Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins get TWO NEW players, and will face Tristan Jarry tonight!

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

The Penguins will get a chance to bounce back from a disappointing weekend, and it’ll be against their old friend. Hunter and Patrick begin the show discussing the lineup changes ahead of tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers (1:30), where Brett Kulak will slot in, and how Stuart Skinner is going right into the fire after the trade. Then, they take a look at the Oilers’ roster and how, as always, it’s Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl (12:45), and everyone else. Finally, the Penguins will head to Canada for a couple of games after tonight. They get you set for the rest of the week! (25:30)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedonright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.MonarchTake control of your finances with Monarch. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at https://monarch.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. 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.

Penguins head coach, Dan Mews, is making some lineup changes for Tuesday nights told against the Edmonton Oilers, and Pat and I are going to discuss them. Plus, preview this entire 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, and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on. On Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on all social media platforms

at Tendon for Wet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. And you can follow the show's Instagram account at Locked On underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Pat, I'm in much more jolly mood today after you and I both wet nuclear are on a Monday episode saying that this recent stretch of play was unacceptable.

The way they were blowing leads was unacceptable, and it still holds true going into tonight. But this is their chance to start changing the narrative a little bit against an Euler's team that has given them fits over the last few years. More on that in just a second. But Pat, you and I clamored for some changes during Monday show, and we are getting some lineup changes for this game. Head coach James first confirmed that it'll be Stuart Skinner and Nett.

So he's going right into the fire right away. No practice, just one morning skate. He's going to start against his former team, as it should be. I mean, I know he hasn't really been here that long. I mean, just got here on Monday. But it's still the right call to start him against. his former team. Brett Kulak is also set to be in the lineup for the Penguins. He will be on the third pair with Jackson and Iveney, which I'm also fine with. You know, Connor Clifton

kind of is what he is. Ryan Graves also is what he is. I am totally fine with DeMews experimenting a little bit on that third pair. He's been kind of doing that all season. He was doing it with Matt Dumbah, doing it with Graves, doing with Clifton. He was doing it with Brunich when he was still here before he went down to Wilkesbury and before he went to the World Junior. So I am fine with it. You have the same two top four pairs, though I think at some point they may have to put Kulak up with Latang, but, you know, we'll see. Forward-wise, Vili Kovinen is coming out of the lineup tonight, and I'm okay with it. Last game wasn't very good. He's been up and down. I've seen some takes that he's been really bad, according to some people, you know, on Penguins, Twitter,

and other places. I disagree. I just think he hasn't found that consistency yet. So giving him a night off, I'm totally fine with. You look at the overall lines for tonight, Pat. Raquel, Crosby, Russ, Magrorty, Kindle, Brazoe, Hayes with Novak and Mantha, and then do her with Hinen and O'Chari. Got to do something to change this up. You know, you can't just run back the same lineup that just keeps choking away leads. So I'm fine with these changes. Yeah, I'll start with Coivinen. I'm with you in the sense, and I think it was our Monday show that I said it. I, in no world has he been bad. I think he just needs some kind of

a rest or a confidence boost or something because confidence boost that's the one yes he's he's just been a half step behind on just about everything it's one of those moments with a young player where you look at it and go you see it's there you see the potential you see the talent he just needs some time to adapt and adjust to the pro game at the NHL level if that means over the next week they send him back to Wilkes Bear for a few games because as we know with the AHL most of their games are weak in and around the weekend so they might just not have games going on. I wouldn't be against it because he just needs to find his stride again. I look at the rest of the lineup though. If it's to be believed by a lot of the reporters,

it looks like the Kindle, Brazo, McGrady line is taking second line duties tonight. Totally fine with that with the way they have been playing they deserve and continue to deserve more ice time definitely excited for the grudge match for the two goalies tonight skinner versus jari and no we're not talking about tristan jari the penguin's goalie we're talking about tristan jari the edmonton oiler's goalie so that's going to be really fun i would say though we'll see if it happens in game. I would have rather seen Kulak with Latang than with St. Ivany. Maybe that happens the deeper we get into the game tonight. But I just, I look at that Shea Latang pairing over the past few games. And of course, I opened my big fat mouth last week and said, oh, I've really

liked the way Shea and Latang have paired together. And then in the last week, they have just totally nosedived. So other than that, you did enough of with, what you have right now to switch it up. So Mews deserves credit for that. Right. And, you know, we were getting some comments over the last couple of days about how, you know, you'd be punishing Ryan Shave or moving him off the Lattang Pier. I disagree a little bit.

