Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look to become Kings of California on Thursday night!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Can the penguins get their Hollywood ending tonight in Los Angeles? Hunter and I are going to preview the game against the Kings and more in this edition of the locked on penguins podcast right after this. Your locked on penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back Penguins fans to another edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I have returned. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:00:42 You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4WET, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes, and you can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L0 underscore Penguins, and we thank you for making this your first listen or watch of the day. We are free on YouTube, as well as wherever you get your podcast. And Hunter, big night tonight, man. the penguins can do something big.

Starting point is 00:01:09 They can do something very big. They can sweep the California road trip as they head to Crypto.com arena to take on a pretty darn good team in Los Angeles because Kings are off to a very hot start. It's a younger team that has some legs and a lot of talent. But this is also going to be a chance for this penguin's team to exercise some demons because whether it's the Staples Center, whether it's Cryptoids, dot com arena, whatever we're calling it right now.

Starting point is 00:01:41 It's been a little bit of a house of horrors for the penguins. And you ran those numbers today. So how about you let everybody know just how tough it's been in Los Angeles for these penguins? First off, like how people still say Heinzield around here, I'm calling at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. That's how it's what's been to me for as long as I can remember. That's for sure.

Starting point is 00:02:01 Of all the names too, right? Like, like I'm not even talking about crypto. I'm talking about Staples. Like if all the companies, you wouldn't expect. to have a big arena name, especially in Los Angeles. It's Staples. I know. It's always, so I guess funny to me, but I'm still always going to call it Staples. But yes, the Penguins, I remember that the last two games had not been good for them in Los Angeles. And those were two. The Penguins have been outscored 12 to 2 in their last two visits to Los Angeles. They have

Starting point is 00:02:29 not won a game in LA since 2018. And this King's team, my friends, this team is very good. They're one of the best teams in the Western Conference. They've started out this season. Seven and two and two. They're very deep, especially at Ford. Quentin Bifield has had a great start to the year. Copa Tar is still kicking. Pure Luke Dubois, who they acquired over the offseason. He's starting around into form a little bit. Kevin Vialla, he's also still there. You have Philip Dono on their third line, which is crazy. The King's center depth, Pat, is outrageously good with Copa-Dubois and in O-3, shutdown centers that can do it in the defensive zone. And, oh, yeah, they can also contribute offensively as well.

Starting point is 00:03:09 The Kings, I've said for the last couple of years, I like them, but they didn't have enough offensive umph to really challenge a team like the Oilers. They're thinking this year, okay, we went out and got another score and another good defensive center. Can we maybe get over the hump and finally have some playoffs success? Wow, they may not be playing the Oilers in the playoffs, considering how they continue to struggle, but whoever they play, considering, because I think they're going to get in the playoffs,

Starting point is 00:03:34 I think they're going to have more success because they have a much deeper roster. Defensively, this team is also very good. Mikey Anderson is one of the more underrated defensive in the league. Drew Dowdy. The ageless wonder, I guess, Drew Dowdy. I don't think he's nearly as good as he used to be, but he's still kicking just fine. And then in goal, that's the weak spot, I guess, with Cam Talbot and Phoenix Copley.

Starting point is 00:03:55 But Cam Talbot has been fine to start the year. But this will be a big test for this team. The Penguins have already played the Adelange and the stars to start the year. The Penguins are one in one. in those two games. And with how this trip has gone, it's already considered a success, right? You've gone to know, you've beaten the first two teams. But if you can beat this King's team, it doesn't matter what the margin of victory is, you're going to start to see more and more people be like, okay, I think this team is back now because I started on my Wednesday episode with Nick.

Starting point is 00:04:26 This game against the Ducks felt like a true getback game. Well, this game against the Kings feels like a potential momentum shifter game where you win this game, you get your third win in a row. You can take all that momentum coming back home against the Sabres on Saturday and applying it there and really start going in the right direction, especially with how tough this schedule is in November. Right. And not to go all the way back to talk about the Ducks game again, but, you know, the Ducks game similar to the Colorado game, they played a very disciplined style of Hockey State. they reacted to what the ducks were doing. They counterpunched very well.

