Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get three out of four points heading into the break!

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins had themselves a solid weekend with 3/4 points and Hunter and Pat are here to break it all down, starting with the Panthers game. Hunter and Pat discuss how the Penguins were able to bank a point against the Panthers and how they didn't back down when they were trying to bully them. They also praise Alex Nedeljkovic for his performance and how he was the biggest reason (outside of Evgeni Malkin) why the Penguins got the game to OT. They dive into his saves in the third period before shouting out Geno for responding the right way after what happened in Arizona. They look at how this was a massive weight off his shoulders and how they'll need him down the stretch. After that, they recap the Montreal game and how Sidney Crosby did something otherworldly to help tie the game in the third. They also discuss Marcus Pettersson and how his wicked shot got the Penguins the extra point after he was having not that good of a game before discussing the changes to the power play. All that, plus much more, is on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.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.FactorGet started on your resolutions with Factor, so you’re ready for the new year. Head to factormeals.com/lockedonnhl50 and use code lockedonnhl50 to get 50% off. 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.Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order. 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 had a successful weekend right before their biweek and the All-Star Break, and Pat and I are going to discuss that, plus so much more on today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. 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, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Humber. honor hodies. Join by my co-O's Patrick Dan. We can follow him on Twitter at Cylumphillette. And you can follow the shows, Twitter at L.O. Ernst for Penguins. Of course,

thank you all so much for making this, your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. 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 get three out of four points this week. weekend. They get the loser point against the Florida Panthers before beating the Montreal Canadians in overtime. Overall, I would say this was a very successful weekend for the Penguins. Right now, heading into their biweek and the All-Star break, Penguins are tied for fifth in the Metro. They have the tie breaker because they have the better point percentage and they have games in hand, and they will be tied for fourth right now if it wasn't for the New York Islanders getting their 12th loser point of the year. Without those loser points, that team is 20 and 29. It just makes no sense

where they are in the standings right now. But hey, this is the point system. we all have to deal with it, right? But starting things off with the Panthers game, I like the way the Penguins played in this one. They came out, red hot, they get a power play goal pretty early in the game. And of course, that's the best the power play would look all game because it was an utter mess after that one. Jake Gensel gets things going with a power play goal.

Panthers are able to come right back down and tie it up. They then take the lead late, well, a little later on in the game. And then the Penguins, because they are so good at six on fives now, they tie the game late in the third thing, so getting him all game before losing. in a sheetout. Overall, though, I thought this was a pretty even first period. Both teams were trading chances left and right.

Second period, I thought the Penguins outplayed them. And then the third period, I thought the Panthers really took it to him in that third period before the Penguins were able to tie the game late in the third. And the Panthers actually came close to winning it a couple of times after Evgeny Malkin tied the game with less than a minute to go. But one of the biggest things that really stood out to me in this game was how physical the penguins were. And that's not something I really bring up that much.

on this show. I'm not one of the biggest proponents of, I guess, being physical in a hockey game. But the penguins showed that they can do this when they want to. The Panthers, I feel like Pat were trying to bully them all game long. And the Penguins were like, okay, you want to try to bully us. We're going to dish it right back at you. We're not going to back down from you guys, because let's face it. I think the Panthers are probably one of the low-key, dirty teams in the NHL. It felt like Sam Bennett was trying to just decapitate people left and write his play on Chris Teng was very dirty. I'm honestly surprised. The Department of Player Safety didn't call for hearing for him because I did not like that play at all. And Bennett is obviously a talented player.

He's not Matt Martin over here, Cal Clutterbuck or something like that. But he definitely played like a dirty player in this one. But again, I like the way the Penguins were able to respond in that and show that, yeah, we're not just going to succumb to you guys, throwing these cheap shots, throwing all these hits after the puck is gone. We're going to throw some hits right back. We're going to get physical as well. And I think that was part of the reason why the penguins were able to come back a little later on this game because they were fired up throughout this one. This was probably one of the most chippy games the penguins have played all year. And sure, it resulted in a loss. But I just really like the penguins were able to respond to

the Panthers in this game. That's, I think the biggest thing that stood out to me. I should say, sorry. Agreed. And the, as the kids say, the penguins stood on business in that game, man, they, they were not afraid of the, of the Florida Panthers. The Florida, like you said, the Panthers were trying to bully them. The Panthers were trying to beat them into submission and make them more worried about playing physical and going after them. And that's the biggest thing that I liked from the Penguins on Friday night was that they didn't really truly get sucked into that game.

