Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins going for five in a row against the Blue Jackets tonight!

Starting point is 00:00:02 The Penguins will try and make it five in a row against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, and Pat and I are going to preview that game, plus discuss a few other things right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:39 You can follow me on Twitter. 100 hodes joined by my co-s Patrick damp you can follow him on twitter at synod for wet and you can follow these shows twitter at l-o underscore penguins of course thank you all so much for making this your first list and slash watch of the day and finally today's episode is brought to you by jace medical empower yourself when you purchase a jace case providing you with a personal supply of five antibiotics that treat 50 plus infections get yours today at jesmedical dot com that's jase-medical dot com So another game night for the Penguins on Tuesday night, they go to PBG Paints Arena West or, aka Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets, the team that the Penguins have owned for quite a few years now, to say the least.

Starting point is 00:01:22 You can just dive into the numbers right now, considering how the Penguins have owned this rivalry. 8-0 and 1 in their last nine games against the Blue Jackets. In their last 23 games, Penguins have only lost in regulation three times, 18 and 3-2 against the Blue Jackets, dating back to February of 2017. They also went 3 and 1 against the Blue Jackets last year. That alone loss coming in the final game of the regular season where the Penguins honestly just didn't really care. But Blue Jackets come into this game.

Starting point is 00:01:50 Losers of five straight, nine of their last 10 at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. They probably should have beaten the Rangers the other night. They were 11 seconds away before Alexei Luffernier. Tied the game before winning the game in a shootout. But the Jackets, man, they spent a lot of money this off season. Yarmel kick of line in as someone who I think knows his job is on the line, which is why he spent all that money. But so far, these moves really haven't paid off the way he thought they were.

Starting point is 00:02:15 And this team is just bad, pat, to say the least. They're not good. No, this is a very bad hockey team in Columbus. And sure, they fired Mike Babcock and rightfully so. But Pascal Vincent putting Johnny Goddrow on the third line, what are we doing here? And I know that he has. hasn't played well. I get that he's in a slump and he's struggling, but he's pretty much one of

Starting point is 00:02:45 the only people on this team that's worth anything. So at this point, that's somebody you just got to let play. You can't demote him and put him on the third line and bench him, even if he's catastrophically bad, because this is a team that's essentially rebuilding. So it doesn't really matter if Johnny Goddrow is bad. And I know coaches and players don't tank. I know that's not in their DNA, but at the same time, you know, wink and a nudge, hey, hang in there, kiddo, keep working. We'll get better. You don't have to bench them. Johnny Goodro has been not good this year. One goal, six points so far this season, just not the player that we once saw in Calgary. and I continue to be flabberg out of a citizen as to why he picked the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Starting point is 00:03:35 I understand that he wanted to come east to be closer to his family, but it still begs the question why you wanted to sign in Columbus when this team is still not close to competing right now. I will say Adam Fantilli has been really good for the Blue Jackets this year, excuse me, tie for the team lead in points with nine four goals, nine points in 15 games. You have Boonger who has seven goals. Ivan Provrom has nine assists in 15 games. Wrenski is back healthy, which is good.

Starting point is 00:03:59 I do think Werensky is probably one of the more underrated defensemen in the league, even though he's a bit overpaid. But they are going to be without Jack Roslovich in this game. He has eight points in 14 games. Two those are goals. He was, they had a call up earlier this week, and he's going to be out for this one. But this Jackets team overall, just not good enough this year. I mean, we can dive into more of the numbers right now.

Starting point is 00:04:20 At five on five, they only have a 46.2% expected goals rate, 44.7% actual goals rate. There are goals for per 16 minutes at five on five is two point. five three. There are goals against for 60 minutes at five on five is three point one one. They have a minus seven goal differential. Their goaltending hasn't been good. You can't drop this game when you have three massive games coming up this week against New Jersey, Carolina, and Vegas. You have to get a result here. And again, there are no gimmee games in the NHL, but this feels as close to one as it should be considering how bad the jackets have been, how Roslovich is hurt.

