Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins keep on rolling with a big OT win in Nashville!

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins may not have played their best but they pulled out a 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday and Hunter and Patrick are here to discuss everything about it. They break down what wasn't the prettiest win of the season with the defensive zone lapses and the odd-man breaks, but they discuss how a win like this could be big for the future since they'll have their best games on other nights. They also discuss the play of Sidney Crosby and how he carried them to that victory with how ferocious he was. They then discuss Bryan Rust and how hot he's been before shouting out Erik Karlsson for another great performance. After that, they discuss the chaos that was the overtime before previewing Saturday's showdown in Newark against the Devils.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Select QuoteGet the right life insurance for YOU, for LESS, at SelectQuote.com/LOCKEDONNHL. Bilt RewardsStart earning points on rent you’re already paying by going to joinbilt.com/LOCKEDONNHL.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 ONE 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.

Well, if the Pittsburgh Penguins wanted our attention, they definitely have it right now. 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 Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Huns or Hodes. Join by my host Patrick Damp, who is also in the holiday spirit for this Feel Good Friday episode.

You can follow him on all social, media platforms at Sondon for Wet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. Understore 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. We can start the season with a big return on Fandle.

New customers can place a $5 bet, and you will get started with $150 and bonus bets. If you win your first $5 bet, visit fandle.com to get started. So, Pat, the Penguins made it two in a row, and they can, get to eight, two, and one in their last 11 games with a five to four come from behind victory against the Nashville Predators on Thursday in a game where the Penguins played like crap. Let's just put it out there. The Penguins were really poor in this game. They did not defend particularly well.

They did not generate the offense that they were generating before this game. But the fact that they were able to still get two points, even though they played pretty poorly, could bode well for the rest of December and potentially heading into the new year of 2025. It was a really nice job to kind of steal two points, even though Nashville outplayed them in this game. But we have to start this episode with the play of Captain Cindy Crosby, a four-point night, including getting that goal, which I think could really snowball into getting him a bunch of other goals with the way he's been playing lately. He was fantastic in this game. And that goal that he scored, great shot past Eric from Eric Carlson, by the way.

And when Crosby goes down on one knee, game over, he's going to score that 10 out. of 10 times, but the fire that he had after that goal had some very choice words for Michael McCarran. I am not going to repeat what he said on this episode. I had a tweet about it. You can go see what he said on my Twitter at Hunter Hodes. I'm not going to say it because I don't want to get in trouble from the higher ups. This is a family-friendly show, so I'm not going to say it. But he said it a couple of times, wasn't thrilled with the play that he had before.

But even after that, he was the main reason why they tied the game. late in the third period from Eric Carlson. He was ferocious on the forecheck, especially below the dots, worked at low to high, gets it to Carlson, boom, the puck goes in the back of the net. He was on fire. And you also have the play that he made where I wanted him to unleash that puck in the first period, but patience prevailed, thankfully.

But again, man, he was fantastic. He has been playing some lights out hockey these last few weeks. I mean, he has 14 points in his last 11 games. I had only been saying he was fighting it a little bit just because the puck wasn't going in the back of the net. I felt like he was cursed in the area. But now that he has this goal, I feel like they're going to start coming in bunches now. But he was the main reason why they won this game last night. He absolutely was.

And what's the old cliche? An avalanche begins with a single snowflake. And it really looks like that goal last night was the single snowflake that starts the avalanche. because he was everywhere last night. You nailed it. The penguins were not good last night. That was a game that if I'm sure I went back and looked it up, the deserved to winometer was probably squarely pointing towards the Nashville predators.

But the penguins were opportunistic when they needed to be. Sidney Crosby had his game at a level that we have seen for the past few weeks, but just elevated a little bit. He was, like you said, ferocious on the forecheck. He continued to do the thing where he finds passes that no mere mortal could ever make happen. And at the end of the day, when I say this, I don't want people to misconstrue it as me saying this team is back, this team is good, this team is a contender, anything like that. but just from this standpoint of the way they're playing right now, the best teams find ways to win even when they don't play well.

