Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins getting set for a HUGE B2B against an old enemy!

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming out of the Holiday break and will face the New York Islanders twice this weekend in a big home-and-home. It's just Hunter for this episode since Patrick continues to be on the road but he is joined by Gil Martin of Locked On Islanders for a special crossover edition to preview both of these two games. They discuss the Penguins and how hot they've been the past month before looking at what is going on with the Islanders. Is it time for Lou to make some big changes? Could they be looking at a retool around the trade deadline? After that, they give some keys to victory for both teams since the Islanders are trying to climb back into the race while the Penguins are looking to keep the good times rolling. All of that, plus much more is on this crossover edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the app or go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup.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.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM 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.

Penguins have two big games coming up against the New York Islanders this weekend, and I'm going to preview both of those games with Gil Martin of Locked on Islanders in a special crossover edition of Locked on Penguins podcast 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. Welcome everybody to this special crossover episode of Locked on Islanders and Locked on Penguins. I'm Gil Martin of Locked on Islanders. I'm here with Hunter Hodes of Locked-on Penguins as we discuss this weekend's home and home series between these two division rivals.

And hey, don't forget that we are both part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. And we want to thank everyone who makes Locked-on Islanders and Locked-on Penguins your first listen every day. Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you get new episodes as soon as they drop. episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Hunter, I am so glad that we are getting to do this. You know, our teams have a rivalry that goes way back to the Patrick Division days. And, you know, it's great when they can play back-to-back games and the rivalry just gets a little more intense. Let's start with the Penguins. They have been playing better,

hockey as of late, winners of seven of their last 10. What has been the difference for the penguins over the last 10 games or so? Yeah, I mean, honestly, Gilles, this goes back to late November, if I'm being honest with you, just honestly, that Vancouver game, the pre- Thanksgiving Eve game, the annual game the Penguins always have the night before Thanksgiving, really great crowd. It feels like almost every time they play the Canucks in that game. And the Penguins played a really simple game. They got contributions from everyone in their lineup. Eric Carlson was really good. They got the goaltending.

And that is really kick-started this run that they've been on. They've won nine of their last 13 games, nine in three and one during that stretch. I mean, this team was seven and 12 and four at one point this season. They were basically dead in the water. I was coming on the show. My co-os, Patrick Dam was coming on the show. He's not here today because he's traveling in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend. He'll be back on the Monday episode to recap both these games.

You know, we were coming on our show saying, man, they might just have to tank for a top five pick at this point, considering how bad it was. But Cindy Crosby has gotten hot. Chris Lattang has been great. Eric Carlson has been tremendous this last month. The goal tending is stabilized a little bit. It's still not where we both want it to be, but it has been better,

and they're getting the depth scoring, and they're playing better in their own zone. They were barfing all over themselves in their own zone for the first, I would say, four to five, you know, six weeks of the season. But since then, they've kept it more simple. They're not being as aggressive with some of their pinches. they're starting to listen to Mike Sullivan, it feels like, a little bit more with playing more diligent on the ice.

And you're seeing just a better brand of hockey from this team. I'm still not going to sit here and say that they're back just yet. I want to see how these next three games go, two against the Islanders, then one against the Red Wings, and then the schedule gets a bit more difficult in January. But they have at least made this interesting heading into these final three games of the year. Talk to me about the goaltending. I mean, yes, you said the goaltending has been a little better. The team defense has been a little better,

but the penguins are still dead last in the league and goals allowed. Tristan Jerry, he's been up, he's been down, he's been in the minors, he's been with the big club. What's going on with him? And do you think he sort of found a little more consistency lately? Yeah, he's been a bit better. He's been over 900 in a good chunk of his start since coming back from Wilkesbury. He's led in some bad goals here and there just because sometimes,

you never really know what you're going to get with him, but he has been at least better since coming up from the HL. Again, Gild, the bar was literally on the floor considering how he started this season. I mean, there was a time where Pat and I were saying on our show, we didn't really know if he was going to start another game at some point for the Penguins this year. It had been that bad from him to start this season, but he's been playing a bit better. They're giving him a bit more of runway with starts because Alex Nadelcovic has really not been that good this season. His goals stayed above expected is a bit lower this year. Kind of the same with Jari's as well. So it's again, it's stabilized a little bit, but the biggest thing is they're finishing their

chances, which is really kind of masking the goaltending only a little bit. Again, it's been better, but it still can, I think, get to an even higher level if both goalies want to find their game a little bit more. I think the biggest thing right now is they're finishing their chances, which is really helping. You know, everybody knows the big names, the Sidney Crosby's, the Evaney Malkins, the Eric Carlson's, the Chris Latang's. Talk to me a little bit about Richard Raquel and Brian Rust, because those two players right now are one and two on the team and goals scored.

