Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get their best win of the year against the Canucks!

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

Whew! What a win for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night and Hunter and Pat are here to fully recap it. They start with how that was arguably the win of the season and how they showed a lot of guts coming back to win that game. They look at the effort the team showed to battle back before turning things over to the Erik Karlsson goal. Hunter lowkey goes at some of the small Karlsson haters and shows why he's been one of their best players throughout this season. Yes, he's had some warts, but what player hasn't? After that, they dive into how the kids are performing, including Valtteri Puustinen. They discuss how he's growing up in front of our very eyes and how he has earned a spot on this team for the rest of the season. They also continue to marvel at how good Drew O'Connor has been before shouting out Lars Eller for his effort (even though he's not a kid). Finally, they give their picks for 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.Camino ConsultingAfter providing more than 20 years of service to small and midsize businesses, Camino is offering a digital seminar for families and couples. Mention Locked On when reaching out for a business seminar and receive the first 5 profiles free OR use discount code LOCKEDON for 25% off the rest of the month when you visit www.caminoconsulting.ca . 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.FanDuelGet buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins secured arguably their best win yet on Tuesday night, and Pat and I are going to discuss that game 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, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes.

You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join by my co-s Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at. send them for wet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Game Time, down the GameTime app, great an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. So what a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Pat was lame and

fell asleep before all of the fun stuff happened. I stayed up for it. is because I love light night hockey, but I'll give Pat a little bit of grace because he has to get up at like 4 a.m. for work. So he gets a little bit of a pass in that regard, even though I like to mess with him about it. But Penguins 4, Canucks 3, in my opinion, that is the win of the season thus far for the Penguins. The way that they were able to battle back and respond after the Canucks really took it to them for most of that first period, I thought the Penguins came out with a purpose those first five to six minutes, but after that, the Canucks really bullied them those final 14, 15 minutes they were down to nothing heading into the second period.

But the penguins, they didn't wilt. They didn't quit. They came right back to start that period. Nice pass by Crosby to Raquel for him to get another goal. And then moments later on the 5-1-3 path, the power play comes through. Raquel ties the game. And he's been a different player these last couple of games, to say the least. And then, yeah, I know.

It's not that good. You give up a short-handed goal. That's their third, short-handed goal they've given up in the last five games, which is bad to say the least. but the Penguins still, they didn't quit heading into the third period. Lars Eller, who had I think one of his best games of the season, he ties it up and then Eric Carlson wins it in overtime. But the way they were able to respond, battle back, show all of that heart, grit, spirit was just fantastic.

I could do so many stats for this game overall, but that's where I really want to start with this one because I haven't seen them battle back like that in quite some time. I feel like this season, that was just such a great win overall. It's hard for me to disagree with you saying this is possibly the win of the season because we talked about it yesterday. This is arguably the NHL's best team. Yeah, they're in a bit of a downward trend right now, but most of the underlying show you that this is just a good team and a rough patch.

It wasn't, it's not a team that is smoke and mirrors. They are very good. And I will start with. a little bit of the negative because I was talking to you about this today. It's not, I don't want to say it's so much a negative as I want to say that, yeah, not giving up a short-handed goal is not good. And they've given up way too many recently. But at the same time, not all goals against or created equal.

And if you go back and you watch that play, it was basically an EA NHL-24 glitch because Latang played that about as well as he could once Miller got a chip off the puck. And it hit Chris LaTang and somehow slingshoted right to Miller's stick. And there was not much else he could do about it. You'd rather not be in that situation, all things considered. But overall, LaTang played it well. It was just one of those moments where the pucks did not bounce your way. But, I mean, overall, it had the makings of a game where a team that is in the position that the penguins are in right now.

It would have been very easy for them to mail it in. It had been very easy for them to just get through the game, take the loss, and hop on the plane to get to Seattle and through customs and all of that. But they battled back and they played a very, very heartfelt game. That was something we've been missing from this team a lot this year, I think. This team has played a lot of uninspired hockey up to this point this season. And last night was the exact opposite of that. And just overall, I mean, again, it's another night where, yes, Crosby had two assists, hit the milestone in the fourth fastest player to get a thousand even strength points.

But was he really the driving factor in this one? I wouldn't say that he was, you know, the reason that they got the win. It was a lot of, it was a full team effort in that. I was going to say that. Again, we have not seen in quite some time. Agree. I didn't mean to interrupt you there. I apologize on that, but it's fine.