And the penguins did that last night. Are they suddenly a good team? I don't know. Are they back? Not yet. Are they great? Absolutely not. But when you go play a struggling team like the Nashville Predators,

you just keep your shoulder to the wheel and keep pushing. and the penguins did that last night. Now, let's touch on a little bit of the negative. Defensive zone, extremely sloppy. They reverted back to a lot of old habits from earlier in the season. They weren't getting to positions the way they needed to. They weren't covering the right players. They were giving Nashville plenty of good looks.

They were not good in transition, both offensively and defensively. A lot of odd man rushes, which is something that has haunted this team for the past. couple of seasons, but we're going to make this a compliment sandwich. If I'm going to talk about how good Sid was, then talk about the negative. I'm going to add a positive to close out my thoughts here. I have to give it up to Tristan Jari. The top line statistics do not do justice what he did last night. Sub 900 save percentage, you would like that to be better. But of the four goals he gave up, I can maybe pin one on him, but away from the goals against, he kept them in that game for the majority of the night.

It could have spiraled out of control with how poorly the penguins were playing, but he made the right saves at the right time to keep the penguins within striking distance, and then the skaters rewarded him in the third period in overtime. The 850 Sabres sentence from him is definitely not good. I definitely would pin the fourth goal on him. I think he was way off his angle there. I just don't think that shot should go in at that point in the third period. I also thought he was well off his angles for the majority.

of this game. But I will say just to add a compliment to that, he did make a lot of very key saves, especially in the first and second period, to keep this game within striking distance. Also, especially after the Penguins tied it. They had that two goal stretch in a little less than a minute and a half. The Preders, we took all that momentum after the Penguins scored the two goals. And he was able to make some pretty key saves the rest of that period before, obviously, you know, giving up the goal in the third before Carlson tied it. So I will give him credit for that. They played well enough in overtime. We'll get into that in a few minutes.

So for the negative, I gave them that, but I'll also give them a positive there as well. But also, ditto on the defensive zone issues, way too aggressive on the pinches, Pat. Like, that was going back to what they were doing in November. Too many dumb decisions from defensemen leading to way too many opportunities off the rush. You need to pick and choose your battles. The Penguins had been doing that a lot better during the previous 10 games. I don't want to see them going back to doing what they were doing in November like they did last night. That was way too much for me.

I know the Predators aren't good, but they still have players that can hurt you. You do that against the team like obviously the Devils the Saturday night or other great teams that you'll face down the line. You're going to get burned, excuse me, more times than not. For sure. And if there's another thing that this is going to be an odd compliment to give, but it's one that I have to give. I have to give some credit to Mike Sullivan because in the first period, the penguins tie the game

and then just seconds later, Anthony Bavillier takes a boneheaded penalty. He didn't see the ice much of the rest of the night. He finished the game with five minutes and 16 seconds left, or five minutes, 16 seconds of ice time. And we still staying consistent with that because I know if Puyarvi did that, for example,

I think he'd probably be on the bench the rest of the night as well. So I just want to see that same consistency, man. So do I. And I'm not a believer at the NHL level in coaches being overly punitive because these are professionals. Yes, with younger guys, you do eventually have to set a standard and send a message and keep it consistent. But at the end of the day, these guys are professionals. They know they have screwed up. But the severity of that screw up by Bavillier was borderline unforgivable.

You just pulled back all the, you just took. took back all the momentum, you tied the game, and then you go out and take a stupid penalty. That is grounds for, all right, you know what, you might as well have bought a ticket because you're going to be a spectator for the majority of the rest of the night. And that was well deserved. And I have been a little bit higher on Bavillier than most just because he's been producing. But regardless, in a moment like that, he's not Sidney Crosby, he's not of Gennie Malkin, he's not even Brian Rust or Ricard Raquel.

so when you make a mistake like that, there has to be a punishment for it. Agreed. And the last thing I do want to touch on before we had to break here was I do think the Penguins got a little bit fortunate that they saw UC Soros have just an absolutely brutal start in this one.

