Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look for revenge against Vegas to kick-off homestand!

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

The Pittsburgh Penguins will meet the Vegas Golden Knights for the second time in five days to start a 5-game homestand. Hunter and Patrick begin the show by previewing what the Penguins can do to get a victory over a team that just shut them out last week. After that, they look at how lethal Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen have played in WBS lately. They discuss the heaters that they are on and why it's so great for their development that they continue to play meaningful games before being ready to go as soon as next season. Finally, they take a quick look around the league to discuss some of the top contenders heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs next month.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FactorEat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com/lockedonnhl50off and use code LOCKEDONNHL50OFF to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to Indeed.com/LOCKEDON right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.Trade CoffeeGet 40% off your first order with Trade at drinktrade.com/lockedonnhl. Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR 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.

Pittsburgh Penguins are back home for a five-game homestand starting tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Pat and I are going to preview that game, plus discuss how hot Rutgers-McGroarty has been in Wilkesbury right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodies. You can follow me on Twitter. Hunt or Hodes, joined by my co-st, Patrick Dam. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin'Fruet. And you can follow the show's Twitter at L.O.

underscore Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this, your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So Pat, the Penguins are quickly looking for revenge on the Vegas going nights after getting shut out by Vegas on Friday for nothing. As we discussed on the Monday episode, we really liked how the Penguins played in the first three.

They came out. Guns of Blazing. I thought they were the better team in the first period. But right when Vegas took that one-nothing lead, you could kind of tell you knew where the game was headed. The penguins were just kind of sulking their heads a little bit like, yeah, I think we know what's going to happen from here on out. Penguins, they got a couple more chances in the second and third periods, but not nearly

as many as they did in the first periods. As I said on Monday, natural satriks said they had 12 high-danger chances, did not feel like it for the entire 60 minutes. That's for sure. Vegas did a really nice job shutting down the Penguins offense throughout that game. But Penguins, they'll get a do-over in this one. The Penguins have played Vegas really well at home over the years, so they have that going for them.

But the biggest thing I want to see from the Penguins tonight is how they shut down that Pearson-Ikel Stone line. That line really had their way with the Penguins in Vegas over the weekend. You know, they've played almost 10 games together at 5-on-5 this year, 65 minutes of ice time, together with Pearson Eichl and Stone, the Knights have 55% of the Sean attempts, six goals for, three goals against, also a 57% expected goals for rate. So that line is humming right now. You saw Tanner Pearson play well against one of his former teams on Friday.

You saw Mark Stone. He's a complete psycho. Jack Eichol, one of the best two-way forwards in the league. So Penguins want to win this game, Pat, just looking at matchups, that first line, you really got to shut it down because it is on a pretty big heater right now. Yeah, that is their superpower right now. That line is, and it's funny because we always talk on this show about, you know, everybody, including us, we're, we're extremely guilty of it, of playing armchair GM,

but also telling people like, hey, this isn't NHL 25. You can't just trade all the bad players for all the good players. And then Vegas spits in our face and says, actually, look what we're going to do. We're going to get all the good players. And we're going to put them on our top line. and it's going to be an embarrassment of riches. But you're right. That is a line that you have to keep in check.

And I look at it very similarly the way I look at top tier players, and I'll explain it this way. I always say this about guys like Connor McDavid. It's extremely rare that you're going to shut them down. They're going to get their cookies. They're going to find a way, whether it's goals, assists, you name it. They're going to find a way to have an impact on the game. If you're the penguins going into tonight,

you look at that top line and you figure, all right, they're going to be good for one, maybe two goals. So what we have to do is we have to play to even everywhere else. We have to keep their fourth line in check, their third line in check and try to win the battle on the second line and try to play to even everywhere else. And if you can do that, you'll give yourself a puncher's chance against Vegas. Again, we know where we are in this moment of the season. Penguins aren't a very good team.

Vegas has their eyes on another Stanley Cup as well they should. So, yeah, it's going to be a monumental lift for the penguins because they're going up against a genuinely great team. But there is a way in an 82 game season to sneak up on a team like the Vegas Golden Knights. The other thing is, and again, I know it's history. I know that we don't want to live in the past and we have to focus on the present. but Vegas isn't very good in Pittsburgh. 5-1-0 all time. And the Penguins are currently on a three-game win streak against Vegas in Pittsburgh.