Yeah, it was you took the words right. on my mouth. That was a complete team effort by the Penguins. Yeah, Crosby did his thing. He got the two assists on the Penguins' first two goals. But how about the Gino line, especially with how O'Connor and Pustin looked, and we're going to get into them in the second segment. How about the Eller line, especially with how Eller looked? How about even the fourth line at times, though not as much as the top three lines, but still, I thought it was a decent game from the fourth line. How about the defensive pairings? They were all mostly really solid as well. And how about Tristan Jari? I know he didn't start the game out playing that well, but how

the way he played in the third period and in overtime, that save an overtime to spraying the Penguins rush before they won it. That saved the game right there. And he saved the Penguins multiple times in the third period as well. And also kind of in a way saved them in the first period a little bit just because of how badly the Canucks were out playing them those final 14 to 15 minutes. This was a complete 60 minute team effort. And you said it. We haven't seen many of those this season. This felt like a game to me that I know the Penguins are still unlikely to make the playoffs right now, but this still felt like a win where that's a playoff like win for a team.

Non-playoff teams, I feel like lose that game. Playoff teams win that game. Again, granted, who knows what the Penguins end up making the playoffs, but still, that's a game to me that the way it felt that a playoff team wins. It does. And again, same thing as I've been saying. The season is not dead. This team is not buried yet.

but they are on life support in the ICU right now. This is not a team that by any stretch of the imagination is back, well, I don't want to say back in the race because with how few points separate so many teams right now, a good week by one and a bad week by another completely flips this race on its head. But, you know, we're going to find out this next month where this team really sits. Now, I'm of the mindset and I said this to you today that I think that, they should take the path of the 2018 St. Louis Blues to where, regardless of what happens over the next week or so,

stick to your plan and just let happen whatever may happen and get ready for next year. And if that suddenly turns your team around and they start playing well and you make the playoffs, you roll those dice. But I think we can say with some certainty here that while this team is looking more like a fringe playoff team than anything else, they're not a Stanley Cup contender. So you want to get yourself back to that point. But right now, I mean, this team is battling at the very least over the last week or so. And pretty much since Kyle Dubus had his media availability, this team has woken up a little bit.

Now, maybe this just means every couple of weeks, Dubus should come out and do a media availability, give this team a kick in the butt because they seem to respond every time. But regardless, I like what I saw last night. I like what I've seen the last week from this team. The flaws are still there. issues still exist, but they're finding ways to paper over them. And the last thing that I'll say on this, over the last week or so, the most encouraging sign to me, they've started to score again. Yeah, four goals isn't tremendous, but four goals against a team like the Vancouver Canucks

and beating them in overtime where they have not been good this season, the Penguins, that is, those are encouraging signs. Seven goals against the Flyers. I mean, again, that's also pretty encouraging as well, especially for a team that has been the worst finishing team in the league this year. And you made a point when you were talking that I was going to lead into. Ever since Kyle Dubas spoke to the media last week and quote unquote challenged them a little bit, the team has responded. He even said he's going to take these next couple of weeks and be as patient as he can before he decides to, you know, sell off some assets potentially blow this thing up outside the core. But since that point pack, they're three and oh, five.

more games until the trade deadline. This team is trying its best to send a message to him by saying, do not throw in the towel, do not punt on this season. We're going to figure this out. That's what they're trying to do these last three games. We'll see if it can continue for the rest of this road trip. And then when they come back home to play the blue jackets and the capitals, but that's the message that they're sending right now. And I think Dubis has got to be at least pretty happy with it with the way they've responded these last three games. And I know a lot of people don't want to hear this. I know they really don't, but he inherited a mess. He really did.

Yes, we have gone over some of the moves he made this offseason and even some of the ones he's made in season and how they're not exactly A1 gold star moves. But he inherited a team that really any direction was possible. This was one of the most unpredictable seasons for me. I know that we said we expected more out of them just because of what we saw on paper and how the Metropolitan Division went,

but you could have convinced me one way or the other on any direction this season. You could have convinced me this team wins the Metro. You could have convinced me this team sneaks in in a wild card. You could have convinced me this team bottoms out. And I would have had justification for all of those. But he inherited a pretty huge mess to where he's got a solid amount of talent on this team, but he's also got a ton of anchors when it comes to contracts

in the way they're held down through no movement. clauses in the way that a lot of them aren't movable just because of what they are money-wise and term-wise. So really, it's a hard place for him to be in. And yeah, I'm not making excuses for him. He needs to be better. He was very handsomely compensated by FSG and the Penguins. But at the same time, this is going to be a mess that is going to take more than a season to get

out of. and as I have been saying on the pod for the last month, this offseason is where we're really going to find out what he's made of. But right now, I think at this point, it's safe to say patience is a virtue for him because A, if this team picks it up, he doesn't have to move everybody this trade deadline. He can do a lot of that in the off season. And with the exception of a Jake Gensel, who I think that's going to happen no matter what, just because of the position that they're in.