He was below 800 in this game. This is a guy that came in with a 9-11, say, percentage, top 10 in goals stayed above expected, and he let in some howlers in this game. He was not good. He's been the biggest bright spot for the Predators this year. even though they've been one of the worst teams in the league. But the Penguins got to him.

They got a lot of traffic in front of him. He gave up some goals. He also well far out that he usually doesn't give up. That was not a good performance from Soros. And the Penguins were able to win that goalie battle. So that's also another big thing I wanted to highlight in this one is that they got to Saros. They did. And it was what we talked about on our Thursday edition is that that's a goalie you have to get to.

That is a goalie that you have to rattle early and you have to be in his. face most of the night. And while the penguins saved for the third period weren't exactly living in Nashville's offensive zone, when they were there, they were putting an emphasis on getting to the front of the net, which is exactly what you have to do with Soros. And for the most part, it worked out for them last night. Agreed. And I think that's going to do it for this first segment. Coming up here in the second segment, we're going to discuss the play of Eric Carlson last night and these last few weeks in general, the overtime goal, how this top line is looking. We have so much more to discuss when it comes to this game before we preview Saturday showdown

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That is Price Picks. Run your game. All right here on this episode of the Lockdown. England's podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-ist Patrick. So Pat, there's still a lot of meat left on this bone for this game, just considering so much happened. And we have to start this segment with the play lately of Eric Carlson. The first few weeks of the season, he was down in the depths, wasn't generating anything offensively, was out to lunch in his own zone, making too many dumb mistakes. He wasn't breaking the puck out

cleanly out of his own zone. But ever since that game against Vancouver, when I came on this show and said, okay, that's a good game. Now build on it, he has done exactly that. He has been one of the four best players on this team. I feel like ever since that pre- Thanksgiving game against the Canucks. And this is, I think, some of the best hockey I've seen Carlson play in a penguin uniform. He's generating offense every time he's out on the ice.

He's cleaned up a lot of mistakes in his own zone. he's breaking the puck out of his own zone with control, and he is playing fantastic right now. He had more of a shoot-first mentality in that game against Nashville. He had a cannon of a goal there, by the way. I want to see him use that shot more. It's so underutilized with his game. I know he's a great playmaker as a defenseman,

but Eric, please use your shot more. It is a weapon. I've seen him use it so many times on other teams, but I feel like it's been underutilized while he's been a member of the Penguins, and I want to see him use it a bit more. but he was fantastic yet again. And I'll have to eat my words for a second straight game here.

I crapped on the Grizzlick Carlson pairing heading into that game against the Kings because the eye test was bad before and the numbers were also bad. But since then, these last two games, again, people, very, and I mean a very small sample size, this pairing together has been fairly solid. They played about 30 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time. One more time, people. This is the smallest sample size. it's probably going to change.

But during that time, they have been on the ice together for 60% of the shot attempts, just about three goals for, one goal against, 56.7% of the expected goals, 57% of the scoring chances, and 60% of the high danger chances. It also doesn't hurt that Matt Grislyx's last two games, I feel like have been the best of his Penguins tenure to date. Well, I think you can put it this way.

And obviously, it applies a little differently to both, but the general thought applies to the pairing in general and both of the players. They're figuring it out, both individually and as a pairing. I still, the jury is still very much out on Matt Griswick. He could regress back to what we've seen for the majority of the year, or this could be a start of something. I'm not going to be completely pessimistic about it, just because we were ready to bury this team a month ago.