Yeah, I mean, Ricard Raquel has been fantastic this year. I mean, he's already at 16 goals. It's one more than his goal total, excuse me, last year. And this has been a completely different player. I think he's showing the Swedish hockey. Federation that they were very wrong to leave him off team Sweden for the Four Nations Faceoff that's coming up now in about a month and a half. He's going to the net more.

He's using his release a bit more. But the biggest thing is he's fully healthy this year, man. That's the big thing. Last year he was so injury-riddled. But even when he came back, before he had a little bit of a hot stretch, I was kind of like, man, he just doesn't look like the same player, was kind of thinking like, man, not sure if they're going to keep him going into the season just because you look at that contract looking at the production it's like it's a lot of term a lot of money for someone who

had a bad year but i am very glad that they didn't move him because of the year that he is having right now he's playing great next to sidney crosbie and ditto for brian rust i mean he is playing electric he's great he's one of the best four checkers in my opinion he has his patent move where he goes backhand forehand to the front of the net and he's scoring so many clutch goals from them this year he continues to be one of the most important players that he has been one of the most important for this team this year. I'll keep saying it. I wish he had an A on his sweater

just because he is one of the biggest leaders in that locker. Outside of the core leadership group of Crosby, Malkin, and Latang, he is one of their biggest leaders. And, you know, he's said to the media before, he wants to be on this team when they get good again. It sounds like he wants to be a penguin for life. You know, he very much is loyal to this sweater. And it's been awesome seeing him do this night and night out.

He's been by far one of their best players this year. And without those two, honestly, Gil, I don't even know where they would be in the standings right now. One big difference this year between the Islanders and the Penguins special teams. Pittsburgh top 10 on both the Power Play and the PK Islanders dead last on both the Power Play and the PK. Talk to me about special teams and what it's meant to Pittsburgh this year. Yeah, the Power Play much. much in brood. I mean, last year, you can only go up from there considering how it was one of the worst

power plays in the league. That was one of the biggest reasons, if not the biggest reason, in my opinion, Gil, why the Penguins missed the playoffs. If they had just had an average power play last year, they would have won at least a few more of those games that they lost, and they would have made the playoffs and gotten that final wild card spot on the Eastern Conference. David Quinn has done a really nice job with this unit. He's kind of done some split units throughout the year, which I'm kind of still, and I'm kind of

still am about, I still want them to load up that top unit with Crosby and Malkin. At times, the split unit is worked, but other times I kind of just want to pull my hair out. But there's a lot more of movement. They're not being stagnant with the puck. They're not playing patty cake, as I like to call it at the point. There's a much more bigger shoot first mentality on this unit. They're also going to the net a lot more. They weren't doing that hardly at all last year.

It was such a poor unit. They were, the zone entries weren't there. This year, those are finally there. everything that they did bad last year, they have corrected this year, and it's been really nice to see. And how about the PK? Yeah, the penalty kill.

It's been a bit more aggressive, I feel like this year. The Penguins have usually always had a pretty solid penalty kill in the Mike Sullivan era. They're really not giving up too much to the opposition. The goal-tending has been at least okay on the penalty kill, but the biggest thing is they're playing a little bit more aggressive this year. They're not going overboard with it, but they're also doing a great job blocking shots on the penalty kill.

And both units have been such a difference maker this year. We're coming up on the new year, obviously. If you had to name one New Year's resolution for the Pittsburgh Penguins to get them from where they are now to the playoffs and maybe even a little playoff run, what does this team need to do in order to get there? Honestly, it's kind of twofold A, keep up this run that you're on and B, you got to win your games against your divisional teams.