At the same time, he can move a lot of this stuff in the summer. And if this team just decides to pick it up and heat up down the stretch, we'll roll the dice and see what happens. Right. You know, say they do somehow, you know, sweep this road trip and then they come back and maybe they split those two games against Washington and Columbus. And all of a sudden, Pat, you're at a, what, seven and one in one in stretching last line.

Right now the penguins are four, one in their last six games. You know, say that keeps up for these next five or six games. I think Dubus will hold back on really blowing this thing up at the trade deadline and maybe make some moves over the summer to put them in position again to contend for a Stanley Cup next season. But back to the game overall, I got a shot, Eric Carlson, man. I feel like Carlson's been getting a lot of undue hate from some people, especially over the last couple of weeks. And I know, guys, he wasn't good against the Flyers, but he was damn good against the Canadiens and he was damn good against the Canucks on Tuesday night. it's not even just the goal that he scored in overtime. Go back and see what he did at the blue line to fake out two Canucks players.

Because if he's not able to do that, that puck is going the other way. It's a 2-1-1. And honestly, there's a good chance the Penguins lose right there on that. But Carlson was able to fake out both those Canucks players, get it to Riley Smith, who got it to Eller, Thatcher Demko with one hell of a save on Ellor. That was crazy. and then Carlson's in the right position to put the puck in the back of the net. But that type of play that Carlson made at the blue line,

that is why you trade for Eric Carlson during the off season. I understand what some of his detractors are saying that, okay, he's making Tim Lee and maybe he's not playing up to the level that I thought he was going to. Okay, I understand that a little bit. But he was also, as you said, he wasn't going to play like a 100-point defenseman this season. He's playing like the defense in that we've seen him play at for a lot of his career and you're seeing that this season. The trade was perfect.

And you saw his impact yet again on display in this game against the Canucks. That is the reason why you make a trade for that type of player. And to what you said earlier, this is a team that all season long has been one of the worst finishing teams in the national hockey league. But if you watch Eric Carlson's play, he does a lot to drive offense. He does a lot to create scoring chances. they're just not going in. And yeah, I know, ifs and butts, candy and nuts,

we'd all have a Merry Christmas. But at the same time, he's doing what you pay him for. He's creating offense. He's creating chances. Hockey's the most inherently random sport on the planet. There is no way to forecast goals. You cannot predict them. They are inherently random.

But the process from Eric Carlson alone has made this team a good offensive team without the scoring. So at this point, with the last week or so, it might be starting to turn, we can only hope. I agree. And you look at his just raw stats for this season, 43 points in 56 games. He is on a 60 point pace,

but with the way that some people that I see talk about him, you would think he's an anchor on this team and one of the worst players on this team. A player that is on a 60 point pace is none of those things. And as I argued last week on the show, if this team was an even just an average finishing team, he would have at least 10 more points and be a point per game player this year. He is playing at a very high level. And I have the data to back this up, people. At five on five this season, when he is on the ice, the penguins have 55% of the shot attempts. They have 56% of

the expected goals. They have 55% of the scoring chances and 57% of the high danger chances. He is a positive when he is on the ice and he generates scoring chances for this team. It's not his fault that when he generates scoring chances, the puck is not going in the back of the net when he gives it off to other players. The Penguins are just not that good of a finishing team, but he is still driving the bus when he is on the ice. And that's what matters to me. Yeah.