So this is not a place that Vegas has historically played well. Again, those are teams of the past. We know how Vegas doesn't care how long you have been there, what you've done for them. If you're not helping them in the immediate, they will move on from you. So we're talking about six games in the past that I would say, four out of those six, probably markedly different teams that came to Pittsburgh.

But you know that you've had, you know that you've had success against this team in Pittsburgh. They're one of the teams that is very far, far out west. So coming east is a whole thing for them. It's not just we go to Pittsburgh and then we go back. It's we go to Pittsburgh, we go to New York, we go to Columbus, we go south, we go wherever. So there's a good chance that this is a stop on a road trip. for them and they kind of look at this game and go, it's Pittsburgh, they're not that great.

We're well on our way to a playoff spot and we're focused on the Stanley Cup. So you have an opportunity to take advantage of a team that's on a road trip that is probably overlooking you, but you can't approach it like that. You've got to go in with a good strategy. It's got to be the early season Washington game or the early 20-25 Los Angeles game where you play well defensively. You try to play to even. And unfortunately, for us, Penguins,

fans, it's got to be a low event game. You can't get into a track meet with a team like Vegas, or we're going to see a repeat of Friday night. Kind of like Minnesota. I mean, Minnesota dumb that game down a bit as well, considering they don't have Eric's neck or Caprisoff. And that worked with the Penguins advantage because Minnesota wasn't fully healthy. They didn't have their full firepower in their lineup. And the Penguins are like, okay, we'll take that. We'll play a low event game as well. And they were able to win at 3-1 with the empty-neck goal from Cindy Crosby. You're right. Penguins are five in one at home against the Vegas school night since Vegas came into the league, which is pretty crazy, considering how good Vegas

has been since its inception, Pat, like they've been a great team ever since the first season. So the fact that you've won five of six games at home against that team, at least that's a little bit of a good omen heading into this one. I will say also, I want to keep seeing the penalty kill really carry the momentum from Sunday over into this game. I thought the Penguins penalty kill against the Wild was especially great. They killed off. One of those was the double minor, the four-minute high-sticking pin.

penalty. And they were great throughout that entire kill. Really limited the wild's chances to the outside, didn't give them anything in the middle of the ice. I want to see that penalty kill carry over into this game against Vegas, which has one of the better power plays in the league. And also for the Penguins power play, just keeping it with the special teams. I know I've talked about a little bit on the show how it's struggled a bit since the four nation's face off break. Well, I like the last one against the wild where I've Guine Malcon got the goal with only a few seconds left and how they were zipping the puck around, going to the net, getting the high danger scoring areas and all that. Again, carry that over. I don't need to keep seeing the

power play that we've seen from the most part since the break, where it's just too stagnant. You're really not moving your feet. You're just firing everything from the point. The zone entries are weak at best. You're kind of dumping the puck in at other times, giving the penalty killers a head start to go get the puck and then clear it from their own zone. I want to see the power play that we saw at the end of the game against Minnesota. And then for the most part of the season before their Four Nations break as well. You look at Vegas's other lines for this game. Brandon's on, Tomas Heardle on the second line. You have Brett Houghton, Ivan Barbashev on the third line. By the way, Barbashev has played quite a bit with Stone and Ikel this year. The underlying

numbers for that line, or at least pretty solid. You know, if you look at Monty Puck, you know, minimum ice time of 150 minutes, they played, you know, almost 40 games together, a 5-on-5 ice time, about 50% expected goals for a percentage, you know, 2.65, expected goals for per 60 minutes. So if they really want to, they could put Barbashev up there with Eichl and Stone as well and then move Tanner Pearson down. But with how Pearson is going right now, don't think they're going to do that. Remember, this is still a team without Shea Theodore. He got hurt during the foreign Asian Says off break, but they saw Petrangelo, who's one of the top defensemen in the league. Hanna Finn has been really good this year as well, Zach White Cloud, and then goaltender-wide.

