wonder Matt Duchin is on the second line with Tyler Zagan, Jamie Ben and Wyatt Johnson on the third line with Stan Coven, who has been a wrecking ball this year. And then you have Sam C.L. C.L. Hayeskin, easily a top 10 defenseman in my book in the NHL. You have S.L. Lindale, who's a perfectly fine second pairing guy. Thomas Harley, who's on the third pairing, but you can easily put him higher up in the lineup,

Starting point is 00:23:04 I think. And then you also have, of course, Jake Gottinger and Net, who is a borderline top 10 goalie. This is a team that four checks very hard. Every line can produce offense. They play well in their own zone. They usually get the goal tenning. This is a very tough test for the penguins. And you look at some of the players that have been really producing for the stars. Dushain already has 15 points in 13 games. He leads the team in goals. Stan Coben is a point per game guy. Tyler Sagan's a point per game guy. Rupé Hince has been great. And he's great in all three zones. is a treat to watch. Jason Robertson, four goals, seven points, and 13 games. I still think he has a bit more to give, and I think he is going to throughout the season, but this is still a team

Starting point is 00:23:45 that is very dangerous. So, Jesse, what are your keys for the Penguins to be a very strong stars team tonight? Don't let Jason Robertson and Mero Heiskin be the ones that figured out tonight. They haven't been their best up to this point in the season. I think Hayskin, especially kind of well below what you'd expect his pace to be. Hasn't looked the same, I think, his zone entry numbers as well, have been a little bit down for me. But they're still super dangerous, right?

Starting point is 00:24:13 They're effective between the blue lines. They're tough to beat in the neutral zone. They play extremely well off the counter. And they've got guys up and down their lineup who can just absolutely destroy you along the wall in puck battles. They're very aggressive along the boards. They attack from outside to inside a lot,

Starting point is 00:24:33 walk a lot of pucks through the circle into high dangerous scoring areas, both at even strength and on the power play. So good shooters throughout. That's the thing. You look up and down the lineup. Every single line has got a guy on it who can rip one in from anywhere. And when you combine that with some of the big bodies they have that can roll around and be physical, like look at Mason Marchment and the role that he plays on that line, you know, that's what his, you know, he's the Chris Coonitz out there that's out there to create space and bang guys around and, you know, get the shooters open. So you're right.

Starting point is 00:25:04 I mean, I think they're a good team. I still think they're a favorite in the West. They're this good. And I don't think Robertson and Hayeskin and have played particularly like up to their level, which is terrifying to consider, right? Like if they're two best players haven't like necessarily gotten into the full stride of it yet. Ugh. That's, you just don't want to be the team that, that opens the door for them.

Starting point is 00:25:26 Right. And again, not that they're playing poorly. I think just the points haven't come for either one of them in the way that you might want them to up to this point. And you know that breakout performance is coming, right? So just don't be the team that gets dormatted by one of those two and starts their unbelievable run of form. No, I mean, Hayskinan hasn't even scored yet this season. He only has four points in 13 games. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:48 We all know that's not going to last, but you're right. You don't want it to really start tonight. And this is going to be a pretty interesting litmus test for how the penguins play in their own zone. you can't keep doing what you've been doing in your defensive zone all year against a star's team that has this much firepower. You try turning this game into a track meet. You're going to lose 6-1, 6-0-7-0-something like that. That's how the stars play.

Starting point is 00:26:14 They have the talent to make you pay. And they just got dog-walked by Winnipeg. So you would imagine that they're not going to, you know, if you go back, I think, what was about a week and a half ago, Hunter, they got lost two to Florida. They had a home-at-home with the Panthers, lost both. I know they may have dropped another game in between that.

Starting point is 00:26:33 Their win, one, lose one, win one, lose one right now. I think that Winnipeg performance was, that Winnipeg crowd was on their goalie hard. And kind of like getting a little, you know, USA Canada rivalry thing going with some of their chance at him. So I don't imagine, Hunter, that Dallas is going to be, you know, coming out on a flat foot tonight. I think they're a pretty good road team.

Starting point is 00:26:57 and I expect them to come out throwing a few punches, given the way that that last one ended. So you can't get, you know, the penguins, you've mentioned it 15 times on the show already. Consistency, like this is where it has to start for the penguins. It has to start here defending your home ice against the team that just got, you know, beat up by a really good squad. This is, you know, you win this one.

Starting point is 00:27:19 Maybe you start to make some believers out of people that maybe there's a little bit more to this. Yeah, and later this week you have games against the Blue Jackets who will earn that good this year and against the sharks who, we also know pretty bad. They didn't just shut out the Devils though this weekend. Mackenzie Blackwood had his nice revenge game on the Devils. But it's still going to be a fun game. Here's the thing, though, Hunter, not to cut you off,

Starting point is 00:27:38 but like the Sharks game terrifies me a little bit because the players on that roster, if you're irresponsibly pinching and like giving them opportunities, they're going to dunk on you. Like Jake Wallman, assuming he's back by then, we'll be doing the gritty all over again just for a different team this time. Like, you cannot, you know, we talk about this less is more approach that they had in the last game. Like, that's got to be it. Like, you should beat a team like the sharks on paper, right?