They played physical. They punched back when they had to. I mean, Jeff Carter went full old man strength in that game. If there was a scrum, he was in the middle of it. And there was one where they had a scrum, the refs break it up. They start moving to the neutral zone. And he gets into it again. And he had Matthew Cichuk so mad all night long.

I'm like, Cichuk, you're one of the best players in the league. You're getting triggered by old man Jeff Carter over here. And given the role that Matthew Cichuk plays and the role that Jeff Carter plays, I'll take that trade off all day long. Oh, yeah. If you want to go to the box with Jeff Carter there, Matthew, you go right ahead and we'll take that all day. And the other thing I wanted to say too was we're going to talk more about the power play

changes later in the show. The power play to me wasn't as horrible as it's been all year. The problem I saw was that there were a couple instances where they couldn't get in the zone and they weren't shooting and all that. But they got a power play that they had was insulting, I think. Well, again, they got a good amount. But it was insulting, I felt like. They got a solid amount of shot.

the biggest issue to me had nothing to do with the penguins and everything to do with the Panthers. When they were getting chances, Bobrovsky was the right there. Bob played a hell of a game on Friday. And so did Alex Adelkevich, for that matter. That was a really underrated goaltender matchup on Friday night. But, you know, there were moments where, yeah, they couldn't get in the zone. They were making stupid decisions. They were refusing to shoot.

But at the same time, you have to give credit to the goaltender on the other end. But overall, I was really. happy with that game on Friday despite the shootout loss. And at the same time, that low key might have been the Penguins wake up call game because there was no, we have to focus on doing what we're doing. We have to play our game, yada, yada, yada. They had to go into the fight against the Florida Panthers. They had to step up and they had to play an intense physical game against a team that is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. And for all things considered, the Penguins went blow for blow with them.

I agree. And for two teams that only play each other three times a year, you would feel like this was Penguins Flyers or Penguins Capitals with the way this game was throughout the night with how chippy it was and how nasty it was. I will say, I feel like this was one of the most entertaining games of the year with how many chances there were on both sides, with how many scrums there were, with how great goaltending it was. And I'm glad you brought that up because in Delccon,

was tremendous, especially, in that third period, Pat. The Penguins were badly outplayed in that period overall. If you just go to natural stat trick, I mean, the Panthers had 13 scoring chances for, two against at five on five, 21 shot attempts for, nine against. And they had all five high danger chances at five on five. The Penguins were really not getting anything in that third period until the six on five when McGinnie Malkin gets one of the biggest goals, if not his biggest goal, I would say, of his season considering what happened against Arizona earlier.

in the week and that celebration man wow i mean you could tell that goal man that's quite a big weight of the world lifted off his shoulders with that goal and rossi wrote about it after the game because rossi has such great access with vgeny malkin but you could tell that he he was upset at himself he was upset at his situation and i don't ever want to hear people say that vgeny malkin doesn't care because that guy cares too much and while i said it on the show that the blame for me laid almost completely with Chris LaTang on that own goal. Evgeny Malkin was taking it the hardest. And you compound that with he has been in a slump

and has been struggling for the better part of a month. He was really, really not in a good place. And that goal, and that game in general, because he played very well on Friday night. That really got the weight of the world off of his shoulders. And they're going to need him to play like this if they want to get even more back into the race after the All-Star break and their by week is over.

it was just such an amazing celebration and you saw what he said to the media after i mean he was taken all this really hard and he was so excited to get that goal to get his team at least a point and how give them a chance to win an overtime and a shootout it honestly that celebration reminded me of just honestly one of his playoff goals it just looked with how excited he was you would think it was a goal in the Stanley Cup final with that celebration but going back to alex delkevich he was outside of abgeny malkin i think he was the main reason why this team was able to get at least a point. He made some 10 bail saves in the third period when the Panthers were continuing to push for the two goalie to really put the penguins away.