They have Aiden Hill and Ilya Samsonov, Sandsinov, was the one that had the shutout against the Penguins on Friday. We'll have to see if he gets the start in this one as well. Injury-wise, Pat, just before we had to break, Tommy Novak looks to be still banged up. Matt Nietto was recalled on emergency basis from Wilkesbury today. And also, Sebastian Aho was recalled on an emergency basis. So we could see a defenseman dealing with something as well. Yeah, for sure. We'll keep an eye on that throughout the episode.

One last thing I want to add about tonight's game. You're right about special teams. This is going to be a bit of a challenge, but also an opportunity for the penguins, because the PK, as you said, very good against Minnesota, kept them to the outside. They were aggressive when they needed to be, and they hung back when they needed to because you saw it against Minnesota. They were content to play with the puck on the perimeter, and the penguins kind of just sat back and went, all right, if you're going to just pass it around the outside,

we're going to let you kill clock. And then when they started to threaten, the penguins went into attack mode and cut off any of the lanes they had. Now, tonight, both an opportunity and a challenge. It's going to be a challenge for the PK because Vegas has the second best power play in the league at 28.5%. But then when you flip the script and you look at the PK, they're all the way down in 23rd at 76.2. So the power play can continue some momentum tonight against a team like Vegas who is in the bottom half of the league when it comes to penalty killing. But if you're the Penguins PK, going to be a big lift tonight because it's one of the more.

efficient and successful power plays in the league. Yep. And as we finish recording this first segment, it looks like Ryan Shea is not at the morning skate today, Pat. So it looks like he is coming out of the lineup tonight and Ryan Graves is coming in. So the new defensive pairings, at least right now that we could see tonight as of the morning skate, Koyochana with Chris LaTang, Matt Grizzled, Eric Carlson, Ryan Graves and Connor Timmons.

So top pairing, Koya Chana with Chris Latang, excited to see how that goes because I have liked the work that he has put in in his first few games as a penguin. Now he's going to get a pretty big opportunity playing top pairing minutes next to Chris Leng, and then Ryan Graves, of course, will slot in with Connor Timmons. Again, I really liked, excuse me, Connor Timmons debut, thought he was really good in all three zones, made the right reads, was good moving the puck up the ice. I liked his game. I thought he was very steady.

That's the word I want to use, Pat. Very steady. I thought Koya Chonuk was also pretty steady next to him as well. And then Tommy Novak, also not at the skate. So you have Raquel Crosby Rust, Connor Dewar with Evgeny Malkin and Philip Tomasino, Dan Hine with Kevin Hayes and Emil Benstrom, and then Boko-A-Mama with Blake Lazot and Nollachari. So Connor Dewar gets the second line minutes now with Evgeny Malkin. I thought he was also fine during his Penguins debut against Minnesota.

Curious to see how he does in this game against Vegas. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Rucker McGority and Wilkesbury continue to heat up down the stretch of the 2024-2020-25 H. and Pat and I are going to discuss what has been going for him, especially as of late, and also Vili Coivan with how well he's playing too. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Factor. Looking to optimize your nutrition this year, Factor makes eating well easy with chef-prepared,

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So Pat, we got to talk about it, man. Rucker McGority has been red hot as of late Wilkesbury. also had a really good weekend as a whole. Two in one, two big wins over Belleville and Hartford. They did lose to Syracuse, though, on Sunday. But you look at the standings right now, this is one of the best teams in the entire AHL. They are 31 and 16 and 7, good for 70 points.

They have finally caught up, Pat, in terms of the games in hand that they have had on everyone. There are five points behind their Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. They are tied right now with the Providence for second in the Atlantic Division, but Wilkesbury at least does have one game in hand on them. But again, they've caught up on games in hand at least with Hershey because they had a ton of games in hand on them. But this is going to be a playoff team.