I think Ryan Shay's play has kind of gone downhill a little bit. And I'm not trying to obviously crap on the guy. I'm just saying that, you know, I test wise, analytically wise, his play just hasn't been as good as it was earlier in the year. So I wouldn't say it's a punishment. It's just, you know, changing things up a little bit more, which is what I've been wanting damn used to do after, you know, more consecutive blown leads. And, you know, he's doing it a little bit tonight.

I wouldn't be surprised if you do see Kulak up there at times tonight or maybe going forward in the future just because before this year, he was very underrated in his own zone. He's been good defensively throughout his career. It has been the case this year. But the Oilers as a team pound have given up the third most scoring chances at five on five. So they just have not been good defensively at all. You couple that with bad goaltending. That's why they made the Jari trade.

and they're a team that, yeah, they can get a lot of offense going, especially from dry saddle and McDavid, but they give a lot of it back the other way, just because they're not good in their own zone. So maybe a new system here with Brett Kuwak could do him better. And yeah, I know the Penguins aren't good defensively either, but they're a little bit better defensively than the Oilers are when you look at a lot of the underlines at least.

So you have that. I think Kuwack will be up there at some point. A lot of these other lineup changes again, I'm fine with. Obviously, you know, Hinen and Hayes are what they, are the team is still a little bit banged up right now no blake lazotte no evgeny malkin but you know i assume when those two guys come back i think that you know heinan and hayes are going to come out of the lineup and they'll have to obviously figure out what to do with covenin does he say as the 13th forward does he go down to wilkesbury for a couple of games as you just mentioned a few minutes ago stuff to keep an eye on but you know

obviously pat skinner getting his first start excited to see what he does against his former team you know obviously i'm not the biggest fan of him just when you look at his over overall career numbers, but, hey, maybe, like Kulak, a change of scenery really helps them here just because it felt like it reached the point of no return with the Oilers. So, hey, who knows? I'm excited, though. This is, there's a lot of really cool storylines with this one. Sidney Crosby, two points away from tying Mario Lemieux for the most points in Penguin's

history, three points away from breaking that record. Leon Drysaddle, one point away from 1,000. And, of course, I mean, it's Sid versus McDavid, man. Like, anytime those two get together, it's must watch TV. It really is. I mean, it's the current captain of Canada in the future captain of team Canada going up against one another. They talked about coming off of the four nations face off the respect and influence that they've had on one another. Crosby kind of discussing how he said it without saying it that he knows McDavid's nipping at his heels as the next guy for Canada.

but he's still got some juice left in the tank. And obviously McDavid did what every Canadian kid does and talks about how amazing 87's been in his career, in an influence for him. So that'll be really fun. As for the goalies, it is really funny that Stuart Skinner is basically just Tristanjari, but three years younger.

There are days when you go, oh my God, this guy is a legit starting goal. tender in the NHL, and then there are nights where you go, why are we even paying this guy any sort of American or Canadian currency to play goalie? Because he can't do it. So I'm very curious to see which version of each shows up tonight for the Penguins and the Oilers. Jari's already got a win under his belt with the Oilers. He had one over the Toronto Maple Leafs over the weekend. Obviously, all the immigration stuff held Skinner and Kulak back from getting to the penguins earlier than that. But this is, you want to talk about great timing, man.

The penguins and Oilers make this trade on Friday. It's Tuesday and they're playing each other tonight. So I'm excited for this one. I mean, even with everything that has gone on over the weekend, with the mood surrounding the penguins right now, between how log jam the Eastern conferences and just how log jammed the NHL is at this point. One good game against a team like the Oilers, we might be coming here on Wednesday a little bit happier. Well, let's see. Again, it's their opportunity to really change the narrative.