Starting point is 00:04:55 And yes, the jackets do have some talent. Gudrow is a good player. He's just having a bad season. They still have Boom Jenner who is playing at least decent hockey. Patrick Lone is a great sniper. They have some of these younger players, but this is a game of the Penguins should win, considering how dominant they've been against the Blue Jackets for the last decade. You said it already. This upcoming two weeks, you are, you're not going to sweep these next couple of weeks just because you're playing some incredibly talented teams. And I don't want to sit here in lower expectations. I'd love to see the penguins run the table or at the very least go very well over 500

Starting point is 00:05:35 and only get one or two losses up coming in the next two weeks. But with the teams you have coming over the next two weeks, the hurricanes, golden nights, devils, rangers, Maple Leafs, this is a game you have to win. These are two points you have to put in the bank just as an investment, because, like we said, murderers row coming over the next two weeks. So you can't guarantee any points in the National Hockey League ever. But if there was ever a time to bank two points and give yourself some cushion

Starting point is 00:06:12 as you're trying to pull yourself out of the basement, it's against this team. And here's the thing about Columbus that is going to help the penguins tonight is they can't score. That's their biggest issue. Merzleekins and Martin have been fine enough. They're both slightly above 900 on save percentage. So your goaltending on a bad team is usually about at a 900. So the goaltenders are doing their job. The goals just aren't coming from anywhere.

Starting point is 00:06:41 So at this point, if you're the Penguins, play the system you've been playing, capitalize on their mistakes, and then pop two or three past these guys, put two points in the bank and get ready for a big week. Yeah, Mersleekins has been, guess okay he was really bad last year but he's at 901 this year that's still below average so it's still not good the penguins they'll have the goaltending edge in this one that's for sure they'll also have the edge especially in special teams well at least on the power play the blue jackets come into this game

Starting point is 00:07:10 27th on the power play 13% penalty kill wise jackets have the third best penalty kill in the league right now even though they're a really bad team that's a matchup that i'm going to have an eye on the blue jackets pk versus the penguins power play and then of course the penguins pk should be able to shut down the Jackets power play. But at least for the Jackets, there's not really many players on this team that I'm, I guess, excited to watch. I mean, I've always liked Johnny Goodrope, because he's a great player, but he's just not having a good year. I do like Zach Bransky. I do think he's also overpaid. As I said, a little a few minutes ago, he just is not worth the contract that he's getting right now. He's been a fun player to watch, though, for a long time. You go up and down

Starting point is 00:07:47 this lineup. I mean, Van Tilly's their second line center. He's off to a good start, as I said. But I don't think you're a serious team if Boone Jenner is your top line center. Don't get me wrong. Boone Jenner is a perfectly fine hockey player. But is he a number one center in the NHL? No, he's not. And he's just being overused there. You have Patrick Lone, you got Marchenko, Cole Cillinger, who was on the team last year. You got Emil Benstrom, Johnny Goodrow again on the third line, which Pat already discussed.

Starting point is 00:08:10 That's crazy. Sean Corrally, we have Wrenski. Eric Good Branson is getting top-faring minutes, man. Eric Good Branson, what are we doing here? It's not a good team. And the thing that truly baffles me, about that putting Johnny Godreau on the third line is even if and I'm with you, Boone Jenner is not a top, top line center in the national.

Starting point is 00:08:35 He's been with the blue jackets since I was like a junior in high school. Yeah. But even if he's not, if you look at the way this team is built and the way this team is set up, if you just put Boone Jenner between Patrick Linae and Johnny Godreau, you should at least get some production out of it. And the fact that they're not doing that and the fact that they're not, they're not just letting Adam Fessnerner. Tilly run.

Starting point is 00:08:57 You're the Columbus Blue Jackets. You don't have a ton of depth. Load up. Put Fantilli between line A and Goddreau and just go. And listen, our war here, I'm not going to interrupt my enemy when they're making a mistake. So you guys keep doing what you're doing. But I just, I don't get what this team is going for. Hey, if they want to keep Johnny Guidro on their third line for tonight and not given that many minutes,

Starting point is 00:09:21 I will take that bad. I will take that any day because, of course, he can hurt any team. at any time. And I am really excited to see Fantilli for the first time tonight. I think he's going to be a thorn in a lot of team sides for quite a lot. Yeah, get ready to hate him. Yes. Get ready for him to be a villain. He's probably going to score quite a few goals against the penguins throughout his career. Hopefully he doesn't start tonight, but he's off to a really good start. And I'm excited to see what he can do throughout his career. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to do a bit more of a deep dive

Starting point is 00:09:52 into how the penguins can make it five in a row against the blue jackets tonight, go into how they've been playing in the defensive zone, goal attending, boardwise, all that good stuff. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about the JSK. So we spend a lot of time talking together you and I. We always get fired up together on wins, and especially losses earlier in the season. Who starts and who sits? I'm thankful for that connection we have.