And a big reason for that has been the play of both Ville Ecovington and Rucker McGority. Magrorty lately, six goals, 14 points in his last 11 games. And the biggest one I want to talk about is his goal against Belleville over the weekend. The power play was gorgeous. I was watching that live. just zipping that thing around. It looked like Belleville had a chance to clear the puck, and Billy Coyvin's like, nope, that's not going to happen,

takes the puck, cuts the middle, looks like he's going to shoot it, fires it back toward him or Groyd while basically falling down. McGroarkey makes no mistake with it. It was a beautiful, beautiful play. And it goes to show how well these two are play right now, how great of chemistry they have together. I mean, you look at what Coyvin is also doing this year, Pat. 19 goals, 52 points in 55 games, by the way,

the 52 points leads all HL rookies this year. These two players are just about ready for the NHL. And I know I saw some comments on social media this morning about Nietto and Ajo coming up. I saw some fans be like, well, why isn't that, you know, McGority or Coyvin, or why isn't another one of the young defensemen coming up?

And again, people, as much as I would love to see some of these young guys come up down the stretch here, play in the last, you know, 15 to 20-ish games, I get why they're doing what they're doing. Wilkesbury is in a Cauder Cup trophy race right now. All these players have so much chemistry, especially Covenant and Magrorty, that they don't want to mess it up.

Like you saw the celebration from that goal, especially with Coivin and Magrorty, they were having a blast. They're having a blast also on the bench. You can tell how into it they are. They want these players to play in meaningful games down the stretch and do the playoffs. So that's why they're not doing.

doing it. Again, people, I would love if they did it, but I also understand the bigger picture here in how they want these players to keep developing so that they can be fully ready for next season because I do think Rucker Magority is going to be a full-time NHLer by next season. I think he has shown enough this year, Wilkesbury, that he will be ready by next season. I think same with Dilley-Koevenen. I think Coivinen, he's one of my favorite prospects in the system right now. The way that he has developed in Wilkesbury throughout this season has been nothing short of outstanding, McGority. He had a little bit of a slow start, but if you were watching the games like I have,

you could see that it was only a matter of time before the points were going to be stacked up. Like he was getting plenty of quality chances. He was also setting up plenty of quality chances. Puck was just not going in the back of the net, Pat. Like, that's the thing. He was just getting really unlucky. But these last several weeks especially, the puck is going in the back of the net, both on his stick and then other player sticks that he's setting up.

I think his skating is also really. really improved. I know that's been an issue in his game coming into the league, but I think his skating has gotten a lot better throughout this season, if you ask me, to be honest. So I like his game right now. I like Billy Coyvigan's gain. And I'm having a ton of fun watching Wilkesbury when I can't get the chance. It's, this is what we were looking for. I, I understand certain fans in patience for about 20 years now. We have been living in the now. We have been living in the I want it now. I want it right now. It has. has to happen immediately. And I get it. This team has been in among the class of the NHL for two decades,

and they have been in go for it mode, but we do have to shift our thinking a little bit and start looking towards the near future and the far future. And I get it. You get the shiny new toy over the season in Rutger McGority. He's got a lot of shine on him. He was a team USA captain, highly touted prospect, a lot of good things about him. And you would love to see him in the NHL. But this is what I think that they needed from him. I know we wanted to see him in the NHL. Didn't look totally out of place at the beginning of the season. You could see he was rough around the edges.

You could see that he needed some seasoning. But a full-ish season in the AHL was what the doctor ordered for him. Because like you said, start of the year, his game was perfectly fine. He was just getting unlucky. Either he was making great setup passes. and whoever he set up didn't finish, or he got good looks, goalie makes a big save,

or he just misses the net. And now the pucks have started to drop, especially since the turn of the calendar. Once we've got into 2025, he's scored nine goals of the 12 he has scored all season. And you can see he's getting more comfortable with the professional game. He's getting more comfortable playing in a professional setting. And most importantly,

he's getting more comfortable playing in a top line role. You know that even with as bad as this team has been this year at the NHL level, he was not going to crack the top six. Unless Kyle Dubus decided to sell everybody off and just completely tear it down, McGrody was never going to rise probably further than the third line. And for the player they want him to be a middle six to top six forward, he has to learn how to play top six minutes, and he was only going to do that at the AHL level.