Starting point is 00:05:10 They played a very defensively accountable game. And they're going to have to do that again tonight against L.A. Because you look at this team. And while they're not young, they're not like the devils where it's just young talent top to bottom, they still have a lot of young guns. You know, you have your Quentin Byfield. You've got Philip to know. you've got a couple, or Philbinose 30, but he was one of those guys who came on later, hasn't had that much time in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:05:38 You know, you've got PLD. It's a team that's got some younger guns and some speed. So you want to play a more disciplined style of hockey. And you want to do what we've talked about on this podcast. You want to pull that forecheck and that aggressiveness back just a little bit. You want to catch them in the neutral zone and grind the gears of their forecheck and their transition game. You want to be able to turn their mistakes into odd man rushes. You want to turn their mistakes into puck possession in the offensive zone. And that means more mismatches where guys try to pinch out, guys try to break out early, guys try to make risky passes, and you catch them in those three on twos, two on ones,

Starting point is 00:06:18 one on those. So that's something they're going to have to rely on. The other thing is don't overthink this because this is a game where if you play the kind of game you played against the Ducks, kind of game you played against the avalanche. No pun intended, you're really going to get rolling here. You come out of California 3 and 0. And like you said, a lot of people are going to start saying, oh, this team's back. This team's, they found something. And I say it on the show all the time. It's really hard to win a Stanley Cup early in the season, but it's really easy to lose one. And they've got some

Starting point is 00:06:56 ground to make up. Agreed. And I do want to see them continue to build off what they did against the Ducks when through two periods, Pat, they had only really given up two or three high danger chances. They only gave up one high danger chance. And that second period, two scoring chances in general at five on five in that second period when the Penguins really turned that around against the Ducks. And then in the first 10 minutes of the third, they were really good until the Ducks pushed back in the final eight, ten minutes. But that's what I think any NHL team would do in that situation when a team is trailing. You know, they're going to be going all in at that point. I thought that the penguins did a mostly admirable job to limit the ducks to the outside. And they did that throughout the game. I thought they really weren't too many big chances that the ducks had from in-tight. I want to see them do that against the kings as well. Yes, the kings are a better team. They have more talent, but there's no reason that the penguins can't bring the same blueprint into Los Angeles. I said it with Nick on Wednesday. Is it a little bit of lower event hockey? Sure, but it's shown to have work.

Starting point is 00:07:57 in that win against Colorado and in that win against Anaheim. The only thing I would like a little bit more is some more offense, especially in that game against the Ducks. I thought John Gibson had a really good game. It's nice to see him at least playing it bit better. And, you know, that we touched on in the preview. That's another quality start against his hometown team after struggling early on. But overall, they can get some more offense out of some of these guys,

Starting point is 00:08:19 continue to bring that same defensive blueprint. I think the Penguins can have success in this game. It seems like to me that Mike Sullivan has maybe fine-tuned some things in his system. He can't run the same stuff that he did in 2016-17, just because the team, while it's fast, it's not as fast as it used to be. And you're seeing the changes made a little bit here. Yeah, in the Ducks game and in the Avalanche game. You just have to continue to build on that going forward. And just outside of that, I would like the bottom six to continue scoring Redeems the Hornah. Yet again, 30 goals on this season now. The fourth line I thought was mostly fine in that

Starting point is 00:08:55 game against the ducks. Vinnie Hino Shosa had a really nice chance in the first period. And I even tweeted this out. I've seen more from Vinny Hino Shosa than I did in Jeff Carter over the last six months to a year, especially the first month of the season. But all those things are really what I'm looking for in this one. And yes, I do see that wonderful Jeff Carter jersey behind you. Yeah. And that's the last thing that I also think is I look at this matchup going into tonight is I have to give the advantage to the penguins on the blue line because I do think LA's top pairing probably better than the penguins top pairing. Michael Anderson's good, man.

Starting point is 00:09:34 He's awesome. Mikey Anderson's really good. Drew Dowdy, like you said, defying gravity and defying time and reason, still very good. But then there's a drop off. I like Gavricob, think he's solid. Matt Roy's okay. Andreas England, Jordan Spence. So this is the kind of matchup where this is the advantage you have to take.

Starting point is 00:09:55 You want to play their top pairing to an even game. You want to just break even with them. If their top pairing on the ice is out there for two, you want your top six to be out there for two and then win the game everywhere else. So that's the biggest thing that I'm looking for is that the penguins probably have the lineup advantage on the back end, which is just incredibly weird to say as a Penguins fan, that this team's advantage is its defense and not its office. But that's the main thing I'm looking at.

Starting point is 00:10:24 But we are going to have to talk about another big issue on the roster. And we will do so right after this. But first, we have to tell you about Jace. We spend a lot of time talking together, you and I on this podcast. And we get fired up together on wins, losses, who starts, who sits. And I'm thankful for that connection that we have. But today, I want our chat to be just a little bit more personal. I just learned that you can get a one-year supply of your medications, and if you realize what that means, it means bring on the extended travel, bring on the next supply chain issue, and you are still covered, my friends.