Starting point is 00:10:13 And today, I want our chat to be, you know, a little more personal. I just learned that you can get a one-year supply on ED medications, and you realize what that means, bring on extended travel, bring on the next natural disaster or supply chain issue, you are covered, my friend. You don't have to worry about whether or not you can refill your prescriptions like Cialis and all these other things. And if this is possible because of our friends at Jace Medical. Go online right now at jacemedical.com to receive your 12-month supply and your daily medication.

Starting point is 00:10:39 Remember to use promo code locked on at checkout for a discount as well. If you or someone you love would like to get some peace of mind by having a year supply of any daily med, go to jacemedical.com to see if it's offered for you. Remember to use the promo code, excuse me, locked on for $20 off your purchase. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm Hunter Hodes, joined by Monkho's Patrick Dam. So let's get into more of a breakdown for this game against the Blue Jackets.

Starting point is 00:11:08 For me, man, I just want to see the Penguins keep doing what they've been doing in the defensive zone. Keep limiting the chances to the outside. Keep winning the battle in the neutral zone. Forcing more of these dumpins, I should say, especially from what we saw against the Sabres on Saturday night. just keep playing that same defensive system that's been working these last four games. And honestly, that's been working since the avalanche game. And I think the Penguins should be able to have success in this one. Obviously, I want to see the power play go up against a really good penalty killing unit.

Starting point is 00:11:37 I know the jackets are not good, but they do have some really good penalty killers. And this is going to be a nice test for the Penguins. If they can maybe pot, I'm not going to even say two power play goals, but if they can pot just one against this unit, even though the jackets are not good, I'll still take that as a success, excuse me. Just want to see that unit start to wake up a little bit. It was okay against Sabres, but it hasn't got into the top 10 for power play percentage just yet. And maybe this game will be a nice step in that direction, considering they're going up against a really good unit.

Starting point is 00:12:05 But those are two of the main things I'm looking forward to in this one for the Penguins to try to pull out the victory. The word that keeps coming to mind for me for this game is discipline. Because as I said in the first segment, this is a team in Columbus that came. can't score a lot of goals. And this is the kind of game where, and this isn't a penguin specific thing, it's just a human thing, it's just a human nature deal. This is the kind of game where you look at this, this Blue Jackets team and you think, ah, we can, we can get a little lazy with that defensive zone system.

Starting point is 00:12:40 We can, we can, we can take a little bit more risk. We can take a little bit more of a chance against this team. And while that's not untrue, you're leaving yourself exposed. and there are still guys on this Blue Jackets team who can score goals. They just haven't been scoring them. So I look at this game tonight as don't stray from the system you've been playing just because you're playing a bad team. Just because you're playing a team that doesn't have a big offensive push,

Starting point is 00:13:10 just because it's a team that hasn't been able to put the bug in the net. Play the game you've been playing. Limit them to the outside. Capitalize on their mistakes. give them nothing in the neutral zone and play the game you know how to play that you've been playing for the past few weeks because it's brought you success against much, much better hockey teams. So if you stick to that system tonight, logically you would think play the game that you've been playing and you're going to beat up on this team. You're going to get three, four, five goals tonight because this is not a good hockey team. I also, I'm with you on the power play.

Starting point is 00:13:47 this is a big test moment for them because the only thing Columbus does well so far this year's is killed by this. If I said discipline for the first part, patience is what I want for the second part because don't try to force things. Don't try to get too cute. Don't try to do a little too much because you know you're going up against a good unit because I've been saying it all season. This power play has been doing a lot of things that are, uh, that are, uh, that are, uh, that are are harbingers of success that will bring them goals. They just have to keep pushing and keep doing them. So just because you're going up against a good PK doesn't mean you have to abandon all of that.