And he stood tall every single time. Yeah, he wasn't that good in a shootout, but sometimes that happens with goalies. But he was still great in the third period. And he continues his really rock solid season overall. Yeah. We were both at the game on Friday. And I got to say, having a goalie like Alex Nadelcovic is it just short circuits the crowd because nobody could really figure out what to chant after big saves like I heard some Alex. I heard some Ned. I heard some Nadelcovich and like nobody could figure out which way to go because it's not like a one or two syllable word like jari or flurry or Murray. So like nobody knew what to chant. I didn't hear too many of those in the section I was in, but I know where you were sitting.

And so I'm not surprised that people are trying to do that. Yeah, it's up there with the plebs. You can go ahead and say it. Us pores were up there having fun. The only reason I had box seats was because my friend is a lawyer. So it's whatever. And I've cheated my way into many a suites. I understand.

You don't have to explain yourself to me. Probably one of the only times that I get to go sit in a suite at P.P.GP. and Serra. But the seats were tremendous overall. But yeah, Nadelcovich was tremendous. And especially in overtime as well, Pat, with that sprawling, save with the poke check. That was amazing. I was probably one of the best saves I've seen from any Penguins goal tender this season, to be honest. And it was such a big moon because it looked like

the Penguins are going to go back down the other way to potentially score, but then the Penguins just play it safe and overtime. We'll get into that in just a second. But that's saving overtime, man, just awesome stuff. Yeah, it kept the game alive. You know what? And you said we're going to get into a second. I'm just going to get into it now since we're just going to go ahead. I'm here. The, I think my theory of three-on-three overtime being overcoached now is true, because you could see it from both teams. They were playing to get to the shootout. They circled back.

They didn't take chances. They didn't take risks. There weren't a ton of shots. There weren't a ton of chances. If they didn't have a clean zone entry, they circled back into the neutral zone. If they didn't see what they liked in the offensive zone, they'd circle back and start a regroup.

And I understand that these games mean a lot, even if you're like a team like the Florida Panthers who's up there in the Atlantic Division standings. But it's just overcoached. It's teams playing it safe. It's complete risk aversion. And it's got me to the point now where they either need to overhaul the point system and make it so if you lose, you don't get anything to motivate these guys to start playing more or we just have to bring back ties.

because at this point, if you're not going to take the risk after 60 minutes to get an extra point or two, end the game in a tie. Because the biggest thing is you're not going to take the risk, don't do it. Isn't the league trying to take away retreating into the neutral zone and through the red line as well? Because this has been happening far too frequently in three on three for the last couple of years that where if a player doesn't see something that he likes in the offensive zone, he's just going to retreat and try again. And I felt like you saw both of these teams to do that. And I also think one of the biggest reasons for the struggles for the Penguins in three-on-three, they just never have the puck. I mean, the other team is hogging the puck like it's nothing.

And the Canadians were doing the same thing before the Penguins had their one chance on Saturday, and they buried it thanks to Marcus Pedersen. But, I mean, you look at the numbers for three-on-three overtime here. The Penguins only had 0.05 expected goals for. They didn't have one high-danger chance, but Bobrovsky made that save look really easy. It was just funny how they played for a shootout. that entire time just because they've been better in shootouts this year compared to three on three. I think part of it is also that the team is a bit older now so their legs are not as fresh

for three on three. But I also just don't think they practice it enough where maybe they should do a little bit more practice during the weekend. I know it's hard just because you have to practice five on five especially because that's where most of the game is played. You have to practice special teams. But still, save maybe a little bit of time for three on three, at least during the regular season practices where you don't just look like you're doing this for the first time.

Yeah, and in the possession thing is the biggest thing. And that's not just a penguins problem. That's a three on three overtime problem now. Every team just turns it into a game of keepaway. They lug the puck as long as they can and until they can get the absolute perfect opportunity. And they play it safe. And it's, it's boring at this point. And if this is what we're going to do, you either got to, like I said,

you either got to overhaul the point system or ties have to come back. Yeah, I don't disagree with you at all. But that would do it for this opening segment of the lockdown. on Penguins podcast for Monday. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to break down the Penguins massive win against the Montreal Canadians on Saturday night.

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We're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host Patrick Dam. So the Penguins, they really took it to the Canadians on Saturday. I thought they were the better team throughout this one. And it looked like this was going to be a classic loss where the penguins, they get pretty solid goaltending from their starter, but a mid-to-bad goalie plays like Patrick Waugh or Dominic Hasek in net. And that's exactly what Jake Allen was doing in this game for the Canadians.

through two periods, I kid you not. He was saving almost two and a half goals above expected. He was playing his absolute tail-off in this game, robbing penguin players left and right. Heck, he was doing it in the third period as well, and it took a ridiculous spinorama pass from Cindy Crosby to Jake Gensel to tie the game before the Penguins were able to win the game in overtime, thanks to Marcus Pedersen.