The other thing that you brought up was chemistry, and you look at how well this Wilkes-Barre team is playing, and it's very on par in parallel to what I said about Yoel Blumquist when he eventually got sent back to the AHL. It's not so much an indictment on his game as it is I'm looking at his development. There's no reason right now for Yolo Blumquist to be in the NHL other than Jari and Nadelcovich aren't that great. However, if you want him to be one of your goaltenders of the future, you don't want to ruin his development by playing meaningless, bad hockey in the NHL as opposed to the AHL. I know that a lot of people have soured on the Spit and Chicklets crew.

I understand it. But if you look at some of the conversations, Whitney, Bizonet, and those guys have with guys like Max Talbot and a few others who have come through the penguins over the past 15 years, especially back at the start in the mid-2000s, they talked about how yeah, Crosby, Malkin, Latang, Flurry. Those guys were in the NHL playing NFL playing NHL games and doing all that. but a lot of the supporting cast that we saw in 2007, 2008, 2009. And then even though those guys haven't been on the show, you move forward a few years, 2016, 2017, a lot of the supporting cast spent time together in Wokes Bear playing somewhat meaningful hockey, learning how to be pros, learning how to be teammates,

and they would come up and it would translate to the NHL. Obviously, that's not guaranteed. these guys could come up in a year or two and just be guys. They might not be meaningful contributors. But with how good Wilkes-Bair is, with how good these guys have been playing, if I'm Kyle Dubus, Jason Spetsa, and Amanda Kessel, unless this Penguins team gets decimated by injuries down the stretch over the next 15 games, I'm not calling them up.

I'm letting them play together, continue to chase a top seed going into. of the Calder Cup playoffs and then going on a deep Calder Cup playoff run together because that experience is very valuable. You learn how to play together. You learn how to win together. And then you all come up together. And look at that over the next couple years. You're still going to have a couple years of Sidney Crosby.

You're still going to have a couple years of Chris LaTang. We'll see what happens with Hvgeny Malkin. We'll see what happens with Eric Carlson. We'll see what happens with Brian Rustin, Ricard Raquel. But those guys will provide you a lot of good guidance and help once you get to the NHL level, but you're already playing on an advanced level because you've done it together. And I would rather these guys play meaningful hockey together, continue to develop chemistry together and potentially win together.

That way, when they get to the NHL level, they're ready to play meaningful hockey. That and also you're learning more about what it takes to win from guys. that have won before, you know, especially Cindy Rosby, who's going to retire a Pittsburgh Pengman of getting Malkin, who might be playing his final season in the NHL next season. Crystal Tang, who, of course, is part of that core. TBD on Eric Carlson, TBD on Ricardo Raquel, but Brian Russ, we expect there as well. He has won back-to-back Stanley Cups. He knows what it takes to win.

He has won a lot throughout his career. So you go from learning how to win the HL level, and then you go to the NHL level, especially for players like Coivin and McGority, Owen Pickering, who we think is also going to push for a full-time roster spot for next season. He looked the part earlier this season where he was playing even top-paring minutes with Chris Littang was really not playing poorly. He got sent down just because of where the Penguins' roster was at the time, but he was still playing great at the time for the Penguins.

So you learn all those skills, and then you bring it to the NHL level, and you learn more about what it takes to win from players who have won before. And yeah, I know. The Penguins may not be very good. Next year we have to see what Cowell Davis does over the off season, but at the very least, you are going to be surrounded by veteran players who know what it takes. And I also think that is going to help those young players quite a bit going forward as well. And in the best examples I can use for a player who did that is a guy who everybody loved

and we all miss considerably. And that's Jake Gensel. Yeah. He played 44 AHL game. and I know that's not a ton because he obviously was pretty advanced, but he played 44 AHL games. And in those 44 games, he had 23 goals, 25 assists, 48 points for the baby penguins.

Now, obviously, he was on a bit of an advanced track because he turned out to be a top line NHL winger, but it would have been really easy for at the time, Jim Rutherford, to look at him having a very good 10-game stretch because you look at his final year the last time he was ever in Wilkes Bear, he plays 33 games and puts up 42 points. It had been really easy after a 10 to 15 game stretch for the penguins to go, all right, let's call them up.