They have really showed against the Metropolitan Division this year, Gil. They've lost two games to the Rangers. They have lost to the Blue Jackets. They've lost to the Devils. Obviously, they lost to the Islanders as well. So you really need to win these divisional games. You beat the Flyers before the break. That was a really nice win.

You've beaten the Capitals once this year. And the Capitals even said after the game, they were kind of caught off guard by the way the Penguins played in that game, which was kind of funny. But outside of those two games, the Penguins really haven't played well against their division. So if I had one New Year's resolution, I guess, to combine it into another, it's again, A, keep up the way that they've been playing, keep things simple, but B, also play a lot better against your division because you look at the division this year. And again,

the Penguins have also lost a couple of games to the hurricanes this year because that's always been a bad matchup for them. With how mediocre to, I think, bad this division is, you've got to be banking points against the teams right around you in the standing, you're a bit below you in the standings as well. But I think that's probably going to do it for. for our first segment here. Coming up in the second segment, it's my turn to ask Gil, what the heck is going on on the island this year?

Yeah, we will get to that in just a minute. We've got that, plus our keys to victory for this game, all that more coming up on the special crossover edition of Locked on Penguins and Locked on Islanders. Before we get back to our discussion for the Penguins and the Islanders

and this big back-to-back, today's episode is sponsored by PrizePix. If you love sports, you're going to love prize picks. the best place to turn your sports knowledge into real money. Whether it's hockey, football, or any of your favorite sports, prize picks makes it easy to get in on the action. You can now went up to a thousand times your money on prize picks.

Plus, this holiday season, they're giving away $30 plus million in rewards during Picksmas and offering two free picks in December. And when your picks hit, Price Picks makes it easy to cash out. You can get your money in as fast as 15 minutes. Download the app today and use code locked on NHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. That's right. $50 instantly.

That is price picks. Run your game. All right. We're back here on this special crossover edition of Locked-on Penguins and Locked-on Islanders. So, Gil, it has been a rough sled of games lately for the Islanders. They are seventh in the Metropolitan Division right now. 13 and 15 and 7, they are coming off an absolute embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Sabres. They gave them their first win.

And basically a month, they were on a 13 games. game losing streak and then they go to the island and absolutely blitz the islanders. Gail, I was listening to your episode a little bit earlier this week, but what has to change on the island for the rest of the season and potentially beyond? You know, it's, I've been saying this since the off season and even in last season, this team needs to get younger, faster, and more skilled. And look, Lou Amarillo, he's a Hall of Fame general manager. he won three Stanley Cups with the Devils in the 90s and early 2000s.

There's no question, you know, he's accomplished a lot in the game. But basically, this is a core with a lot of players on the wrong side of 30 and a core that hasn't won a playoff series in three seasons and counting. And Lou Lamarillo refuses to retool or rebuild. So he just keeps doubling down on this age. core and look what is the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results this team needs change and it's not getting that change and until it does I think the the ceiling for this team is going to be we barely made the playoffs and we're probably going to

get eliminated easily in the first round yeah I mean I picked them to get that final wildcard spot in the conference heading into this season again because for me the islanders they're kind of like cockroaches. You just can't get rid of them even if you kill one of them. I mean, you trace back, you know, the Penguins history for a long time. Almost every bad thing I make this joke all the time on the show. Every bad thing that's happened to the Penguins, about 90% of it you can trace to the New York Islanders franchise,

considering that they've been their boogeyman for so long. But I know the Islanders have been a bit banged up this year. You know, Barzell is just coming back. Pelik has just come back. Duclair just came back. I really like that acquisition that Lou Lamarola made over the offseason. what do you make of their games so far since coming back and in general this season? You know, obviously you need time once you miss a month, a month and a half, two months.

I mean, Anthony Duclair played a grand total of five games before he got hurt. So, you know, getting these guys back, they're just starting to integrate back into the lineup and get back into hockey shape. But look, the Islanders as an organization for many years now, they are not a great goal scoring operation. They rely on goal tending and defense, and they're going to score just enough to outscore you because you're not going to score a lot of goals on them. That's sort of the way this team is built to win. But, you know, right now, Brock Nelson is slumping. we've been missing Anthony Duclair. We've been, you know,

Bo Horvatt has been kind of struggling up until maybe of the last four or five games. Matthew Barzal has missed a lot of time and he wasn't playing particularly well. So even the guys who are supposed to be providing offense are not necessarily, you know, hitting on all cylinders right now, and that makes it even tougher.

