Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins heading into a MASSIVE back-to-back against Columbus and Toronto

Episode Date: November 28, 2025

The Penguins will have a chance to grab four huge points this weekend when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs. Patrick Damp is flying solo today as Hunter Hodies enjoys a much-needed day off this holiday weekend. Patrick begins the show, previewing the Friday night showdown with the Blue Jackets, a team that is reeling, having lost three straight and four of their last five. The Penguins need to take advantage of a team that is struggling, especially in their division. Tristan Jarry returns to the net after a strong performance against Buffalo, and the big guns need to be the X-factor against Columbus. (0:00) Then, the Penguins return home on Saturday night for a rematch with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Much like Columbus, Toronto has been struggling as of late, and a solid 60-minute effort against the Leafs could be just what the doctor ordered for the Penguins before a hectic December schedule. The Penguins will have to play all three periods and shut down the Leafs' top talent, so can they do it? (12:13) Finally, it's another Fan Take Friday! Patrick answers questions about trades, playoff position, and Dan Muse's lineup decisions as of late. (22:39)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.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.

A massive back-to-back weekend looms for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they will head to Columbus for a Metropolitan Division showdown against the Blue Jackets tonight. And then they will welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to PPG Paints Arena on Saturday. I'm going to get you set for that weekend back-to-back before this nightmare of a December schedule comes down the pipe. All that and more right after this. your locked on penguins your daily podcast on the pittsburg penguins part of the locked on podcast network your team every day welcome in to another edition of the locked on penguins podcast i am your host patrick damp you can follow me across all social media platforms at synonym for wet flying solo today as my co-host and good friend Hunter Hodes is enjoying some much earned and much needed family

time on this Thanksgiving holiday. Hope you had a fantastic holiday this past week. Gonna run through everything here real quick, so stick with me. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube and make sure that you're following us on YouTube and that you've hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Also, remember to follow us on all social media platforms. You can find us on Twitter at L.O. underscore penguins, on Instagram at Lockedon underscore Penguins and on TikTok, simply locked on penguins. So once again, hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I hope the food was delicious.

The drinks were great. The family time was fun. Now you are stuffed and ready for some hockey because it starts tonight when the Penguins will be at nationwide arena for a Metropolitan Division showdown against their little brothers, as I like to call them, the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is a big opportunity for the Penguins. If you have been listening to the show, you know what I said my expectation for this upcoming weekend was. I want them to get five of six points. They are two points of the way there after a big win over the Sabres on Thanksgiving Eve. And tonight will be another chance for them to take on a struggling opponent. The Columbus Blue Jackets are coming off the heels of an overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nationwide Arena earlier this week.

And that is just the tip of the ice. for the Blue Jackets, no pun intended. They have lost three in a row, four of their last five, and they have not won a game in regulation since November 1st. And to add even more insult to that injury, they are not a good third period team this season. They have not outscored an opponent since they played the Dallas stars all the way back on October 21st, and coming into tonight's game, they are going to be without two very key players

in their lineup. They will not have Caril Marchenko, who is going to miss his third straight game, and they will be out without what I think is one of the best power forwards in the National Hockey League in Matthew Olivier. He always brings a huge physical presence, and he's more than just your typical big dude who can throw a bunch of hits and really not do much else. He's a solid skater. He can put up some points here and there and he always brings energy to your lineup. It's a very important piece for the Blue Jackets. So the Penguins go into this game with an opportunity to really bank two more points and not only bank two more points, but beat a division rival to help them within the Metropolitan Division standings.

In net tonight for both teams, let's start with the Penguins, head coach Dan Mews, going away from the rotation he has been keeping to most of this season. Tristan Jari will be between the pipes for the Penguins tonight, and that is very, very much deserved for him. He played extremely well against Buffalo. If you listen to our quick recap episode on Thanksgiving morning of the Buffalo Sabres game, the Penguins didn't quite fall asleep so much as Buffalo pushed back, but it still wasn't the best of efforts from the Penguins in the second half of that game.

But Tristan Jari was there to bail them out. He was arguably their best player in that game. He has absolutely earned another start. and I'm going to talk more about this in our final segment. There have been some rumors about Tristan Jari's trade value. If the penguins are shopping them, shout out to you know who you are and you'll get your shout out in Fan Take Friday, but I will talk a little bit more about that in the final segment.