Instead, they were like, give them a few more games, let them continue to dominate, let him build that confidence, and look what happened. Never turned back. So as easy as it would be to call up Covenin, to call up Magrorty, it is probably better for the long-term health of the franchise, just to let them cook down there.

Let them play, let them succeed, let them win, and when you make either a big splash this summer or next, you look like you've got the cap space, you've got some good supporting cast in the HL, then you make your move. Same thing with Sergei Murasov, that's why I know he's only started a handful of games where Wilkesbury.

They're sure he's been cooking and wheeling, but I still don't want to rush his development, considering how much talent he has, how much raw skill he has. I mean, you know, we've seen the numbers that he has put up in Wheeling this year. They are absolutely disgusting. We've seen the numbers that he has put up in Wilkesbury. You know, seven games, 2.1, three goals against average, 931, say percentage, seven wins in his seven starts. He's been awesome.

But I still, for next season, unless he makes a major, and I mean a major push during camp, I think I would want to see him play at least half a season in Wilkesbury to potentially a full season just to get him more acclimated before, I think he might get called up full time for the 26, 27 season again, I think that's the season where you're going to see Kyle Dubus be really, and I mean, really aggressive. I think you'll see definitely some trades this summer, maybe sending a couple of those picks to go get some young roster players and stuff, but I don't think you're going to see the big, and I mean big moves until 26, 27.

So what you're saying is don't buy stock in Mitch Marner to the penguins. this summer? I mean, Colby Armstrong was saying it during the TNT panel. I caught that clip on social media over the weekend. I think if he was a UFA a year later, I think it would make more sense because I think they would be right around the time where, okay, we're ready to get back to playoffs. But this year, I don't know. I just don't think they're in the right spot to make that move right now. I think they're going to be in on him. Don't get me wrong. Like the Kyle Dubas connection to Mitch Marner is very real. He was his GM in Toronto before coming to Pittsburgh.

But even with that, I know the Penguins I think will be in on him. I don't think they'll be able to do enough to land him on the open market. I think he's either going to, A, go back to Toronto or B, go to another contending team that's ready to win right now. But that's my thoughts on the Mitzmarnar situation. We'll discuss more about that once the summer comes around. But coming up in the final segment, Pat and I are going to go a little around the league, discuss some big storylines who our top contenders are heading into the final stretch of the season

and all of that good stuff. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our final sponsor, and that is wonderful pistachios. If you're looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious, crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts. Each one ounce serving has six grams of protein giving you over 10% of your daily value. Plus, they are packed with fiber and better for your unsaturated fats to help you keep you feeling full. fuller, longer. Personally, I love the no-shells variety. It's the perfect grab-and-go snack for busy days, whether I'm snacking at my desk or on a road trip or just need a quick protein boost. They are

always my go-to. And if you love cracking open every shelf for that satisfying crunch, the in-shell options are a classic favorite. Get snacking and get cracking with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. All right. We're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host Hunter Hodes, join Mama Co's Patrick James. So Pat, I figured we'd go around the league, give our top contenders heading into the home stretch now of the season. When I look at the east, my top three in no order, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington.

I think Tampa Bay is firmly in that top three now. I felt before the deadline, they were a little bit lower, but after adding Yanni Gord, out of Yorkstrand with Vasilevsky playing at the level that he's playing at, with their top guy who's playing at the level that they're playing at, I definitely think this is one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. And I can't wait for the Battle of Florida, especially with Marshaan now going to the Panthers. When he gets healthy, you know, we can see him,

Sam Bennett, obviously Matthew Kachuk. I mean, you have those three versus, you know, Nikita Kutrov, Braden Point, Jake Gensel slash Anthony Sorrelli. I mean, that is just the radiest of rat matchups in the Eastern Conference. It is going to be hilarious seeing those two teams go against one another in the playoffs. If we get it, I hope we do. by the way. It's going to be fantastic. Washington I have right up there as well. They continue to be quite the story, and it's only a matter of time before Alex Ovechkin

breaks that record. Hopefully it's before the April game when Capitals come here. As cool as it would be to see it done in Pittsburgh, I want him to do it beforehand. I'm sorry, maybe that's me being a hater. I'm not trying to be a hater. I love Alex I think he's one of the best players in the league still. I think he's the best goal score of all time. I know that's a hot take to some Penguins fans. that's just how I feel about it. But I want him to do it a little before that game in April against the Penguins in the West. We have a true arms race.