They had a day off on Monday, got to get away from the rank, clear their heads. Now you come back with a very big game against it. And real quick, this will kind of fly in the face a little bit. of our Monday episode, I don't hate them having Monday off. I really don't because with the way the weekend went, the snap reaction of we're bringing them to work at 9 a.m. on Monday morning and we're cracking the whip and we're getting back to work. You know what? In December, no. Just do what you got to do behind closed doors. Tell them

it was an unacceptable effort, tell them it was bad, tell them that they blew it, all the whole nine yards, and then say, on Monday boys, hockey doesn't exist. The penguins don't exist. You are just whoever you are away from the rink, clear your head, spend time with your family, your loved ones, play Xbox, doom scroll, Instagram, whatever it is you need to do and come back Tuesday ready to work. Again, hopefully there was a closed war meeting on Sunday with all of that and they got to get away from the rink on Monday, clear their heads.

And now it's up to them to kind of change things around against a team and Oilers team that is fighting for their playoff lives as well, you know, fourth right now in the Central, oh, not Central, excuse me, Pacific, excuse me, I don't know why I said Central there, my fault on that. Their fourth in their division, they're trying like heck to make the playoffs and try to get back to another Stanley Cup final, just especially after the McDavid extension. And speaking of all that, we're going to do a deep dive into the Oilers in the second segment and how the Penguins have to stop them coming up.

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That's Fandle. The game moves fast, and so can you. all right we're back here on this episode of the locked on penguins podcast i'm one of your host hunter hoodies joined by my host patredamp and pat same as it ever was the oilers go as connor and leon go because they are carrying all of their offense this year connor mac david 18 goals 52 points in 33 games ho hum still the best player on the planet i mean i will say that's overall because this year nathan mckenon has been the best player in the world he's probably going to win the heart. But overall, if you look at the body of work from the past few

years, it's still Connor McDavid as the best overall player on the planet. Leon Drysidle, right there with him, 17 goals, 43 points, and 33 games. You still have Evan Bouchard. He's offensively gifted, but he gives a lot of it back in his own zone. New John Hopkins only has seven goals this year. After those four, the production really drops off. Their depth is just not what it was even last year. I felt like the Oilers didn't do enough to really solve their depth problems over the summer. Again, this team goes as Connor and Leon goes. If you're somehow able to shut them down, you're probably going to win the game. It's just the problem is, it's very hard to shut those two down because they are absolutely

ridiculous, the things they can do with the puck on their stick. They want to separate Connor and Leon, but when you look at their depth concerns, when they go down early in games, they kind of have no choice but to start double shifting them like when you have your two best players that especially with leon he has the ability to play wing christ now block can put him on car mc david's wing and he can just double shift him so you have all that connor mac david against the penguins in 16 games nine goals and 30 points against them very video game like numbers and the oilers have won eight of their last 10 against the penguins of the penguins did win five to three against them last year to snap that

crazy long seven game winning streak that saw penguins get blown out in a lot of lot of games back to back shoutouts before the penguins won they were shut out for nothing back to back times they also lost six to one against the oilers pat and seven to two against the oilers this team has been the penguins boogeyman for these last few years where they have really struggled to defend mac david and dry sidle they have really struggled against their power play and overall their team speed has given them fits so you're going to have to be really on top of it all if you want to win this one and stop their power play which again is one of the best units in the league. It's funny, and I'm also going to throw out a blast from the past here.

The last Penguins defenseman who wrote the book and knew how to defend Connor McDavid was Brian Dumlin. And the Penguins don't really have a Brian Dumlin type right now. Maybe it's Watherspoon. That's still to be determined. We'll see what happens. It's still too early to see in his penguins tenure, he very well could be a flash in the pan. But at the end of the day, the McDavid part of it, this is like when you played the early 2010s Pittsburgh Penguins with Sidney Crosby. The goal was you can let Crosby now with the Oilers, McDavid, get his cookies. You know he is going to do something.