Meanwhile, for Columbus, Jet Grieves, another goaltender in a long list of young players who I have had egg on my face about because I have said, or I did say, excuse me, last year when Jet Greaves started against the penguins, who is this guy, you got to get to this young goalie. And he has been pretty darn good in what has been a struggle of a season for the Columbus Blue Jackets, a record of seven, four, and four. Yes, that's over Gary Bettman, NHL 500, and under actual 500, which would make him seven and eight, but a 905 save percentage. And he has been pretty good, as I said,

for the Blue Jackets. So for the Penguins tonight, you've got to get to him early. You've got to pepper him with shots and you've got to make him earn saves because he is proving early in his young career that if you let him see it and you let him settle into a groove, he will be a pretty good goaltender that you're facing. So tonight, nothing fancy, nothing too crazy against a goalie like Greaves, get to the front of the net, take the shooting lanes that you have, make his life miserable, tire him out, and try to wear the blue jackets goaltending down as best that you can. So more on the Penguins for tonight's game. Ben Kindle will be back in the lineup after a scheduled scratching against the sabers.

And I'm not sure what the lineups are going to be. The Penguins did not do a lot of line rushes at MorningSkate. They did a lot of special teams work. So we don't know what the line combinations will be. But I imagine he is going to return to the third line as the center. And that is probably the best way to go because as we have seen, the 18-year-old is really, really good. at driving play.

We want to see that continue tonight. We want to make sure that the depth is starting to get back to where it needs to be for this team to continue some winning ways as well as continue some of their early success, even though they have been somewhat struggling as of late. So we get Ben Kindle back in the lineup tonight at Nationwide Arena. Simply put, I've got two X factors for tonight's game for the Penguin. and it's two players that you would absolutely expect to be X factors against a team like Columbus.

First is defenseman Chris Latang. Latang has scored 13 goals in his career against the Columbus Blue Jackets. That mark is best in the existence of the Columbus Blue Jackets. No defenseman has scored more goals against the Blue Jackets since they entered the league 25 years ago. So got to have a big game from LaTang tonight. He has historically been very, very good against the Blue Jackets. And the other is, of course, the captain number 87, 65 points in 45 games against the Blue Jackets. You want to see him continue that tonight, especially because with how much this Blue Jackets team has struggled this year,

I bring this point up on the show quite a bit. When you play a team like the Blue Jackets and they're having a season like this, you want to get to them early. You want to put a couple goals in in the first 30 minutes, take a lead and hold on to it because simply put, with what they're going through, they are going to be whether they like it or not, whether they admit it or not,

they are going to be a mentally fragile team. because you have you are in such a funk you are struggling as much as you are you give up a couple early goals you go down early or you find yourself down late in the second period really easy for that team to drift into a mentality of here we go again and you really want to make sure you're taking advantage of that but that is not the only game that the pittsburgh penguins will have this weekend. They will return home on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at PPG Paints Arena. But before that, it's Penguins and Blue Jackets. 7 o'clock tonight in Columbus at Nationwide Arena. You can catch the game on SportsNet, Pittsburgh, if you're in the Pittsburgh

region, an NHL network if you are not. But that's going to do it for this first segment. When we come back, Penguins, Maple Leafs Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. Stick with us. We're going to get you ready for that game right after this. But first, I've got to tell you about our first sponsor, and that is Monarch. Let's be honest, most of us can't even name all of our financial accounts, let alone what they're even worth. Between 401k's savings and investments, it's easy to lose track and that can mean you might be leaving money on the table. That is why, as you guys know, if you're a frequent listener to this show, I have begun using Monarch. It's an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy-to-use interface

on your laptop or your mobile device. I'll just run it down as I always do when our friends monarch are sponsor in the show. I've got my longstanding rivalry with both Math and Microsoft Opt-Excel. We don't get along very well simply because I'm not very good at using either of them or doing math, never have been. And that's exactly where Monarch has stepped in. They got all my accounts there, whether it's my banking account, savings, my 401k, whatever else, it's all right there. I don't got to touch a spreadsheet. I don't got to use my fingers and toes to try to calculate what number works for each account. Monarch does it for me. It's all right there. Nice and easy visualization, and it's easy for someone like me to understand.