Starting point is 00:28:04 That should be a team you beat. You lose those games when you take those unnecessary risks. And, you know, while the sum of the parts might not be great, some of the parts are really good. And you have to start to be, the sharks are a team now. You have to start, like, taking a little bit seriously just because of, you know, and we haven't seen a ton of Macklin celebrating, obviously, because he was hurt. but you got to start taking them at least, you know, somewhat seriously. Right.

Starting point is 00:28:28 And just real quick to end the show, Jesse, are you a believer in the Winnipeg Jets this year? Yeah, I am. It starts with the goal. I've always sort of, I thought they would have been better last year, too. Their goaltending is not going to regress, right? Like, let's start there. Like, Connor Hullabuck is good and he's a regression immune goalie. So he may slip for a couple games, but like what you're seeing is what you're going to get.

Starting point is 00:28:53 they have four good lines, right? Josh Morrissey last year turned into a superstar and got hurt, and people forgot about him because he was out for a little bit. He's reminding everybody that he's picked up right where he left off before he got hurt, and he should be a household name among defensemen in analysis of this league. And I don't know if it's like he's not six foot five again. We're going to do this semi-small defenseman jargon with him. But at the end of the day, like, he's earned it.

Starting point is 00:29:24 He's a point generating machine. And they've got some really good shooters, right? Like look up and down the line of guys that you assume are these like grinded out, get it deep and beat you on deflections are scoring like snipes, right? And maybe that goes away, but then you end up with guys who can get to gritty areas and score on deflections. So it doesn't really go away. You know, I think they need to add, they don't have a superstar, right? Like, that's the one criticism that you could make of them is like when the going gets tough and the well dries up a little bit, who's going to lift them up by the seat of their pants and drag them across the line?

Starting point is 00:29:58 But they go out and get somebody like that and they become a big buyer at the deadline hunter. Like, what does that team look like? And, you know, there's all, I hate bringing us up because like it's both true and it's also something people don't want to talk about, but like destination, right? It is a hard draw to get someone to come and live in Winnipeg and play there for a long period of time. And I know we're laughing about it, but it's true, right? It's just true. It's really difficult for them to market themselves as anything other than this small group, this small city that's got these diehards in it, right? But like, look at the record now and you look around the league and maybe there's some Verkem stars on some other teams who want to get out of where they're at and they're still going to start beating on the door for a trade.

Starting point is 00:30:45 We always have these names come up around the deadline, Connor. I'm thinking about somebody on the Kyle Connor. Hunter that are the guys you know we're going to move, the big names that you know we're going to go. They're on the whiteboard for everybody. Maybe Winnipeg's not such a dissuaded position for them anymore. Maybe they're more willing to take a trip up there. And whether it's on a rental or a short-term deal,

Starting point is 00:31:06 if they're going to be winning 14 out of 15 games, I don't think anybody's going to care about the weather. So, I mean, yeah, I think they're making themselves more marketable in this process. Well, or their airport, right? But, yeah. Kyle Conner's been great. Eilers has been awesome. He's been great.

Starting point is 00:31:26 Yes. Like, Renaissance level good. And not to say he's been bad the last couple years, right? But like, we just said they don't have a star. Maybe it's him. Maybe. I mean, I can definitely see them being aggressive at the deadline to it. Morrissey.

Starting point is 00:31:40 I mean, he's, to me, borderline top 10 defensemen in the league right now, you can certainly put him in there in Hellebuck. He's disgusting. Arguably the best goaltender on the planet right up there with Igor. It's like having two humans in the net. Yes, legitimately. He's been that good for so long. But I think that'll do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:31:58 Jesse, you tease something that's coming up in the athletic this week. What is it? I'm not going to tell you what it is because I might jinx. It's contingent on something happening, right? So we're going to release it one way or another. But I'll tell you this, it's about Sidney Crosby, and it's got over of 20 minutes of video in it. Intentioned on something happening. I wonder what that something is.

Starting point is 00:32:24 You know, we don't, we don't traditionally look at Crosby in this vein, I don't think, right? And I think that's, I'm trying to take a different approach at like viewing his historical career. Because, you know, he's not going to go, let's just be honest. He's not going to go down as one of the best goals scores of all time, right? but he probably should go down as one of the most creative. And I think that's what I wanted to focus on. So if you are a sicko and you love hockey and you want to watch over 20 minutes of video, come by and check it out.

Starting point is 00:32:55 Also for McKeans, I'm going to talk about Nico He's here and why he's scoring so much. He's been great. The Devils have been fun to watch. And I think they have another level to reach. I think that team can be a contender this year, in my opinion. I've got to clean it up defensively, but yes. Yes, I agree. But again, I think that will do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:33:16 Thank you all so much for tuning in slash watching on YouTube. Pat will return from his vacation on Tuesday for the show, and hopefully he won't be too hungover from this trip. And that's going on Jesse. He'll be back next week for Marshall Mondays and throughout the season as well. So for Jesse, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. And Pat and I will talk to you on Tuesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get the win of their season (so far) on Friday!

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