Overall, you know, the underlying numbers support what I'm saying as well, they had 62% of the shot attempts, 60% of the scoring chances, 68% of the high danger chances, 57% of the expected goals for. This was a total buck kicking, I think, in my opinion. And if it weren't for Jake Allen, Pat, the Penguins probably blow this team out of the water. I really like the way the Penguins played. They get the two crucial points. And now they're sitting at least in a better spot heading into the break than they

would be had they lost this game in regulation or in overtime, considering their struggles in the extra session this year. Yeah, Jake Allen was lights out. he played an absolute great game. And like you said, it's so typical penguins that some guy like Jake Allen shows up and plays well above his abilities. And it just sucks.

But, you know, the penguins stuck with it. That's the biggest thing for me. There was no frustration in their game. You know they knew. You know that they knew that, oh my God, how are we going to figure this stupid goalie out?

Here we go again. But they stuck with it. They played the type of game they were playing all throughout. And eventually it paid off. And that's what you want to see from this team. And some nights, some goalies just get hot and it happened. But I mean, the pass from Sid. I mean, it's just absurd.

He's still doing this stuff at 36. And it's just becoming almost expected. Just a ho-hum. Look how good he still is. And we all kind of just go, oh, wow, that's another Sid, another Sid night. And, you know, if Friday night was me ranting against three on three overtime, Saturday night was the example of what it can be at its best when two teams just open it up and go for it. And that's what both the penguins and Canadians did.

They weren't afraid to turn a two on one. They weren't afraid to take chances. They weren't afraid to cheat up. And imagine if we have a point system that actually rewards that and that would become the norm for three on three overtime. But who would have thought? Sniper Marcus Pedersen. That was firewagon hockey in overtime.

And that's, as you said, that's three on three. out of its best. Just chances galore. You got two on one on one end. And then you have a two on one on the other end. And then you go back and forth. That is when three on three is at its best. And you saw Tristan Jari making a couple of really big saves. I know Chris Lentang kind of got walked by Slavkovsky of the Canadians, but Jari was right there to make that save. And then the Canadians kind of make an ill-advised change. Pedersen comes down with Raquel. And did you see the replay where that was a no-look shot from him, by the way? Yeah. He was looking at Raquel, the entire way and just snipes that thing past Jake Allen.

And before that, it had been a pretty rough game from Pedersen up until that point. Honestly, it had been a pretty rough couple of weeks for him. I think he really needed the break considering, I mean, he's been mostly great for the Penguins all year. But the last couple of weeks, he had just not been himself. But he's able to snipe that thing past Allen, gets the Penguins. I think their biggest goal of the season today, just a tremendous goal all around to get the Penguins the extra point and the extra session.

Yeah, Pedersen's had a rough a couple of days to lead up to the by week, but he's earned that that large gap because of how good he has been over all this season. And it was funny, you and I were talking during the game, we were like, man, like nobody needs the break more than Marcus Patterson because he's had a rough, rough week or so as a defenseman. And then he finishes it off. So that's really just paying off how well he's played this year. And like you said, that was a goal scorer's goal for him because he knew that the defenseman and Jake Allen were going to play pass all day long because it was him and Raquel on a two on one. And they all sold out to the pass. So Raquel or Rakele Pedersen looked off Rakel the whole time. And they were all waiting for him to slide it over and he just goes top shelf.

And that was an elite goal. Who knew that Marcus Pedersen had a shot like that considering how good he is in his own. zone. And you're right. He was definitely feeling it throughout this game. He made a pretty ill-advised read on the first Canadians goal where him and Latang kind of went right toward the puck area and just leaving Gully wide open on the other side. Just not a good play there. And then Pedersen also had a ill-advised pinches that led to Ottoman rushes. Just wasn't his usual self in his own zone. And I even tweeted that he kind of had his controller disconnected during this game. But with the over overtime goal, the controller ended up being reconnected and plugged back in. And he was able to score the big goal. But

But overall, I can't say enough about how big this win is because you get momentum into the break now. You get three out of four points. You're in the race. You have a lot of games in hand on the flyers now. We can look at the standings overall. And I have even said they're tied for fifth in the metro. But the penguins have right now 51 points, one point behind the Islanders.