Starting point is 00:14:30 So be disciplined in the defensive zone. Don't start taking risk because you're playing a bad team. And just keep doing what you've been doing on the power play. If the goals don't come, we do have to keep in mind that two teams do play this game. Them not scoring on the power play doesn't mean that the other team just suddenly was unable to kill penalties. Yeah, I just don't want them to go back into their old habits for what they were doing earlier on in the season, where they were, I feel like, just allowing free access to the offensive zone and just free access to the high danger areas. I just don't want to see them do

Starting point is 00:14:59 that. And this one, even though they're playing a bat team, I just want them to be like, oh, we've been playing really well with beating some better teams. Oh, let's just revert back to what we were doing that led to the three and six start. I don't think they're going to do that, but just have to put that out there. And I think another big thing is, Tristan Jari, if he gets a start, and I think he is going to get the start, keep being consistent. He's had three, really, and I mean really good starts. His same percentage is up to 920 right now, which is crazy considering the inconsistencies we've seen from him this season.

Starting point is 00:15:27 I want to see if he can continue that for this game. You're playing against a bad team, but we've seen the level that he can play at when he's at his best. Show that again tonight against a bad team. That's what I'm really looking for as well. Yeah, I can't disagree. And like you said, it's a bad team and Tristan Jari has been bouncing back. So tonight's one of those games similarly like we talked about with San Jose and a couple others.

Starting point is 00:15:56 Yeah, this is just a team you have to beat. This is a game where we don't give out gold stars for beating bad teams. But at the same time, you do have to beat them. So with that in mind, Tristan Jari has to go out and play a very good. game tonight. He has to have a 920, 925, 930 save percentage against a team like this. I agree. And overall, man, again, this should be a win. Hopefully we're doing the recap tomorrow talking about five in a row. But again, there are no gimmies in the NHL. And a big thing here to follow for tonight's game, Crystal Tang is very close to a milestone. 698 points,

Starting point is 00:16:37 two points away from 700 for defensemen. He made. get it in this game if he plays real one. I think he's been playing really well throughout these last couple weeks. I also do Philman. It might be a big Sydney Crosby game coming tonight. He usually always plays well against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He doesn't have the same points per game that he does against the Flyers and the Islanders, but the Blue Jackets, it's up there.

Starting point is 00:17:00 That's for sure. I think this is going to be a really big vintage Sid game as well. But that will do it, I think, for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to get into a couple of moves of the Penguins made on Tuesday with Jonathan Gruden getting recalled. Jeff Carter being hurt, we'll discuss that a little bit. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Fandle. Score early in the NFL season with Fandle, America's number one sportsbook.

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Starting point is 00:17:53 We're back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm Hunter Hodes, joined by my co's Patrick Damp. And I should say this morning, beautiful friend of the show, Jesse Marshall put out an insane article detailing what Mike Sullivan has done to his system. Pat, you and I have been discussing a little bit what he's been doing. Jesse went all in with his breakdown. I just wanted to shout out that article to throw off the second because it was a great reading. If you all haven't read it yet, please do yourselves a favor and go read it because, again,

Starting point is 00:18:21 I think we're pretty decent with X's and O's. He is the godfather of that stuff. Forget what us two plebs ever say about X's and O's. I coached the game for years and played the game for years and Jesse can still tell me more about a scheme than I can. So that tells you how good he is. Right. We've been discussing like, oh, they've been tweaking the system. a little bit. He put loads of video in that article that I hadn't noticed when I, before I read it, and I was like, oh, I did not notice this at all before he showed me this. And it's just like, again, I've been following this for 20 years. He still teaches me something every single time I read

Starting point is 00:18:58 this article. So if you all haven't read that yet, please go check it out. But for this game tonight, Jonathan Gruden was recalled by the Penguins. Mike Sullivan did say it was kind of just precautionary because Jeff Carter is dealing with a nagging injury. Does not look like Carter. is going to play in this one and there's no one else that's hurt. Looks like there's some speculation that, oh, is another player hurt just because Carter was on the ice or the optional morning skate, but no, it doesn't look like that's the case. It looks like Carter's going to be out again. Danny Hennon shows his end and then the extra floor will be Carter and Jonathan Gooden,

Starting point is 00:19:27 so that's why he was called up. But just to laugh in your face a little bit there, Pat. You said Jeff Carter could maybe get in the game for this one on Monday, but no, that's not happening now. I didn't say he could. I said if there was a game in the next two weeks when you wanted to get a mice time. This would be the ideal one. And I think that like Sullivan said, this is just precautionary. I think Carter probably has some kind of nagging injury that probably got aggravated

Starting point is 00:19:54 at a practice or something. And while it's not something that could hamper him for a long time, should there be an injury tonight in the bottom six? And they need somebody to go on Thursday. you've got Gruden there ready to go in case Carter's injury is still bothering him and he's unable to play. So, yeah. And again, it's just like it's an insurance policy. Gruden hasn't been exactly impressive with Wokes Bear. It's just a, it's a warm body to have that doesn't need to clear waivers.