So don't let your financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use code locked on NHL at monarch.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarch.com code locked on NHL for half off your first year. Welcome back to the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. I am Patrick Damp, Flyen, So. solo today as my pal hunter hodies again is enjoying some much earned much deserved family time on this holiday weekend so i'm taking the reins and having myself a little solo house party here on locked on penguins but enough about me enough about the behind the scenes stuff

we've got more hockey to talk about hockey night in pittsburg but you know it's going to be hockey night in Canada when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night. And really, you could combine these two previews with one simple fact. These are two struggling teams that the Penguins will be facing this weekend. We just went over Columbus. They are really going through it right now. But it has been a season of going through it for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are three, five in two in their last 10, and five of those losses are regulation, as I said. And this is, as always, a Toronto team that is under immense pressure to win. We know about all of their offseason drama with Mitch Marner. We know about everything

else that they have been going through, but this season has not been one of success for the Toronto Maple Leafs going into what they hoped would be at the very least a playoff year. But right now, they sit just one point above the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference. And it has not been, well, ninth outside of the wildcard. Excuse me. I'm looking at those standings. But 10, 10, and 3 on the year, a Betman 500 record, a negative 7 goal differential. And here is what could be a huge factor for the penguins on Saturday night.

On the road, the Toronto Maple Leafs are 2 and 6. They are not very good away from Toronto. They're 8, 4, and 3 in Toronto. Obviously, we know one of those wins came against the penguin. about a month ago when the penguins surrendered that 3-0 lead and lost in regulations. So let's go through that. This is a team similar to Columbus where you've got to jump on them early and you've got to stay on them early.

You really need to get in their heads that they are going through another tough night. They started to do that when they played them last month in Toronto. and then obviously we know how that went. The Penguins decided that the third period was optional. That came back to bite them because even with all of the struggles that the Toronto Maple Leafs are having this year, they still have a very, very good top end talent, not issue. That's not the word to go with. They still have a lot of good top end talent.

You've got Austin Matthews, who is back, William Neeland, or maybe the most understated superstar in the NHL. He just continues to click along at an elite pace. Matthew Nyes is turning into a superstar before Canada's eyes. And it's a team that if you can slow them down, it is a team that is extremely beatable. Because unlike years past, yes, Mitch Marner was not exactly the engine, but having that one extra star in your lineup,

pushed some guys down the lineup and gave them better depth this year it's not really the same their bottom six is fine enough but i wouldn't count it among some of the best top six or bottom sixes excuse me in the n hl so if you are able to shut down the likes of tavarez in nielander in matthews and even nis to an extent you can neutralize this toronto attack because you look at the of their lineup, and it's not totally all that impressive. So that is going to be the key element for the penguins on Saturday night is slowing down the attack of those top players on Toronto. Same deal, as I said with Columbus, you got to jump on them early.

And we don't know yet who is going to start for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are playing this afternoon against the Washington Capitals. we'll see if it's Joseph Wohl or Dennis Hildaby, who goes up against the caps, then the penguins will obviously get the other. If it is Dennis Hildaby, hasn't been one of the best years for the young goalie. O2 and one record, 3.37 goals against average in a 906 save percentage. With the way the penguins have been opportunistic this year, that is definitely a goalie that you want to jump on, really make his life miserable, and really,

really get into making sure you're on this team early and often. And I know Hunter and I say this quite a bit on this show, you have to have a 60 minute effort because the Toronto Maple Leafs, whether they like to admit it or not, are a team that can flip the switch. And the penguins have to be aware of that Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. You don't want to have another repeat of the last game where you only play 40 of the 60 minutes you give toronto the window to walk through or jump through or whatever you want to use

for this metaphor and you have to shut them down that gets back into something i have been really impressed maybe not all season long with the penguins but in certain spurts of the season i have been impressed with their defensive play on certain occasions it's very responsible they're getting to where they need to be everyone is playing their role and they're going to have to do that almost to perfection, especially against the Leafs top tier talent. If you're able to do that and you're able to neutralize them, that will be a huge, huge moment to get two more points in what is going to be the end of, we'll call it the easy stretch, but as you know, as a listener of this show, December is going to be an absolute nightmare

in an absolute gauntlet for the Pittsburgh Penguins. So getting three or four points out of this weekend is going to be imperative for the Penguins. You're not going to want to leave any points on the table this weekend. You look at where this team is right now. They've got 27 points. They are 11, 6, and 5 through 22 games. They are one point back of the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metro and three points behind Carolina, four behind New Jersey for the lead in the Metro Division. While we don't have any designs here on them winning the division or anything like that, you find yourself going into what is going to be a rough month.