You know he's going to put up points. you know he's going to score everything in between the goal is to not let everybody else on their team beat you you can let macdavid go crazy you can let him get a couple of points but you look at the rest of their roster you look at obviously leon's there you want to keep him contained as best you can bouchard kind of like the goaltending situation you don't know which version of bouchard is going to show up night tonight on one night he's a norris candidate on the other he's a bottom pairing guy depends on the game R&H he's still solid but he's only got 25 points and then you look at the rest of the roster there's not a whole lot there

Zach Hyman isn't he obviously had some injury problems he's back but he's not nearly at the pace he was the last couple of years with the old Zach Hyman the tap in merchant as I say to one of my best buddies who's an orders fan Matt shout out to you very big merchant taps in on the power play goes to the front of the net very good at what he does but I just love to make that joke. Somebody's got to score them, man. Somebody's got to score them. But to the overall point here,

you look at the majority of their roster, you look at who is likely to be in the lineup tonight. You look at their second line with dry cycle. That's going to be tough. Then you go to their third and fourth lines in, it's not great. Henrique, still in the league. Mangiopani, still in the league.

Yanmark, still in the league. Lazar, Frederick Hudson, you can win that bottom six matchup. It's not going to be by a lot. It's not like I'm looking at the penguins bottom six and going, oh, this is so much better than the Oilers. Better by a little bit. So at this point, you have to play this in a very typical way of,

let's make sure our top six negates their top six and let the bottom six battle it out. The same goes for their defense. I already talked about Bouchard. Eckholm, I know that he might not be what he once was, but he's still pretty good. I don't think he gets nearly the love he deserves. He's pretty damn good, and people kind of talk about him like he's washed. I don't know about all that.

Darnell Nurse, very similar to Bouchard. Knights when he looks like a Norris candidate, nights when he looks like maybe he shouldn't be in the lineup. And then the rest of it, Spencer Stassney, Ty Emberson, Alec, Alec, Gula. This is a Edmonton team that if you can shut down the top guys, if you can keep them mostly in check, you can

beat this Oilers team. But that's the hardest part, right, is keeping Connor and Leon in check and making sure they don't get theirs because they live in the offensive zone. Yeah, I know. Dry Saddles on the second line to start this game, but if you take a two or three nothing lead on the Oilers, they're just going to put Leon right up

with Connor. That's how they do it. Chris Knoblock loves doing that every game. It's the versatility that Leon has. And, you know, even if the penguins were able to hold on to a lot of these leads, if they got out to a three or four nothing lead, still not even close to safe. And I would say that to any team that plays against the Oilers, not just the Penguins who have obviously been coughing up leads like it's no one else's business, but anyone who plays the Oilers, even if you jump out to a three or four nothing lead on them,

that game is never over because of the amount of goals that they can score in short bursts, just because of the way they can double shift their top six. I think a game is really only over against the Oilers if you're up by five or six. I think at that point the game is over. Other than that, the game is never over. It doesn't matter if you're up three or four nothing. But if you're up by five,

I'd like to think you can close that out against them, even though, again, Connor and Leon are just superhuman. Your comment about darn no nurse. I disagree there, Pat. I think he just is what he is at this point, pretty washed at this point in his career. sure I will give you because offensively he's very gifted defensively though massive train wreck I mean Cliff a few days ago where he put the puck in his own net from behind the net

I don't know what he's doing out there at tives so the penguins can take advantage of his defensive mishaps that would be pretty good again he's really good offensively has a bomb of a shot from the point but if you get him kind of scrambling around in his own zone that's pretty big and then at calm I completely agree I mean he's a Olympic level defenseman for a reason reason. He played very well with Eric Carlson at the Four Nations earlier this year for a reason. And there's plenty of reasons why those two looks very comfortable together. But at Combs always been good, man. I know he's always a little bit older now. But I agree. He doesn't get a love that he deserves, especially with the way he plays in his own end. Again, Darno Nurse on the second

pair. You said that bottom six, not very good. You know, that top six, though, again, potent as ever. and then the Penguins obviously know Tristanjari very well. You look at some of the team stats, Edmonton, third-rank power play, 30.6%. That's going to be a really fun test for a Penguins PK that is still top five, fifth overall. Got to win that special team's battle there. The Oilers power play is lethal for a reason.