We were ready to say, hey, you know what, we're just going to try to strip mine this thing for as much of the resources we can get, and we'll be back at it in 25, 26. And here they are winning eight of their last 11 and throwing themselves squarely into the Eastern Conference playoff race. So stranger things have happened. But like you said, I don't want them to go all gas, no breaks, because that could lead to catastrophe. However, if you're going to let this pair stick together while Marcus Pedersen is out, or you eventually work P.O. Joseph back into the lineup, put them in advantageous situations,

which they have. They have spent most of their time on the ice with one of the top two lines. And what are the top two lines going to go out there and try to do? Score goals. So if you're going to play to a strength, play to a strength. You don't want these guys playing most of their time with the bottom six and trying to defend because Grizzlick has struggled all season long. And we know Eric Carlson does fine enough as a defenseman, but you don't want him in defense-first situations. So they are putting these guys in a position to succeed, and it's starting to bear a little bit of fruit. Now, this could all come off the rails in the next couple games.

It could be off the rails as soon as Saturday because they're playing a team they historically struggle against. But for now, in this small sample size, what we have seen is you're letting these guys play to their strengths and it's starting to pay off. And of course, for the millionth time, both of them are keeping it simple. They're not making unnecessary pinches all the time anymore. They're not trying to make a pass through four people and go for the highlight reel. If the game gives them the pass, they take the pass. If they have to break it in themselves, they break it in themselves. If they have to dump the puck deep and let the forwards go to work, they dump it deep and let the forwards go to work. And then last thing, I am going to echo exactly what you said,

but just a little bit differently. Carlson needs to use his shot more, because think about it this way. We're all getting hyped up for Steelers, Ravens tomorrow, and the one thing we love about the Steelers that they can run the ball really well. But unless you show them that you can also pass the ball, they're all going to sell out to the run. Everybody expects Eric Carlson to be a great playmaker because he is. But if he shoots just a little bit more, you're going to open up a little bit more of a shooting lane because that that seated doubt is going to be in the other team's head that

if we give Carlson that shooting lane, he could take it. So we might want to be careful here. Also opens up a lot of avenues for potential deflections. someone like Michael Bunting, for example, if he's out there with the second line. You know, Malkin's also been great with deflections. Obviously, we all know how great sit is with deflections right around the net area. It just opens up a lot of different avenues for that.

And last thing on Carlson, 10 points in his last 11 games. So right around a point per game, he has been awesome during this last, almost about a month at this point for the Penguins. Now, getting into a couple of other players who I also felt like were great last night. Of course, Pat, Brian Russ, another four-point game. He has been electric. this 11 game stretch as well. 17 points in 11 games.

I've seen some talk over social media. I was listening to 32 thoughts this morning about, oh man, you know, Brian Russ sending a message to Team USA and stuff like that. And while I love Brian Russ, I don't think he was ever seriously considered just for the role. And I'm not trying to sound like a hater people, please. I'm not. I love Brian Russ.

I love the year that he's having. I want him to have an A on his sweater at some point during his tenure with the Penguins. it's just that Team USA is so deep finally now that I just don't think there would be a spot on the team for the Four Nations or the Olympics. But that shot that he had in overtime Passaros was tremendous. I also loved his other goal to tie the game at one earlier in the game.

He is playing also some great hockey right now. And same with Ricardo Kel gets another goal. That's 15 goals on the season, very much sending a message to Team Sweden saying, like, hey, you probably shouldn't have left me. off that national team though. For sure. He's playing great.

And I want to add a little bit to your Brian Rust thought, because I also heard that from Elliott this morning that he was surprised that Rust was left off Team USA for four nations. And I think for four nations, there was never a chance for him to be on that roster. I will say this. If he keeps up this level of play through next year or at the very least something similar, I could see him being the last skater added to Team USA. for the Olympics, when the rosters expand as kind of a nod from Bill Garen and Mike Sullivan.

But he won't be in every game player at the Olympics. He would be a guy you play against the lesser competitions as kind of a, hey, we know you, we like you. You're a solid American hockey player. And we want you to kind of close out your career, getting to say you represented the United States at the Olympics. because when it comes to Brian Rust, his impact is felt over an 82 game season rather than a tournament where you're going to play anywhere between four and eight games. When you play four to eight games, you need the best of the best who are going to make an impact every single night.