They have three games in hand. They have four games in hand on the flyers and the penguins are only five points behind them. you win those games in hand. You're third in the metro, especially over the Islanders as well. You are in a playoff spot if you are able to win those games in hand over both of those teams. The Penguins, they have it in their grasp. They just have to take advantage of this after the break. They do.

And this week, the only team that they're chasing that plays is Detroit. They play on Wednesday and it's against the Ottawa Senators. So that's probably going to be two points for the wings. but you look at this though they have they will have four games in hand regardless of what happens in the Detroit Ottawa game because that'll be Detroit's 50th game of the year. The Penguins will sit at 46 and they still have four games in hand on the Flyers who have played 50. They've got three on the Islanders. So this is setting up really nicely.

They took care of business this weekend. They got three out of four. They put themselves right back in the race. and like we said in the preview on Friday, they didn't have to go four for four. It would have been nice. We would have been happy. That would have been the ideal outcome.

But you played two Atlantic Division teams that you aren't chasing that aren't really part of your playoff race. So if you can cede a point, not a huge deal. Because once again, everybody they're chasing continues to keep the door open for them. They either go on losing streaks or they continue to lose and keep the penguins in striking distance. and a lot of the teams, two of the big teams that they're chasing, the Flyers and the Islanders, they are sinking like rocks.

Yeah, the Islanders haven't had that big coach bump yet from Patrick Waugh. They've lost 3-04 since he took over, and the Flyers have lost five in a row heading to the rate. They're not playing well at all right now, and they also only have Sam Erson and that just because of the Carter Harst situation. We'll have to see what happens with that later on this season. But still, I mean, the Penguins, they have every opportunity after the break. They're just going to have to take advantage of it

and see if they can climb into a top three spot in the metro. Because in my opinion, I think that's their best shot for a playoff spot. I think as it stands right now, the Atlantic is probably going to take five teams in the playoffs, and you're probably only going to get three from the metro with the way this division is going. I mean, New Jersey is also not playing well right now. The Penguins are going to have to bank points against these metro teams and also just bank the points they should against teams that are below them in the standings. They do that.

They win the games in hand. They're going to be in really good shape heading. into that busy stretch, especially in March, where the schedule gets really hectic. But I think that would do it for the second segment of today's episode. Coming up to end the show, Mike Sullivan finally made some changes to the power play. And while they didn't score against the Canadians, I think I liked what I saw quite a lot, considering how much puck movement there was, how many new scoring chances there were, all that good stuff.

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Just visit fandul.com slash locked on to sign up. That's fandul.com slash locked on. Make every moment more with Fandle, the official sportsbook partner of the NFL. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join my host, Patrick Dam. So let's dive into the powerplay

because over the weekend, I think it might have reached a new low this season. I can't even believe we're saying that on this podcast right now. Against the Panthers, one for eight. Yeah, they get the powerplay goal from Jake Gensel. That was nice. But after that, absolutely nothing went their way.

Eric Carlson was stinking up the joint on the top powerplay. Evgeny Malkin was also sticking up the joint, and that carried over into the Montreal game where they were just playing catch at the bull line. Oh, you take the buck. Oh, no, you take the puck. Oh, no, you take the buck. Oh, we're just going to keep passing back and forth and just do this weird, stagnant stuff where we don't have a shoot first mentality. We're just going to try to pass the puck into the net. Well, Mike Sullivan

finally saw enough and took both Eric Carlson and of getting Malkin off the top powerplay. The Penguins reaped those benefits right away. It felt like when Chris LaTang was quarterbacking that unit, it just flowed better. And they were getting plenty more chances. And overall, it just seemed like a unit that actually knew what it was doing. You saw the shoot first mentality. You saw crisp puck movement from the point down low to the slot area. And I think when I was launching the power play with both Carlson and Malkin off, and it was, you know, Crosby, Latang, you had Pousson on there. They were feeding him one-timers. That's another big thing that they weren't doing before because he hasn't been on the top unit, it flowed a lot better.