They find the very soft areas of the ice. I've talked about Hyman, talk about the vision that Connor and Leon have. You have the bush bombs that Oilers fans call from the point. It's a very unfair unit. My friend, they could put Ryan Nugent Hopkins on there, too. So a lot of things to watch out for, but if you're the Penguins tonight, it's playing obviously a lot better with the league,

showing that confidence that they need to have. I think that's really what comes down to. We've seen their ability to really dominate in games even over the last week, week and a half. But for me, the biggest key, them finding their confidence in the third period if they have a lead. it's mental right now a lot of it I think is mental and it's on to everyone to change this up so that's still the biggest key for me man until they actually hold down a lead in the third period

building on the needing to protect a lead in it being mental at this point which i agree with here's the other two part of that that i want to build off of is one they can't get into a track meet against this oilers team they will lose if they get into a track meet against them But on that note, don't be intimidated by the Oilers speed. I say this about power plays all the time. I say this in general about hockey all the time. If you can protect the house, if you can protect the middle, you can let Connor and Leon and whomever else on the Oilers skate circles around the perimeter

at a million miles an hour. All they want, all they're doing is getting cardio. All they're doing is just burning. o'clock. Don't let them penetrate the middle. Don't let them have, don't give them the cross seam passes. Don't give them the open spots and the soft spots in the middle. If they want to play on the outside all game long and not get looks, that's their prerogative. But you have to stay disciplined in that regard. You have to treat it almost like you are tethered to the middle of the ice. And if you go too far, you need to be pulled right back because the second

you surrender the middle of the ice against the team like the Oilers, it is game over between the amount of talent that they have in the vision that they have. They are going to get you out of place. They're going to get you out of position and they're going to capitalize on the opportunity. So if you're the penguins and you see Connor McDavid just revving it up down the wing, keep them to the outside, let them go to the corner. Let them play behind the net. Let them play on the walls. Don't give them the middle.

Same goes for Leon. Same goes for the rest of the team. That middle of the ice is going to be where this game is one or lost in the defensive zone. Easier said than done. When Connor McDavid gets a burst of speed, it's like, uh-oh, I'm in trouble. So a lot easier said there than done, carries to see if they can do it. But still always going to be a tough matchup when you're going up against two insanely talented. players that are just ridiculous in this league.

But still, a lot of fun to watch that comes your way tonight. There'll be the final game of this five-game homestand before the penguins go on the road a little bit. And speaking of that, Pat, we're going to look at the rest of the week for the penguins coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our final sponsor, which is Indeed. You just realize your business needed to hire someone yesterday.

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They make sure your post is seen by the right candidates right now. And right now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 sponsor job credit. just go to indeed.com slash locked on right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply hiring. Indeed is all you need. 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 co-host Patrick Damp and Pat. Usually we do the week ahead segment on Monday, but you and I were just going off about this team all episodes. So, Naturally, we had to push it back to Tuesday.

So, as I mentioned in the second segment, tonight's game, the final game of the five-game homestand for the Penguins. And by the way, guys, not your usual 7 o'clock start time. It is a 7.30 p.m. start time against the Oilers. The next up, it is Thursday. They go to Ottawa to take on Brady Kachuk and the Senators. A Senators team that has been very up and down this year,

they do have Brady Kachuk back from injury, and he's been fairly good since coming back. He's going to be on Team USA for the Olympics. You look at the standings right now, 15, 13, and 4. They are four points back of that final wild card spot and also four points back of the Montreal Canadiens for a third in the Atlantic.

So they're also fighting for their playoff lives right now in mid-December. They've got to be a bit more consistent. That is a team that also can be had. Not saying the penguins are definitely going to win it, but it's an Ottawa team that has been a bit inconsistent this year. And then they'll have a home-and-home against Montreal. They'll go to Montreal first. They're only trip to the Bell Center this year, crazy to say.

and then Montreal will come back to Pittsburgh on Sunday. So the trip to Montreal, the Bell Center, Saturday, and then the second half of the home in Pittsburgh on Sunday. So three straight against Canadian teams. Another opportunity year for the Penguins to try and bank points. Again, Montreal, I know the Penguins laid an egg against them last week. I still have questions about that team right now, just because they haven't been as consistent this year either.