What do you want me to add? It's perfect. Don't give you wrong. I know Carlson has had some bad games this season. but who hasn't on this team? Crosby's had a couple bad games at times. Chris LaTang has had some bad games of Gennie Malkin. But when you look at his body of work so far, he has been a net positive to this team and is not even close to the reason to why the Penguins are where they are in the standings right now. I would much rather watch Eric Carlson do what he's doing than Jan Rudah, Mikhail Grimlin, Jeff Petrie, and everyone else that was dealt in that deal. Sorry. I mean, that's just how I see it at this point. And they also gained cap space.

that deal. So at the end of the day, he played tremendous in that game against the Canucks, and I think he's had a mostly very good season. Again, we can criticize him when it's warranted, and he did not have a good game against the Flyers, but you have to give him his flowers when he does have good games, and he's had way more good games this season than bad games. But I think that I would do it for this first segment of the podcast. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to dive into how some of the kids on this team are growing up in front of our eyes and how they should continue to get more elevated roles for the foreseeable future. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about game time.

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quick bets, live same game parlays, exclusive props, and so much more. Just visit fandle.com slash locked on and shoot your shot. that's Fandall, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Dam. So Pat, how about those kids? How about Valerie Pustin and Drew O'Connor? But I'm going to start with Pustin.

He continues to be outstanding over this last week and a half. He had another great game against the Canucks on Tuesday. And honestly, he could have had a couple of goals as well. you dig into the date a little bit, 12 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time. When he was on the ice, the Penguins had almost 67% of the shot attempts. Also, a 69% expected goals for rate, which is very nice. Also, 72% of the scoring chances for the Penguins when it was on the ice. He has really turned a corner these last couple weeks.

I know he was in a little bit of a rut for a few weeks prior to that, but he is looking like a bona fide NHL player. His hockey IQ is off the charts. He has a great shot. his playmaking ability has really come into his own and also his play away from the puck I think has been a lot better as a whole too he's looking like someone who is definitely I think going to stick around for the rest of the season and should be on the team for next season as well he's been tremendous to watch lately yeah four points in his last four games had a goal

against the islanders he's had assists in three straight the biggest thing for me is that he just does not look out of place in a top six role is he he blowing us away? Not really. Has he been elite? No, but at the same time, you think about how many guys we have seen come up that have promised,

that look like they're going to step into a long-term role in the top six and then flame out after a month or so. That happened to him in his first stint with the Penguins this year. He came up, looked okay, played pretty well, all things considered, and then it started to fade. Now in his second opportunity, he's very much become more of a mainstay. He deserves more ice time.

And he's getting assists. He's getting chances. He's in the right place. And he's looking like a very good compliment. Excuse me, on that second line. He's looking very much like they have found something with that O'Connor, Malkin, Pustin in line. And that is what, Evgeny Malkin is needed to stabilize. And what do you know?

the last couple of games of Gennie Malkin has started to look a lot more like of Gennie Malkin because he's got consistent wingers who can keep up and play the game on a similar level that he needs them to play at. So overall, I'm incredibly impressed with this kid so far. And if he keeps it up, you should probably start looking into some places in Pittsburgh. I agree wholeheartedly. And the same can be said for Drew O'Connor too. I thought O'Connor was a man possessed against the Canucks.

He also could have had a goal or two with the chances he was getting. He seems like he's getting to be a better fit on Afghanistan. I know I've said on this show before that I think in a perfect world, he's not on your second line. And I still do believe that. I think in a perfect world, he's a really good third line winger. But he is helping Gino out a lot more on his line than other players have on his line this season. And it's been really nice to see how he has ascended this season and looking like a full bona fide NHL player as well. His game really stood out to me during that game against the Canucks too. Yeah.

And for DOC, the one thing that I noticed that was great from last night is the tying goal doesn't happen without him to make it 3-3 because the puck gets sent down to the Canucks zone and he doesn't win a puck race, but he turns what should have been a clean win by the Canucks defenseman into a contested puck, turns it into a four check. And all it was was speed. all it was was effort and that is something you need from those young guys Kyle Dubus was right this team needs young legs again that doesn't mean that you know Eric Carlson and Chris Latang and

Evgeny Malkin and Sidney Crosby are slow now but you need those young pups that are just chomping at the bit to get out there to make a difference to be a factor in a win and you saw that in an effort from Drew O'Connor on that. Without him, the play that leads to the tie goal does not happen without that effort. And it's little things like that on the margins that help you win games and helps you get into the playoffs and helps you go on a playoff run. And they have been sorely lacking some of those guys the past couple of seasons. The debt players are really stepping up over this last week and have, as I think is the moral of this story. And we can

throw Lars Eller in there. I thought he had one of his best games of the season against the Canucks. There was a point in the second period. I even tweeted this out. He had a grown man type shift when the Penguins were really pushing to get a goal. And the Canucks just could not get the puck off of his stick. He was cycling beautifully in the offensive zone, handing it off to other players, but he was getting the puck back, getting chances. He was a man on a mission on that shift. and I even said to myself, I didn't tweet this, but I said to myself, okay, he's going to get one, I think, before the end of this game. Sure enough, he gets a perfectly placed shot past that Tadermko to tie the game in the third

period. He was awesome throughout in this game. And I know depth has been a big concern on this team all season, but it is nice seeing some of the depth players stepping up a bit more over this last week, week and a half as the team has started to get hot. and if they want to continue to claw their way back into the race, especially with the games in hand advantage they have over the flyers and the lightning, they're going to need those type of players to continue playing like this more often than not.