Brian Rust is a guy who his value comes in 10 to 15 game segments where he's going to do things every couple of games and they're going to stand out over the rigor of an 82 game season rather than a few weeks in a tournament. But at the end of the day, back to his play as a penguin this year, I mean, the penguins aren't better without Jake Gensel, but Brian Rust, man, is coming dangerously close to reproducing that production. And it has just been a treat to see. And that overtime goal, whether it got tipped or not, even if it did.

It looked like it a little bit. He got everything on that shot. That was a missile from Brian Rust. And he has been playing some kind of hockey lately. It definitely was tipped a little bit, at least watching the replay a few times. But I think even if it wasn't, I don't think sorrow stops it, just with the way it came off his stick. Also, great pass from him of getting Malkin, who I would admit during that overtime, at least a few times, I was just saying to my TV, please, Gino, change, please change

because it looked like he was gasped. And then he gets the assist on that goal. I'm like, okay, I guess that worked out because that was a bonkers overtime, man. It was just pure chaos. Literally. That's like the type of three on three over time that I love.

But the Penguins also get to five and three overall in three on three overtime this year. And my prediction for them finishing above 500 and just overtime for this year, it's looking good right now, at least almost halfway through the season. And last but not least before, we head to the New Jersey game to preview that game on Saturday.

I had no idea that the predators still do the, hey, it's all your fault. You suck. That champ. I had no clue they still did it. And I was just saying to myself, man, 2017 called. It's calling your champ back. Like, you're still doing this? Dude, listen, I'm going to break with you on this.

I love it. I think the NHL needs more of that. I think it needs, I think not even hockey. American sports just need it more because it is very European Premier League soccer chance. And I love a crowd that does that. And you got to remember too, Nashville, Tennessee, the South, that's SEC territory. And that is a college football atmosphere in Bridgestone Arena. It is people who are there to just have a good time, support their team,

and get all the way into it. And I love it. I can say from experience, I played a game at the University of Kentucky when I was in college, and it was a packed house with a bunch of drunk college people, and they had coordinated chance for everybody. And when we got a goal scored on us, it stunk because you want to win.

But I remember looking at a teammate on the bench and going, I kind of hope we get scored on again. I want to hear that again. That was awesome. I know, man. I probably sound like such a boomer for that complaint. And I used to love the chant too, but it's like, okay, it's been almost a decade at this point.

Let's move on to something else. It just, I don't know. It doesn't hit as hard as it used to be as it was funny, but I feel like, I don't know. I guess it's just not as funny. I'll give you this.

I'll give you this. It's probably better when a team is good. Yes. When they're struggling, it rings a little hollow, but my take remains. I love an engaged crowd. I love a hyped up crowd.

Hey, that's totally fair. I hear you. One more thing, though, before we do head to break, man, this game was chippy. Every single shift, it felt like a lot of penalties called. Fitiating, I felt like was a bit inconsistent. For example, that whole Blake Lazot situation and then Eric Carlson gets cut. They don't even that up for some reason. Just weird officiating throughout this.

And that's been a common theme. I feel like these last couple of weeks when the Penguins have started this streak, the officiating, it feels like has just continued to get worse. And I feel like that's also, again, a common theme throughout every NHL season, Pat, where, oh, I think it's fine at the beginning, but then it just gradually gets worse and worse until we get to the playoffs and then nothing gets called. So definitely a pretty chippy game. Fisciating was kind of inconsistent, but hey, they skated out with the two points.

Yeah, and it's an encouraging sign, at least in my estimation, that they've been able to get wins in these chippy games because they've never really backed down from it, but it hasn't really favored them in a long time. So seeing them able to get two points and stick in a game work gets chippy is an encouraging sign. Yeah, and you know what? I'm also glad that Crosby was okay after taking that really big cheap shot to the neck slash shoulder area. Don't know how that wasn't a pony, by the way, but again, glad he's okay. And he definitely made Nashville pay throughout the night.