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Starting point is 00:12:17 Tristan Jari, as you and Nick talked about, on the Wednesday episode left the game after he got hit by Adam Henrique. And then as he was on his way down, got hit in the face with the puck. Did not actually seem like he was nowhere to be found after the game. He was seen in the locker room, but he was going back with medical trainer Chris Stewart. And as of yesterday, Mike Sullivan basically said he's day to day, still being evaluated. They don't know what his status is quite yet. so this means it looks like tonight it's probably going to be unless this changes close to game time

Starting point is 00:12:55 Magnus Helberg between the pipes and they're going to have to make an emergency call up for somebody it's either going it's most likely if I had to guess be Garrett Sparks I was going to go the other way from my guess I was going to say Joel Blumquist you think he should get a call up in my opinion just because it'd be cool to see him with the big club again he's not going to get the start in the game but I think it'd be cool to see him just get the call up for the first time in his career, and I think he's been playing really well down Wilkesbury this year. I do agree.

Starting point is 00:13:25 I think this is going to be Magnus Helberg's game, unless Justin Jari is good to go. I think the Penguins may take it a little cautious with him to make sure that everything is okay. And, man, I just feel for the guy because he was playing so well in that game. Pat, you and I said on the preview, we challenged him to have a good game in this one. And through almost those entire first two periods, he was playing lights. out. And I know he didn't have to see a lot of high danger chances, but the save that he did have to make, especially in the late stage of the second period when he got injured. I still don't even know how he made the save there after Adam Henrique bumped him in the head. It was an insane save by Jari.

Starting point is 00:14:04 And he was having quite the bounceback game against the ducks, especially after what had happened the previous week in Pittsburgh. So I do hope everything is okay for Hellberg. I like the way he played in the third period. I thought he was pretty aggressive in that, but he also was. wasn't, I guess, swimming around, just looking nervous and all that stuff. Because sometimes when a goalie comes in cold, the goaltender can get a bit nervous. You know, you're flopping around in your net a little bit, but that was not Magnus Helbert. He was poised. He was composed.

Starting point is 00:14:34 Stood hauled to shooters, especially to Leo Carlson Chance late in the third period. That was a really nice pass from Troy Terry to Carlson coming down the left side of the offensive zone. Helberg is able to make the save there. If he can build off that, I do think the penguins could potentially get good goaltending in this game, even though they're down to their third string goal. And boy, it stinks that they're in this situation just because of the Jari situation that Alex Delkevich not being quite ready to come back yet. He is skating back in Pittsburgh, but isn't ready to come back just yet.

Starting point is 00:15:03 But so hopefully Jari is good to go at some point here in the near future. And, you know, maybe it is for this game against L.A. Maybe Mike Sullivan will have an update later on in the day after this comes out. But hopefully everything is okay overall. Yeah, and that's, you know, I can't really add much more about what Jari did just because he was playing really, really well. It was it was the bounce back we wanted to see from him. And the other thing is with Nadelcovic, he is on injured reserve. And he's not eligible to come back for another 10 days.

Starting point is 00:15:42 He can't be back until November 19th. I will amend what I said about who I think is going to get the call up. I think if this is just a day-to-day kind of he'll be back sooner rather than later, it probably will be Blumquist just because he's not going to play. He's going to just back up and practice. If it's going to be longer term, I think they will go with Garrett Sparks because he has seen NHL action in the past. He has NHL experience.

Starting point is 00:16:09 And they probably want Blumquist to continue to start in Wilkes-Ber rather than have him come up and just sit on the bench in Pittsburgh, because that would kind of hinder the development they're hoping for him. So I think the call-up is kind of dependent upon who or how long the injury to Jari is. But I mean, overall, I do still think if they play the kind of game that they have been playing the last couple of weeks and they stay defensively accountable and they make, the right decisions in the defensive zone and insulate the way they have been, it can help out Helberg if he starts tonight.

Starting point is 00:16:52 I keep wanting to say tomorrow for some reason. If he starts tonight. But end of the day, I mean, you hate to see this for Tristan Jari. And I have been just as hard on him as anybody else. And it has been deserved. But the last two games, he has bounced back incredibly well. And I know San Jose is San Jose, but I said it after the game. If we're going to roast them for losing games they should win,

Starting point is 00:17:25 we do have to credit them for winning the games they're supposed to win. So I have to credit Jari for making the saves he's supposed to make. And then like you were saying, until the injury last night, that was, I said it on Twitter and I stand by it. Yesterday's game was the punk test. That was this team came in, snatched your chain and laughed about it. Are you going to push them back and take it?

Starting point is 00:17:47 Or are you just going to sit there and let them do it? And by all accounts last night, even though they didn't come out and, you know, beat them up and play crazy uptempo hockey, they went into Anaheim and shut out the ducks. And Tristan Jari played a huge role in it. So it sucks for him. I really hope it's short term. You know, he seems like a pretty tough dude and a guy who wants to come back from this. So we'll see what he does.