If you can get four, if you can get three or four points this weekend, that'll set you up really nicely. to make your move in December because while they will play a lot of hockey, they're going to play a lot of very good teams. And you almost want to replicate on a smaller level what you did at the start of the year. When you did really well in October, gave yourself some wiggle room in order to maybe lose a game or two here or go through a bit of a slide, if you're able to do that this weekend And with wins or overtime against Columbus in Toronto, you're going to set yourself up really nice for what's going to be a hectic schedule in December. So Penguins, Leafs, 7 o'clock, PPG paints arena.

The Penguins already got two of the five points. I wanted to see them get out of this three game stretch. They'll have a chance to get two more tonight against Columbus and then two more on Saturday against. the Leafs. But that'll do it for my game previews for this back-to-back weekend. And just because Hodes is off enjoying family time doesn't mean that I'm ignoring Fan Take Friday. We are going to, well, I am going to answer some of your questions, give you the results of our poll in Fan Take Friday right after this. But I've got one more sponsor.

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It's based in Pittsburgh, not much hoop going on here, but big weekend, big, big weekend of football coming up this Sunday when the Steelers, I almost said Penguins. The Steelers welcome the bills to Acresher Stadium. And the Steelers, they've got themselves a chance to widen their lead in the AFC North. And if you want to bet on them doing just that, Fandul is your place to be. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. Right now, Fandle is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to Fandual.com to sign up and play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Back here on the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp, flying solo as Hunter enjoys some much needed family time.

But it is Friday. That means we're doing another edition of Fan Take Friday, and this week's poll was pretty darn close. Let me hit that refresh button just to make sure I get the most accurate results. And what do you know, it got even closer after I hit the refresh button? We asked you on our YouTube page, the Penguins have done it, they made it to the Thanksgiving cutoff in playoff position. So do you think they're going to make it? make the playoffs or do you still need to see more after more than 60 votes from some of you it is 51 49 not yet need to see more and if i was able to vote in the poll that would have been

my vote as well i was reminded this afternoon that it was just a couple years ago in the 22, 23 season when the penguins were at the Thanksgiving cutoff and we know how that went. So with what a log jam, the Eastern Conference is this year, it's going to take a lot more winning. It's going to take a lot more consistency for us to really say that we think this team's going to make the playoffs. But I will say that early returns have been quite good for this team. So let's get into some of your hot takes from Michael Gregorich, the jari rumor mill is red hot thoughts. Here's my thought. I do think that there are plenty of teams out there this year that need goaltending.

I brought up the Edmonton Oilers on an earlier episode this week, but obviously that would be a big time trade. and there would have to be a lot of pieces involved because the Oilers are well against the cap, but we do know that they need goal tending. However, it's not a secret that Tristan Jari is pretty good in the first half of the season and then fades down the stretch. That has been pretty much the entire arc of his career. So if we as podcasters and fans in social media users know that,

There's no doubt in my mind that front offices also know that. But if he can continue this hot play, say, into January in right before the Olympic break, I do think Kyle Dubus could field some calls for Tristan Jari's services. So I don't think this is just a wishcasting idea where we're playing NHL 26, 27, whichever one's out now in trying to do the forced trade. button and trade all of our bad players for the good players. But if he continues his hot play, I can absolutely see a market for him leading up to the Olympic break in February.