Gil, talk to me about goaltender, Elia Sorokin. I still feel like when he is on top of, of this game. I don't think there are five goaltenders better than him. I've seen that firsthand, especially in a playoff series between these two teams a few years ago where Sorokin just stood on his head. It felt like that entire

series and it feels like every time he plays the penguins, he plays really well. But last year, didn't have his best year. You know, he has the big contract. This year feels like it's been up and down. You know, you look at his numbers, you know, right now. Same percentage, you know, hovering right around 900.

It's 898 to be exactly. And again, right around 900, 10, 11, and 4. what do you make of Sorokan's play and do you think he's going to be more consistent going forward this year or maybe into next year? I'm not worried about Ilya Syroka. I mean, he had back surgery in the offseason and because the Islanders organization tends to be very, very quiet and secretive about injuries and contracts and anything else related to the way this team is run. We don't know how serious it was, specifically what kind of surgery, or even when it took place.

We know it was sometime after the season ended and sometime before training camp started, but that's about all we know. So he's coming back off the back surgery. He got off to a really good start, but now Semyon Barlamov is on, he was first on IR, now he's on LTIR, and it looks like Patrick Waugh

just does not have any confidence in Marcus Hogberg, who they signed in the off-season to be the third goalie in the organization, a guy who has a little NHL experience with the Ottawa Senators. So now with Varley hurt, Sorokin has started 11 games in a row. And I think it's starting to take a toll on him, wearing him down.

You know, from an Islander's perspective, if you don't have enough confidence in Marcus Hogberg to start him even one game, for example, this weekend, you got a back to back. You would think each goalie would play one game. But if they're going to run Sorokin down, I think you're going to see more and more games where he struggles. And the other issue in front of Sorokin, this team still has a little bit of trouble,

clearing the zone. And I know Penguins fans are familiar with this as a problem. Getting the puck out of your own zone, transitioning from defense to offense. There have been too many games and too many times when this team spends 60, 90, 120 seconds, where they can't get the puck out of the zone and get a line change. or if they get it out two seconds later, you know, they just get it just past the blue line. They can't make the line change.

And then the puck is back in the defensive zone for another 60, 90 seconds. So, you know, that makes Ilya Sorokin's job that much harder when the other team has really good quality chances and the defense is just making mistakes in front of him. It's a far cry from the Barry Trots days where this team was elite at defending in front of their own goalie. I mean, they were great at suppressing shots. I know some of the games were definitely, you know, I would consider a little bit boring if I had to say,

I know Islanders fans, please don't come at me in the comments for that. But it was effective. I mean, they got to, you know, multiple conference finals. They gave the Tampa Bay Lightning some great pushes in those series. Trots was, again, just back good of the head coach. At that time, I don't think there were four better coaches in the league than Trots with the way that he was running the Islanders with his system. So it's just crazy to see going from that to now, just how much of a mess. they are in their own zone.

I got one more though for you, Gail. So right now, again, you know, they're out of the playoff spot as of right now, 13, 15, and 7. Do you think Lamarillo will have what it takes to potentially move on from some veterans at the trade deadline, start the selling process, maybe start this wee tool slash rebuild on the five of penguins have been starting to do that, going back to, you know, last trade deadline where they traded Jake Gensel. They've been taking on players, you know, with, you know, picks.

They've been taking some chances on some younger players like Philip Tomasino. Do you think Lamarillo, or. has what it takes to move a player like Brock Nelson, who's a pending UFA, like Kyle Palmerie, who's a pending UFA. You know, first of all, Lou Lamarillo has said he doesn't believe in retooling or rebuilding. I have a problem with that because, you know, to quote, I guess, the Bible and the birds, to everything there is a season, right?

I mean, there's a time to rebuild, and there's a time to retool, and there's a time to go for it. And, you know, right now this team has sort of been chasing its tail trying to hold on to eighth place in the conference. And they barely got in last year. They barely got in the year before. They missed the year before that. Even the two years that they went to the conference final, they barely made the playoffs. They just got hot at the right time and went on the long playoff run.