Lars Eller has been a great return on investment, in my opinion, this season. I still agree with our initial assessment that on a true contender, he's a fourth line center, not a third line center. But at the same time, the way he has played, has made him a third-line center. He has shown himself to be a productive depth player. I know the numbers aren't going to blow you away. They're not anything overly special.

It's not jumping off off the page at you. But you think about Lars Eller's game this season. A lot of his productivity, a lot of what he has done, has come in huge moments, tying goals, goals to get them back into games, great defensive play when they're holding on to a, lead. He's earned being the third line center. And now I know some of that is born of necessity because of the way this roster is built. But at the same time, it can be both. It can be, yes,

this roster doesn't have the depth to put Lars Eller on a fourth line is the fourth line center. But also depending on, there's a solid amount of teams right now where he would be a good third line center option with the way he's been playing. And you would get a good return, I think, for him. If the penguins were to sell him off the deadline and we'll have to see what happens with that but with the way he's playing right now you would definitely get i think a decent return on him that that's for sure it's what we theorized yesterday man this trip is definitely a value inflating proving ground yeah if guys like eller and guys like smith and i know it's an outside shot a guy like rquel keep playing well

might be a little bit easier for kyle dubus to bring up some general managers on some stanley cup contenders and say, look like you're missing a piece or two. I can help. Ricard Raquel going on that shooting bender, by the way, three goals in his last two games, playing some of the best hockey of his season. I think this is probably actually the best hockey of his season. What the heck am I talking about people? But you have all that.

But overall, looking at this win on this road trip, that I feel like was the toughest team you were going to face, as I said for the preview. Got out of the way. You got the two points. now you head in your next two games against teams that are kind of right there with you in the standings. Obviously, both are in the Western Conference. You have a Seattle Cracking team who is also a bit middling this season. The Calgary Flames are the same way.

Then you have the Oilers the night after who are a bona fide playoff team. But the Penguins, they have a very big opportunity in front of them now. If you can win those next two games, get to three and no, and then even if you lose that game against the Oilers because it's a back-to-back, and if you can finish that trip three and one, that's really massive heading back home to play two metropolitan teams. They have a massive opportunity in front of them, and they better not let it go to waste. Yeah.

And again, if you can come out of this with five or six points, come home with that, you're probably still going to end up losing, you're going to lose most of your games in hand, but still have a little bit of advantage, one or two games on the rest of the people. people you're chasing and all of a sudden you've lessened that gap on the points race. Not out of the realm of possibility this team could sneak in.

I think it's still very unlikely, but there is a route for them to set themselves up for success here. And you look at the standings, Pat. They have five games in hand on the lightning, four on the flyers. The opportunity is still there. Is it, as you said, unlikely? Yes. But the opportunity is still there with their season being on life sport that they can really claw their way back into this if they're able to get some results on the rest of this road trip and then getting

some results when they come back home for the start of March and then all of March in general just because of how nuts that month of games is going to be for this team. But that will do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. You know it's Wednesday. That means it's Warrior Helmet Wednesday. There are a lot of picks for the Warrior Helmet for this week. The Pat and I have made our decisions for who's going to get the helmet. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about eBay Motors. Passion driving and patience. What brings home the winning trophy is also it keeps your ride or die alive. eBay motors is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and leveled up to peak performance from superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power or style, eBay Motors has got you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for.

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All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Honour Hodes, join by my co-host, Patrick Dam. So, Pat, let's just get right to it. Who are you giving your Rory or your home? to on this Wednesday. A lot of really good selections. It was hard to really narrow them down. But who gets your warrior helmet for this week?