And if you can keep throwing this unit out there and getting those types of chances, sooner or later, this unit is going to break through. And I think it's going to be a pretty solid powerplay unit in the league. I would stick with this if I was Mike Selvin because this was the most, I think, excited I had been about the power play maybe all season. And it took taking off two Hall of Fame talents for that to happen. So what did you see from the new look power play in the Montreal? game after Sullivan finally saw enough.

urgency. That was the biggest thing I saw. Because I said this to our pal, Jesse Marshall, who, spoiler alert is going to join us on this show later this week. We won't tell you when, but he's joining the show. He tweeted out the video from Friday's game of Malkin and Carlson,

like they did their little pass back and forth, and then Carlson just kind of like drifted on the blue line. And while that was a problem and has been a problem with the power play this year, it also kept out the other part that's been a problem. Nobody except for Carlson after that exchange moved. They drifted in their spots. That's it. When you put out this unit of Crosby, Gensel, Latang, Rust, and Pustinen,

they were moving. They were getting to open spaces. They were taking advantage of the literal man advantage and the mismatches and the numbers advantage. They were shooting the puck. They were looking to get the puck to the open. open guy who has a lane to shoot. That old first unit wasn't doing any of that. They would possess the puck just fine a lot of the time, but it would just be passing it around. It wouldn't be

working it to an open guy to get a mismatch, to get a shooting lane. And this unit did that, whether it was Pustin, whether it was Rust, whether it was Latang, they were taking what the opposition was giving them as opposed to waiting to get that perfect play to get the pretty goal. and that unit was playing. I said this late night when we got home from the game. The biggest problem that I had with that top unit was entitlement. They played like they were owed power play goals. They would just go out, pass around the perimeter,

not do any real hard work. They would not try to move quickly with any kind of urgency. They just went out there and went, ah, four of us are Hall of Famers. So, you know, we're going to just do whatever we can. and this team's going to kneel down and give us a power play goal. And it never happened. Right.

And another thing for me was they actually tried to get dirty goals on the power play. They weren't doing that at all when you had Carlson, Malkin, Crosby and just the main Hall of Famers on that unit. They were just, again, trying to pass the puck into the net, trying to just score from the point. They weren't trying to get to those high danger areas into the front of the net to get those greasy goals. you saw that time after time late in the Florida game during the Montreal game where they were getting plenty of really strong chances in front of the net, but Alan was either answering the bell or Crosby was also just flubbing an empty net, but he usually scores on 99% of the time.

The chances were there. The puck movement was there. The one-timers were there. It actually looked like a functioning power play. The biggest thing, again, you have to keep with it. And it's funny, the second unit with Malkin and Carlson, that unit continued to look so stagnant. I mean, they were making so many mistakes at the point.

They weren't able to gain the zone. And honestly, until they really turn it around on the powerplay, I would keep that new look first unit because, again, with all due respect, Eric Carlson, one of the best defense in the league, I feel like the power play runs better when Latang is running it because he had been doing this show for quite a while. And I think in my opinion at this point,

he's the better power play quarterback. You saw it. He had more of a shoot-first mentality. He had the better reads than Carlson had been having on the top power play. And it resulted in quite a few chances. They had everything but the finish either late in that game against Florida or during the game against Montreal. And if they continue to get those types of chances, especially right around the net, they're going to get quite a few goals from that top unit.

I would agree. And that's kind of, that was my only complaint on Saturday night is even if you're going to keep experimenting with different power play units, which I think they should. Yeah. They absolutely should continue to experiment instead of sticking with one unit. You have to break up Carlson and Malkin. They just don't work together on the power play. I think they work just fine at 5 on 5.5.

They actually seem to have some chemistry, but you put them on the power play together, and it's just oil and water. They don't mix. And at the end of the day, that's fine because you want to get the most out of both of them. And if you have to put Carlson on a top unit as the second defenseman because some things don't work, that's perfectly fine. Just don't make him the quarterback. Keep the Tang there.

And if you have to put Malkin on a second unit where maybe even he's the quarterback and it works, that's not a bad idea. But Carlson and Malkin together on the man advantage just doesn't work. Or maybe if, for example, maybe Valtre Pusinen is not working out on the top unit and he's not finishing on his chances, maybe you can put Eric Carlson in that spot, the one-timer spot, but still have Lattang quarterbacking it in a way. I know they were experimenting a little bit before the season. with Carlson running it at the point and Latang in that spot for the one-timers.