So I think it's past time to retool. I think this core peaked three or four years ago. but Lou Lamarillo doesn't seem to realize that or doesn't seem to be willing to do it. And now the question becomes whether or not ownership is going to say, hey, Lou, either you do this or we got to move on. So far, they haven't done that. Brock Nelson, there were rumors published in the athletic just this week that said he wants to test free agency this summer.

So if that's the case, you almost have to trade him or lose him for nothing. it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months. Right, and I feel like the Islanders could definitely get a decent haulback for him at the deadline. He's one of the better goal scores in the league. And you know, teams are always looking for more goal scoring at the trade deadline. You can definitely, I feel like, get a pretty decent package back. But I think that's going to do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Gil and I are going to discuss the keys to victory for the back-to-back games,

both the Penguins and the Islanders. So don't go anywhere. Did Rocket Money help you find any subscriptions you forgot about it or that you were paying for twice? Well, that definitely happened. And me had a few subscriptions that I didn't even realize I was still paying for and Rocket Money made it so easy to track them all down. It's like having a personal assistant for your finances. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

It brings everything together in one place, whether it's subscriptions, your spending, or even the goals you want to hit this year. Rocket money has over five million users and is saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all the app's premium features. For me, one of the best features is a subscription tracker. I've used it to cancel services I wasn't using anymore and I've already saved a ton. Plus, with their goals feature, I've been able to automatically set aside money for my future. No more stressing about budgeting every month. cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with RocketMoney.

Go to RocketMoney.com slash locked on today. That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Rocketmoney.com slash locked on. So Hunter, we are two games here, Saturday, Sunday, 7.30 Eastern time on Saturday, 5.30. What kind of start time is that 5.30 on a Sunday afternoon? Hey, the Steelers don't play that day. So the penalty is going to take advantage of the time.

And the Steelers are also struggling quite a bit right now. So the Penguins are going to be like, okay, we're going to take over the city at least during a day where the Steelers don't play. All right. That kind of makes a little sense. But in your mind, from the Penguins' perspective, what are the keys to victory for these two games? Yeah, again, they just got to keep things simple. They got to keep playing diligent in their own zone. They got to be not too aggressive with their pinches.

They got to get the goaltending from Tristanjari, especially in this first game. I know he's had his struggles against the Islanders before. so he's got to put those behind him and go out there and, you know, make the saves that he needs to make it. If there's a few timely saves that it needs to make, he needs to go out there and make them. I want to also continue to see Eric Carlson be one of the Penguins' best players. It's no coincidence, Gil, that during this 13-game stretch, or the Penguins have really turned this around, they've started to get back into the race. It's no coincidence that Eric Carlson and Crystal Tang have been their best players, or two of their best players.

You need your two number one defense would be two of your best players. that is exactly what happened. I want Cindy Crosby to continue his stellar season as well. He loves playing the Islanders. He's been torching them ever since he came into the league, just like he does with the Flyers, by the way. He just put up a four-point performance against them before the break. So always loves playing them.

He's had two four-point performances in his last three games, 39 points and 36 games this season. I want to see if he continues to play well. And I want this to also be another Michael Buntingist game. He's played really well these last few. weeks. He was a healthy scratch at one point during this season. This has got to be a game where he makes life hell for Sorokin in front of the net. He's one of their best net front presence, excuse me, if not their best net front presence. I want him going to the net, making life difficult for him every single shift. A goalie like that, you got to get you got to get as much traffic in front of him as you can. So that's another big key for me in this one. And, you know, they got to really, I feel like make the Islanders defend just because they haven't really been defending that well this year. And again, keeping things simple, the Islanders 2.60 goals for per game this year.

That's at the bottom of the league. It's not dead last, but it's at the bottom of the league. Penguins got to keep doing a good job with that. So those are some of my keys to victory for this back-to-back. I think the Delcovich will probably go in the second game if I had to guess, and Jolly will go in the first one. I did read that Sorokin will go in the first one, and I think the backup is going to go in the second game.