But that'll do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to preview this big game against the devils on Saturday. And now the penguins have a big opportunity here to end the year with four division games in their last five games of 2024. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our final sponsor, and that is Fandall. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandall.

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and make every moment more with fandle, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Locked-on Hengland's podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-coist Patrick Mez. My dog was barking at something downstairs

while I'm reading that wonderful Fandul ad. But it'll be, Penguins Devils for the first time this season Saturday night from the Rock in Newark, New Jersey, a place that the Penguins really never play well in. But they did get a big win over the Devils late last season when they were making that final push for the playoffs. They won that game 6 to 3. That was their first win over the Devils, Pat, in two years.

They had not beaten the Devils since 2022 before winning that game earlier this year, last season that is, but again, it was earlier this year. They had lost, in fact, seven in a row against the Devils before winning that game 6 to 3 in New Jersey. That's just how bad they've struggled. And you look at these recent losses against them, Pat, 5-2, 5-2, 5-1, 5-2, 5-2, 4-2, 6-1. Only one of those losses was a one goal game. It was a 2-1 loss in Newark on January 22nd, 2023. they have really struggled against this devil's team over the last few years.

Their speed gives them problems every single time. You know you're going to get with Jack Hughes. You know you're going to get with Nico He's year. He has for rats playing very well again. They have Tim O'Mire. Of course, they have Dougie Hamilton back healthy. And I think the biggest difference with this year's devil's team compared to last year, they have the goaltender now.

They knew that was their biggest weakness heading into the offseason. And their front office made sure to address that. Jacob Markstrom, they acquired. him from the Calgary Flames, and he's been solid this year. He started 24 games, 16 and 6 and 2, 2.29 goals against average. 9.09% percentage. He has been everything they have needed and more throughout this season. So this is going to be a big challenge, not just with Markston playing well,

but with the way the Devils play, they're so fast. They come at you in waves. It's just not a good match for the Penguins, but they got to still keep this simple. That's really been giving them a lot of success over these last three and a half weeks. It's got to continue with this one. If you try to play like you did against Nashville on Thursday, you are going to get burned every shift, especially with how much firepower the devils have.

You beat me to it. You cannot have a replica of the game against the Predators against the Devils because unlike the Predators, the Devils will make you pay and they will make you pay every single time. There will not be any margin for error against the team this talented. And I feel like I have to keep saying this because for some reason, the devils are so attached to their brand of the late 90s and early 2000s, but this isn't that devil's team anymore.

They are fast, they are talented, they play a very up-tempo style, and they will make you pay. This is very reminiscent of the penguins in late 2015, early 2016, in 2017. This is a team that plays at a million miles an hour for 16, plus minutes. And if you're not prepared to play a simple game that lets them kind of punch themselves out, you almost have to play like those early 2000s devils if you're the penguins going into Newark tomorrow because they don't have the speed anymore. Are they a slow team now? Not really.

But they don't have the speed they once did. And if you try to go blow for blow with a team like the devils, it is going to be a very long night for you. biggest thing that you have to do is you got to commit to playing defense because you look at this team, they have six players with 10 or more goals and those same six players all, or they have five players with 10 or more goals, excuse me, and then they have six players with 20 or more points. So this is a team that can score. And you look at their goal differential. And while it's plus 25, they have still scored a hundred and sixteen goals so far this season.

This is a team that knows how to score and like you said, they got their goaltender and it also looks like, cover your eyes, Leafs fans, they have the coach who knows how to make this happen. So this is going to be the biggest test left of 2024

because once you get out of this game, you've got the Flyers, you've got the Islanders and then the Red Wings to end the year. If you can, if you drop this one, it's not the end of the world, but if you can pull off getting this one to overtime or even taken two clean points, you have put yourself in a position to stay dead in the middle of this playoff race. You beat me to it because even if you drop this devil's game, you're right. It's not the end of the world because you'll have other opportunities before this year ends

to make up the points. You have the flyers who are right around you in the standings. You got to take two clean points against a team like that. You also have the Islanders twice, a home and home on a back-to-back. The dream there is to take all four points against the Islanders, considering their struggles this year. And then you have the Red Wings who are a bit worse this year, but you still would like to take two points there.