Starting point is 00:20:29 So he'll be a 13th forward and, you know, God forbid someone else gets hurt and he can be inserted in the lineup for a game or two, something like that. It's really not that big of a deal. But you'll see the same bottom six combinations that you saw against Buffalo. And I'm excited. The third line continues to play really well. Overall, really strong expected goals rate. They're outscoring opponents when they're on the ice,

Starting point is 00:20:52 especially with Drew O'Connor got his first one. Lars Eller is really playing a bit better. As of late, Redeems the Hornah has been awesome. Really want to see how this line does against the Blue Jackets. And then for the fourth line, again, it's crazy how just one change there actually makes the fourth line. I wouldn't say good, but better to say the least with Hina Strozza and for Carter. So, I mean, if we can get another bottom six goal tonight, I'll be a happy man to say the least. Be real nice. And if we're going to keep giving shoutouts to our pals at the athletic,

Starting point is 00:21:21 I got to give one to Josh O'Hie again, because I've been trying to figure out how to explain Ellers play because it's been reminding me of something. And I think he nailed it. There's a lot of Matt Cullen there, where he's not overly impressive. He's not doing anything in particular great, but he's doing just about everything well. It's not something that you're going to get ready to build a statue and say move them up in the lineup and extend them forever. But you're not watching his game, especially in the last month and getting frustrated. It's just steady.

Starting point is 00:22:01 Do I think he's a championship third line center? Probably not. But at the same time, if fair is fair and we're going to analyze the games as they've come, he's been a good third line center for the last month. And if he's doing the job, he's doing the job. It's passable right now, I think, until they potentially make a move by the trade done. I think if the penguins continue to play this style, they continue to get these results from that third line, you can ride this all the way to February or March, especially if you get fully into

Starting point is 00:22:36 the playoff race or maybe even into the top three of the Metropolitan Division, you can ride that until close to the deadline until Kyle Dubus wants to make it move and be like, hey, Lars, I know you've been playing fine this year, but we're going to go out, get more of an offensive center for the third line, and we're going to maybe push you down to the fourth line wing or fourth line center, because I think especially if he used your fourth line center, he can be a fourth line center on a contending team in my opinion or a cup contending team i should say and as everyone knows you know if i can state the absolute obvious is you have that and you can give the bottom six more minutes because you're getting more depth and you can take some of the burden off of the top six

Starting point is 00:23:18 and keep them fresher so should Kyle dubus do that and i do believe he's going to over the next three four months before the trade deadline that's i'm that's your ideal where you're not going to have to run your top six into the ground in January and February and March. You can save that for April, May, and hopefully June. And you won't have to rely on them to score every night because let's be real. Your top six isn't going to score every night for you. And you're going to have to have games where sometimes your bottom six has to win you the game. And I mean, we saw that kind of against Buffalo where Drew O'Connor got a big goal for the Penguins.

Starting point is 00:23:53 And yes, the big guns also scored, Eric Carlson had a couple, Guinea Malkins scored. But still, you need games where not everyone is firing on all cylinders, and your top six, at least, where your bottom 60s need to come and be like, hey, we'll help out a little bit. And if they make that move there, that will obviously be very good. But I think that I'll do it for this Tuesday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I know it's a little bit shorter today, but we wanted to get this preview out for you all before tonight's game at 7 o'clock Eastern Time on Sportsnet, Pittsburgh. We're looking forward to this one. We'll see if the Penguins can make it five in row, get to 8 and 6 before we will recap this game on Wednesday. and, of course, get you all set for the massive late week games and then the weekend games as well.

Starting point is 00:24:33 But again, thank you all so much for tuning in. Really appreciate it. We'll be back with another episode for you all on Wednesday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins going for five in a row against the Blue Jackets tonight!

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