But, Gil, switching this back to you, what are your keys to victory for the Islanders? this big back-to-back. I got to start with this, and it really is more Islander-centric, but after that terrible performance against Buffalo before the break, they've got to be angry. This team has to respond. One of the criticisms of the Islanders,

and this core has been together a long time, Lou Lamarillo is big on loyalty, and that's a little bit of a double-edged sword. And the downside of it is you can get complacent when everything is the same for a long time. time. This team cannot accept losing at home to the Buffalo Sabres seven to one when the Sabres are on a 13 game losing streak. They have got to come out and say, we are not going to let this continue. We are, you know, I'm mad as heck and I'm not going to take it anymore. And they've got to

respond and play better hockey. So that's number one. Number two, they've got to stay out of the penalty box. We talked in the first segment about how good the penguin special teams are. The islanders are dead last on the power play, dead last on the penalty kill. If you give Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin and Chris Latang and those guys, more time and space to operate, they will make you pay. And if the islanders are on the PK, they're going to be in trouble. So stay out of the penalty box. And then the other thing is, as far as the islanders are concerned, they have got to get the puck. out of their zone. You talked about keeping it simple. That's something that I talked about on

Locked on Islanders last week. You know, when things, when you're struggling, you go back to basics and make the simple play. Get the puck out of your zone and transition to offense. It doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be effective. And, you know, those are the kind of things that I think we need to see. One other thing I really do want to see Marcus Hogberg start one of these two games. Or if somehow Semyon Varlamov is ready, let him play one of those two games, but don't wear out Ilya Sorokin. Eleven straight starts is too much, especially for a guy who had offseason back surgery. You don't want to wear him down in December when you still have January, February, March, half of April. And maybe if you somehow get hot more of April to

play more hockey. And so those are some of my keys. And oh, yeah, slow down Sidney Crosby, because as you said, the guy loves to play the Islanders and he really does do quite well against them. Yeah, he loves playing them. He has, again, outside of the Flyers, it's them and the islanders that he torches the most out of any team in the league. It's that good, Gil. But I think one more key for me, if they get up on the Islanders, I want to see them, you know, full pedal to the metal. I don't want to see them give the Islanders a chance to get back in the game. You don't want to give that building life. We all know how loud Islanders fans can get in their home arena, especially when you go back even before they got this new arena, especially during

the Coliseum days, that place would just get insanely rowdy. You don't want an excuse to let the islanders and their crowd especially get back into the game. So the Penguins have a good start. They need to sustain that because it's been too often this year. They've had some good starts. They've had a good period, for example. But then they've gone back to looking like complete crap in another period before they kind of wake up again at the second intermission. It low-key kind of happened against the Flyers this week where they blitz them in the first period. The second period, they didn't really play that well. But they have the two-gold lead heading into the third.

But then they completely shut them down to the third period. They had the second intermission to kind of reset them. So I just want to see again, I know, very cliche, but a full 60 for this one and again on Sunday. And I'll add one cliche as well, especially Saturday. score first and score early on Tristan Jarry. He has struggled against the Islanders. He has, you know, you want to get in his head and let him say, oh, no, here we go again. And I think if the Islanders get the first goal of the game,

and if that first goal of the game is even better if it's in the first five or six minutes of the game, you want to start playing a little bit with his mind and erase some of the bad taste that the Islanders have in their mouths after what happened on Monday against. Buffalo. So that would be my last key to this game for the New York Islanders. I want to thank everyone for making Locked on Islanders and Locked on Penguins your first listen today. For your second listen, find Locked on Fantasy Hockey, become a fantasy hockey expert and get the edge over your league mates with daily tips from our host, Steel, and Flip. Find Locked on Fantasy Hockey on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hunter,

pleasure. Always enjoy talking a little hockey with you. Want to wish all the Locked on Penguins and Locked on Islanders, listeners and viewers out there are happy and a healthy new year. Can't believe this year is already over. Where did it go? But we got to do this again sometime, my friend. Yeah, for sure, especially once Pat gets back from being a world traveler at this point this whole week, he's been going to Philadelphia, Atlanta. But yeah, once he comes back for sure for that final matchup of the year, we'll definitely have to do this again. All right. Well, thanks everybody. And I have a great weekend and enjoyed this home and home.