I think for me, no order. Winnipeg, Dallas, and Vegas are my top three right now in the Western Conference, in no order. And I cannot wait to see how the season ends because you can make a strong argument for at least six to seven teams, if not more, to win this end up this year. A lot of them in the West. I think the West is the deeper conference right now. But man, this is going to be such a fun end of this season.

And I can't wait for the playoffs, honestly. Yeah, it's an interesting end to the season to me, because I would agree with you on pretty much all of those contenders. I have my questions about Washington. Yeah. And I'll be honest, it's less questions about Washington and more the fact that I look at Florida and Tampa and think, how is anybody other than the other going to beat them. So it's not even so much doubting Washington is just I don't think they're as good as

those two teams. The biggest surprise to me, and maybe I shouldn't be surprised at this point, is the fall off of Edmonton because they are three and seven in their last 10. They're still only four points out of the Pacific Division lead, but they have just not inspired much confidence down the stretch. It looked a lot like they were going to be similar to last year where they go, okay, it's the regular season. We're not worried about our start. We're not worried about where we end up in the standings. We're a good team. We just get in in a top three seed and hit the button and go. But they've just not really found a lot of consistency this year. And some of it is defense. Some of it is goal tending. But you look at how well Vegas is played. You look at how good Winnipeg is, obviously

Dallas has totally loaded up. It's going to be a monumental lift for them to get past them. And maybe they prove me wrong and they turn into the juggernaut. We expected them to be once the playoffs begin. But they're not inspiring a ton of confidence to me. The team that, and I'm going to say this real quick and then we can wrap up for the day. But the team that I'm half-heartedly rooting for, not to win the Stanley Cup, but just to make a surprise is Columbus.

It's a great story with all the Goddreau stuff. They're a young, exciting team. They've got a ton in the system. Their young guys are starting to blossom. And I really want this Kyle Dubus plan to work out because I want a legitimate, actual Pittsburgh Columbus rivalry. Because we joke, but it's true.

that Columbus has always been little brother. And I eventually want little brother to grow up, but I want little brother to still have some competition. I don't want the penguins to be in decline, in serious decline, when Columbus starts to hit a stride. I want there to be a legitimate, heated, long-term Pittsburgh-Columbus rivalry

because it would do so much for the league and do so much for what is already in, underrated and should be more celebrated hockey market in Columbus because they ride and die with that team and they deserve a really good hockey team and they deserve an A1 rival. Those two playoffs series they played against them were a blast both in 1314 and 1617. They were so much fun to watch and you saw just how much Columbus fans hate Pittsburgh and the Penguins. It's how do I want to say this? Penguins fans, obviously don't like the Blue Jackets, but it's still not at the level that, you know,

the Capitals are, you know, the Rangers, even the Flyers, I'll throw the Islanders in there as well. It's not at those levels yet. But I do think if we can get the rivalry back to where it was, especially in 1617, I think it will have a chance to trump one of those four teams that I just mentioned with that. But I agree. Columbus is such a fun story this year. They've had so many great young players playing so well, especially Adam Fantilli. He's going to be a force for.

a long time. Sillinger has been a lot of fun this year to Marchenko has been great when healthy. Werensky is having one hell of the year, probably the best year of his career, in my opinion. And they're so much fun. I really do hope that they can get one of those two final playoff spots. I know that I get it people. They are a little bit of revival to the penguins. I get it. But it would still be such a great story for the league, considering that I don't think anyone saw this coming this year. I think everyone expected them to just be really bad this year. There's a lot of people expected them to be, myself, included a year or two away from a season like this,

but it's awesome that they're playing this well this year, considering everything that has happened to that team over the last year and such. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Wednesday to recap this game against Vegas. and get you all set for the rest of the week as well. So for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Wednesday.