So if you can end the year, I would say, by what, at least winning three of those last five games, I think you're in decent shape heading into. to 2025. Heck, if you win maybe four of those last five games, you're in even obviously better shape heading into 2025. But I think the minimum for me with these last five games, you got to win three of them to start making me, even more of a believer, you the same thing. And I think more people that also follow this team pretty religiously as well. And the Devils, they were such an easy candidate to say, oh yeah, they were going to bounce

back. They didn't have the goaltending last year. They were banged up with so many injuries. I knew they were going to bounce back this year, considering the talent that they have, the goalie they acquired, they got an upgraded head coach. This is going to be a very dangerous team come play out time. But again, Penguins, they have to play a simple game.

They have to pick and choose their battles when they pinch. They have to obviously get good goaltending from their end. And I still want to see the Hot Street continue with the top line. That line, excuse me, is feasting on every team right now. I want to see if the same can be done here against the devil. So a pretty good opportunity here for the Penguins to take two more points, But again, going to be easier said than done, considering how New Jersey has played this year.

I mean, you look at the point totals for the players on the Devils. Jack Hughes, 42 and 35. Yes, for Brat the same. Nico Heeshire, one of the more underrated two-way centers in the league. I honestly should even say he's underrated because I feel like people should know just how good he is. He should be a candidate for the Selke Trophy every year. He has 29 points in 35 games and he's always matched up against every team's top center. Stefan Nason has 14 goals.

Tim O'Meier again has 11 goals. and again, one of the biggest reasons why they are good again this year has been the health of Dougie Hamilton. Having him healthy is a big luxury for the devils, considering that he's had some injury concerns throughout his career. But Pat, anything left to say about this game before we send everyone off to the weekend? I need to see a very similar game should he get the start from Tristan Jari from last night. I know that he was off his angles, a little bit of a messy start, but. He made the big saves in the big moments. You know you're not going to shut down the New Jersey Devils.

You're not going to lock them down and make them play, you know, low event, low shot hockey. They are going to break through. So when they get those chances, I need Tristan Jari to continue this upward ascent that he's been on the last few weeks. And if he can play good enough and the Penguins can keep getting those contributions from the top line, I'm not going to say that I like their chances because this is a team that has given them fits, but I will like their ability to stick in this game more if those two things happen. At the very least, again, they are making this interesting. 8, 2 and 1 in their last 11 games.

They're fourth in the metro right now. One point behind the Ottawa Senators for the final wildcard spot. We're getting close to the territory of scoreboard watching if some people aren't there already. But again, they're continuing to make this interesting. if you bank more points before the end of the year here, you're going to make more people potentially believers, maybe even us. Again, we're not at that point yet.

We haven't done the button that says, hello, we're back to parliament. We like to file a claim. But you beat New Jersey, we get closer to that point. And heck, if you take three out of five to end the year or even four out of five to end the year, you get closer to that point as well.

But I think that's going to do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Next week is going to look a bit different for the show. Both Pat and I are traveling. just because, hey, it's the holiday season. So I'm going to be in Virginia all of next week, recording on my laptop. We'll have a normal episode for you all on Monday to recap this game against the Devils and to preview the game against the Flyers.

We'll hopefully have Jesse Marshall on for Marshall Monday. Tuesday, we're going to recap that game for you all. Wednesday will be no episode just because it's Christmas. And then Thursday, we're going to have a full mailback episode. So if you have any questions for us, please drop them in the comments on YouTube or send us a DM on any social media platform. and all that good stuff. And then Friday, we'll also have an episode for you all

previewing the big back-to-back against the Islanders later on this year. But for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. We'll be back with another show for you all on Monday.