Let's go to one of our frequent flyers here, G-Tots, a hot take in honor of Thanksgiving in the NHL season marker. The current playoff teams will be the only teams that make it, which ironically makes my season preview hot take true double so if the penguins have a season total. of low 90s. He's referring to points. Here's my thought. I kind of look at it this way. I don't think when I look at the standings right now, I don't see Florida staying near the bottom. I think that they are eventually going to get their act together and they're going to climb up the standings. They may have to sneak in as a wild card, but as we have seen with Florida in the past

few years, they don't care how they get in. They just want to get in. And you know that's when they flip that switch and they turn into the Florida Panthers. You look at the Western Conference. I'm not a huge believer in the Seattle Cracken, though they have been playing quite well. I look at that Pacific Division and I see the Edmonton Oilers. You know that they're going to figure it out eventually. We'll see they've got to make that upgrade in goal. They've got to maybe find some help on defense, but it is a team that has the two super weapons in Connor McDavid and Leon Dry Cytle. So they're eventually going to climb up. I also look at teams like the Anaheim Ducks. I think that they might make it this year. They're sitting

atop the Pacific right now with 29 points and teams like Utah and teams like L.A. are only a point or two behind them. Edmonton's only four behind them. It's, It's a log jam of a year. So I do think there's opportunity for a lot of teams to make it that might have otherwise not make it. But there's also opportunity for teams that we thought we're going to make it, but aren't in it right now to really turn it around. One good week puts you right back in playoff position.

A bad week takes you out of it. So that is really how I'm looking at it right now. I think this is going to be a year where the Thanksgiving marker is almost meaningless. I think we're going to see a lot of movement, a lot of changes. But hopefully for our penguins, they're able to remain consistent and stay in the playoff picture. Another one I want to get to. It is from an anonymous account, another someone on YouTube, Thanksgiving hot take, cranberry sauce is trash and stuffing is mid at best.

You're 50% right, another person on YouTube. Cranberry sauce is in fact trash. I said what I said, and I will stand by it, 10 toes down. You can come at me all you want for that one. But stuffing, you got to make it right, man. Got to make it in the crock pot. Got to let it cook for the day. Got to put all the right seasonings and veggies in it.

It's just elite if you make it right. It's absolutely elite. Can't get on board with the stuffing being mid at best. Another one here from Logan Rose. I hope I got that correct. My eyes aren't what they once used to be, but it could be an overreaction, but I don't think Bros was bad enough to take him out of the lineup

over a guy like Hinen or Copan. Yes and no. I thought his debut was fine. I didn't think he really stood out all of that much. I thought he played an okay game, but we got to remember that Bros isn't a superstar in waiting. I also don't even think he's going to be kind of like Ben Kindle, where he really surprises and plays above expectation.

He's going to be not a project because a project makes it sound like it's going to take a long time, but he's a guy who is going to take a little while to get up to speed. He's going to take a few weeks to adjust to the speed of the NHL. And once he does, he strikes me as a player who will be able to acclimate himself really well with the NHL game. He's a player who has a ton of potential, a ton of upside, and once he really gets his feet under him at the NHL level, I think you're going to see him blossom. I do agree with Covenin, I have not seen a whole heck of a lot from him this year that tells me he should be in the lineup consistently. As for Danton Heinen, with the injury situation where it is right now, he's a very fine Swiss Army knife in your lineup. You can play him pretty much on all four lines, and he is very passable.

but once this team is at full health, he's another player. I don't see sticking in the lineup very long. He's also a player that I think you can use his trade bait down the line. If he performs the way he's consistently performed around his career. And if you're in the position the penguins are right now, you want him to do that. You want him to have those kind of performances to where you can recoup a second or third round pick for him.

And either you use that pick when you get. get it, or you put it in a package to get another young player or some other type of asset. So I'm fine with Heinen staying in the lineup because he's pretty consistent, very average player, but he's the kind of depth piece that I think a lot of contenders could use. And he would come at the, he would come cheap and you would get an asset for it. So I'm fine with him sticking in the lineup. That is going to do it, though, as I look through these comments. We're going to save some of these because I've yapped more than enough.

And you guys want to hear both of us, yep, not just me. And you want to get done with this show because you got the penguins tonight against the blue jackets. You got the penguins against the Leafs on Saturday night. So even though he is not here for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Dam. Thank you as always for tuning in. We will be back on Monday to both recap these games and get you set for next week. So thank you as always, and we will talk to you on Monday.