Yeah, nice to be in a position where we have multiple options for Warrior Helmet Wednesday rather than having to, you know, break our backs trying to figure out who we can give it to. But I am going to go with somebody that even though I've been kind of trying to trade him for the last couple of weeks, I'm giving it to Ricard Raquel. He has looked very much like he's found his game. and I had this take, but somebody much smarter than me beat me to it because they stayed up for the game. That is one of our listeners and one of the best follows on Twitter, Kelsey Sermats.

I hope I said your last name right. But she brought up the point that confidence seems to be the biggest issue with him this season. And you think about the season that he's had. He started off kind of cold and then he gets hurt. And then when he gets back, he's moved up and down the lineup. pretty consistently he's up and down the lineup. He's not getting any kind of consistency on a line. And now he's got his shot back with Sidney Crosby,

and all of a sudden, he's starting to look like the old Ricard Raquel. And we can't discount confidence when it comes to professional sports because, yeah, I know in the grand scheme of things, it's low stakes, but making a bunch of money, you're counted on to be a big time player, and you go into a slump, and then you start gripping the stick a lot tighter. You start trying to do too much. You start trying to really hyper focus on the things that aren't working, and it ends up being a detriment to your game.

So overall, the last week or so, he's got three goals and assist. He's starting to look again, much like the Ricard Raquel we know in love. So if he can keep this up, that's only good news for the Penguins. I like that pick. He was definitely one of the people that I was considering for the Warrior Helmet for this week. obviously I was also considering Sidney Crosby, but I feel like that's too easy, right? We all know how great he was against the Flyers.

He had two assists against the Canucks. He's been great all season. I feel like I've given him the Warrior Helmet very often the season. So I'm going to change it up. I'm not going to give it to Sid. I'm not going to give it to Ricardo Raquel. What it came down to was Eric Carlson or Voltaire Pusin. And I'm going to give my warrior helmet to Valteri Prustan.

I think over this last week, he has been one of their best players. I easily could give it to Carlson with the way he. he played against Vancouver and with the way he played against von Trinol. But I'm going to give it to Pustin with the way that he was, he's been able to, excuse me, elevate his play and look like a true fit on Afghani Malkins line. When Matthew Phillips, it looked like he wasn't working out after a few games. I went on this show and said, okay, it's time for Pustin to be elevated with the way

he's been playing. Sure enough, Mike Sullivan listened to that. He probably didn't listen to the show, but thank you for listening to my idea. He elevated him up to that second line. and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Four points in the last four games, two goals, 12 points, and 26 games this season. Rock solid underlines. He's looking like a bona fide NHL player, as I said earlier in the show.

And I'm really curious to see how his development continues for the rest of the season and into next season. The Penguins have been really missing these types of players in their lineup for the past couple of years. And it's great that they're finally getting good value out of one of the players that's been in Wilkesbury for quite some time. he definitely looks like a surefire NHL and someone who should not go down to Wilkesbury for quite some time, if at all, especially if he keeps this up.

Yeah, we already waxed poetic about how much better he's looked. And I can't disagree with you. Similar what I said about Raquel, if he keeps this, if he keeps this up, it's nothing but good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Agreed. Again, I know a lot of me wanted to give it to Carlson and I feel like I easily could have, but just with the way Puson has elevated his game, it was a slam dunk for me to give the warrior helmet to him. But do you have anything else to add about the game or anything regarding this team before we wrap up?

I mean, listen, it's easy today to feel a lot better about this team because of the win. I do think that there still is very much a playoff team on this roster, but they have a long road ahead of them. and buckle up for March, folks, because it is going to be a long one. The March of the Penguins in full force, potentially, again, we'll have to see. That's the thing.

They're historically good in March, like regardless of teams. So, I mean, I've said it a million times. I'll say it again. You can call the Pittsburgh Penguins a whole hell of a lot of things. Boring is never one of them. Never. This team will never be boring for as long as it exists.

And I would say last March, they weren't that good, obviously, but they'll have a chance to reverse those fortunes for this upcoming month and have the true March of the Penguins start again. And it would be great, especially with that schedule that they have in March because it's daunting to say the least, as we've said so many times on this show. But the Penguins will be back in action on Thursday, the final day in February in Seattle against the Cracking. That's a 10 o'clock start time.

I'll be up for it. Everyone in the late night owl club will be up for it as well. Pat, unfortunately, we're not just because he has to get up for work really early on Friday. But then they'll finish up that road trip in Calgary and then Edmonton this upcoming weekend. But that would do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this one. Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Thursday to get you all set for that game against the Cracken. And we'll talk to you all then.