Yeah, they're top three in the Atlantic, but they're not playing as well as I think. thought they would be playing this year. That's the thing. I thought they were going to take a little bit more of the next step. They haven't done it yet. It's still a little bit early in the season, a little over two months. But still, they've been inconsistent just like Ottawa.

So again, there's points to be had here for the Penguins if they can figure some things out. Right. And I was kind of thinking about this after we did our Monday episode. And obviously, I'm going to talk about the next slate of games coming up this week. But if there is an ever so slight, bright spot to everything that's going on right now is you did get points. Like the, the play is unacceptable. It has to be better. You're not going to find your way into the playoffs if you continue to play this way and you're unable to hold on to leads. I know, I know, obvious statement of the century, everyone who just heard me say that. But the silver

lining is you didn't get zero out of this. You look at this homestand. You got a point away from Anaheim. You got a point away from San Jose. You got a point away from Utah. Granted, they all should have been two points, but it's in the past now. At the end of the day, you got points out of those games. This is a game tonight where you got to find a way to get two, even though it's against a Western conference team, just to salvage something from this homestand. And then you have an Atlantic tour before you go through, before you get into the Christmas break, Ottawa, Montreal, Montreal, Toronto. And you look at the four games after Edmonton. Like you said, Ottawa, they're fighting for their lives.

They had some injury trouble. They're starting to get a little bit healthier. Montreal has to be two pride games at this point because they walked into your house last week and embarrassed you. The score was four to two. Did not reflective of how that game went. Four to two made it sound a whole hell of a lot closer than it was. You got embarrassed by a young team.

You got to have some pride and return the favor on Saturday when you go into their building, which is never an easy place to play. But if you can quiet them early, you'll be successful. And then on Sunday, same deal. That is a totally even matchup because they're making the exact same trip. They played the exact same game you did. You've got to find a way to get some points out of that.

And then Toronto, I mean, Toronto, whether you want to admit it or not, it's a mess. Like, they're up and down. They have a week where they look good. they have a week where they look terrible. That's a team just like the penguins where if they go into next week and they're still in this kind of malaise, you have to take advantage of it before you get your Christmas break. And it's so funny.

Like the penguins are like one of the only teams that's really struggled against Toronto this year when everyone else is just like, oh, you know, we can beat Toronto. Like just when you watch the least play other teams, they really struggle. And I know the penguins were dominating them in that first matchup through 40 minutes before collapsing. And then in the second matchup, didn't get any. Goaltending from Archer Sheelovs and are also a bit of a mess defensively, but still, man, it's just been funny how the Penguins have really struggled against the Leafs this year when a lot of these other teams are like, hey, we've been able to do this. But that's going to be five straight games against Canadian teams where the Penguins play Chicago right after the break.

If I have that correctly here, in my notes, yeah, and they end 2025 with the hurricanes. So it's, listen, this month has been to mulch. They have found a way to, I don't want to say found a way to get points. They've found a way to throw points away. But at the end of the day, right now, looking at where we are halfway through December, there has been exactly one game that they didn't get points out of at this point. So if no other, if there's no other thing that you want to do, you want to start turning these one point games into two point games and get yourself in

good position when the calendar flips over to 2026. It's time to get off the mat. You're pinned down. I say this meme all the time on the show. It's like Michael Irvin. What are you prepared to do about it? Nobody believes in you. What are you prepared to do to change the narrative?

Well, I changed up that one for Michael Irvin, but you all get my drift when it comes to that meme. So we'll see. Has to start tonight against an oilist team that has also been in finding it in a lot of their games this year. But I think that's going to do it for this edition. of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much

or take the time to listen to slash watch this one. And Pat and I will be back on Wednesday to recap this game against the Oilers and, of course, do our favorite segment of the week. Warrior Helmet Wednesday, we will somehow, Pat, find a MVP of the week despite a really rough last week in Penguins hockey.

But it could be better if they do win this game and maybe we'll have someone to really shout out. But that's coming for you all on Wednesday. And then we'll preview Thursday's game on Thursday against the Ottawa senators. Friday, we'll recap that game and get you all set for a busy weekend against the Montreal Canadian. So that'll be the rest of the week here on the pod. Again, thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you guys on Wednesday.