But maybe if you want to do a little bit of a rut again, you can switch those and have Latang quarterback and Carlson to be the one-time guy because we've seen Carlson shot. It is a laser. So if you maybe want to make that change at some point, I wouldn't mind that either as long as Latang continues to quarterback it because, again, that might have been the best. I've seen the power play look movement-wise all year. And it's no surprise. It's been the guy at the point that's been quarterback.

backing it for the last decade plus. Yep. It's just that that comfortability and familiarity that helps. We, we, we, we immerse ourselves in analytics and statistics and all of that, but we often lose sight of the fact that this game is played by human beings. And there is something to be said for the familiar. There's something to be said for comfort. And you could see it with that unit that they had over,

at the end of the Florida game and into the Montreal game. It just felt like they knew where they were and what they were doing. It didn't feel disjointed. And it felt like, okay, this is the unit that knows how to get it done. So they have to be out there. Right. No disagreement from me there. And one more thing before we wrap up today's show.

I really liked Mike Sullivan putting a Guinea Malkin on the wing during that Montreal game and rewarding Lars Eller a little bit for the goal that he scored. And just another really strong performance from Eller and Jen. general. Now, do I think that's a long-term solution for Malkin on Eller's wing? No, I think if you really want to make that a full-time thing, he would have to bring in a center that has a little more of an offensive oomph than Eller. And again, I'm not trying to disrespect Eleanor here. He's been very good this season, but I would want Gino to play with someone who brings a little more offense than Eller. That said, I liked what I saw. Gino was really engaged on the wing during that game

against the Canadians. And he was a forechecking menace down low. He was just puck-hounding the entire game. And I really liked what I saw overall. And I'm curious to see if Mike Sullivan stays with that after the break. If he does, you're probably going to have to get a new center just because you're centered up at that point. It's what?

Crosby, Eller, Achari, and Carter at that point. because, you know, Carter can play wing or center. He's been playing a lot of wing this year on a charie's line. But I think your center depth kind of takes a hit at that point if Malkin is playing on the wing for quite a while. So they would have to get another center. But it's still something that I liked. And it looked like right away, him and Eller had pretty strong chemistry. And dare I say, Raquel actually looked pretty well with Malkin and Eller as well.

I noticed that as well. I also, you know, it kind of gets into what we talked about last week to where the big thing for Kyle Dubus and this roster in this franchise is they're going to have to really do some overhauling in the summer and they're going to have to move some pieces to get some things in because we've had people ask us in the comments and on Twitter, is it time to move Evgeny Malkin to the wing? And I think it is, but that's going again to have to be an offseason project because you're going to have to go out and get a second line center and that's not going to be cheap. That's going to cost some assets either in a trade or you're going to have to overpay someone

and looking at this year's UFA class, there's not really a bona fide 2C that would put this team back into contender status. So I think in the short, immediate term, maybe kind of playing it as, okay, when we're putting the lines in the blender late in the game, we'll put Gino on a wing and put out, maybe move L or up,

but it can't be your full-time solution right now. Right. And, you know, maybe at times as well, you have Malkin on Crosby's wing, but with how Gensel and Rust continue to play with Sid, I'm not sure I would really touch that line as much. I mean, maybe if you want to take Rust off and put Gino up there for a few shifts,

that would work as well. That would honestly be kind of a super line in my opinion. But I think overall for the rest of the season, you're going to have to have Malkin at center almost every game. I mean, you can change him at wing at times during games, but you're right. This is going to have to be something that you deal with in the offseason where you have some money to play

with you could bring in a center that has shown to produce more offense at the NHL level than Ella. And we'll have to see if that happens. But I think that will do it for today's episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening to slash watching this episode. Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Tuesday. And yes, this is kind of guest week for the Lock Tom Penguins podcast. We're going to have a couple people on.

One of them is Jesse Marshall of the Athletic. We're not going to tell you which day he's coming on. And we're also going to try to bring on another guest as well. And no, we're not going to tell you which day that is just yet. But probably a couple of guests this week. A couple of other episodes as well to round out your week, heading into All-Star Week this upcoming weekend. But again, that'll do it for this one.

Thank you all so much for tuning in. We'll be back on Tuesday.