Starting point is 00:18:15 And now you've got to do it in LA. And the Kings, I mean, they are a much better team than the Ducks. And don't you wrong, the Ducks have been good this year. But the Kings are a step up. This is going to be a playoff team this year. They are this good for a reason, people. I mean, right now this year, they have 57.4% of the expected goals, 60% of the actual goals, 56% of the shot attempts,

Starting point is 00:18:38 55% of the unblock shot attempts at 5 on 5. this team is ridiculously good. And per money pup, they have the third best expected goals rate in the league this year. This is going to be a major test for the penguins. And if they can pass it, we're going to get a lot of, oh, their back tweets on social media for this one. And I'm just really excited to watch it, man. It's the final one of the California road trip. A lot of skill in this Kings lineup.

Starting point is 00:19:03 Can they repeat what they did against the ducks and the avalanche, especially with what all likely it will be, a third string goal? tender in net. Do what you did in front of Tristan Jari. And we'll see if they can get the win here. Lastly, but not leastly, listen to that guy all the way at the top of Mellon Arena.

Starting point is 00:19:23 And when you get into L.A., shoot the puck. Shoot the puck. So that's going to do it for this segment. When we come back, we're going to talk about a couple roster moves. And whether or not an old friend of the L.A. Kings should be in the lineup tomorrow night. But before we do that, we have to

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Starting point is 00:20:22 Parkview Advance helping businesses with their working capital. Go to Parkviewadvance.com. We're back here for the last segment of this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am Patrick Damp, back from his one episode, a hiatus. And I'm joined, as always, by the one and only Hunter Hodes. and we'll get the first one out of the way because it's a little less consequential than anything else. The Penguins announced today that Andreas Janssen was put on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination. So appears that they're just going to cut him loose and let him go about wherever he wants to go about for his career.

Starting point is 00:21:01 I will say Tony Androquatus, he's of inside AHL hockey. He reported this morning that Andreas Janssen did appear. in a preseason game with Wokesbear, but then was referred to as away from the team tending to a personal matter since the beginning of the season. So all the best to him, I hope whatever he's dealing with in his life, he gets solved and he can get back to becoming a professional hockey player, if not all the best in his life moving forward. So there's that.

Starting point is 00:21:34 Kind of really thought that when they signed him, he could have been a guy to make a difference. but as we see life happens and things always can often take precedent over hockey. I was right there with you, man. I was really excited when Kyle Dubas signed him over the offseason. He's had multiple seasons of double-digit goals at the NHL level, but just isn't the same player that he used to be in. I concur with you, I hope, and wish for the best for him going forward with that personal matter. It just stinks because I had such high hopes for him heading into camp before all this happened.

Starting point is 00:22:08 And I thought, oh, he's going to impressing camp in the preseason. He's going to win a roster spot on the Penguins and play a lot of games this season. But nope, that didn't happen. Didn't have a good camp. Didn't have a good preseason. He was waived, honestly, pretty quickly throughout camp in the preseason, just wasn't able to find a fit here with the Penguins. But as you said, all the best to him moving forward and hope that he can continue his career.

Starting point is 00:22:30 And maybe it's on another NHL team, some other league overseas, something like that. Agreed. And just wish all the best for him. and hopefully we can see them play in hockey somewhere in the next year or two. As we know, life happens. So let's get into the discussion that we have teased that we may have forced ourselves to have as this team finds themselves at 2 and O on the California road trip. And they have scratched Jeff Carter for two straight games.

Starting point is 00:23:03 And, well, if they scratch them again tonight, it could be three. but the 38-year-old forward, this is more than likely his last season in the National Hockey League. All signs point to he's probably going to either retire or just be done at the end of this season regardless. So this is more than likely his last stop in Los Angeles where he has been a legend for them. He helped the franchise win its first Stanley. Cup and then one another. He was a big time goal score for the Los Angeles Kings. And you know he's beloved out there. Los Angeles Kings fans, even when they traded him, basically said, yeah, we get it. We're not a good team right now. Jeff Carter deserves better than this. Send him somewhere where he

Starting point is 00:23:54 could maybe win another cup. So he finds himself in Pittsburgh. So what do you think, Hunter? Does BJC get back into the lineup tonight? No. No. No. And he shouldn't. I'm sorry. I understand this might be his last game in Los Angeles. Might be his last time there. He's done a lot for that city and that organization. But with the way the Penguins have played since he was scratched, you cannot mess with the lineup. And based on the practice lines that we saw on Wednesday, he was still an extra alongside P.O. Joseph on defense. And it looks like he's going to remain a scratch for this game. Again, I'll say it for the 100th time.

Starting point is 00:24:35 Vinnie Hennar Shosa has played really well since coming into the lineup for Carter. I've seen progress from the fourth line alongside Matt Nietto and Nollachari. You don't want to screw with that just because, oh, an older veteran player might be playing in L.A. where he's had a lot of success for the final time. You just don't do that. So in my opinion, no, he doesn't come back into the lineup. I understand why some people may want him to, but if the way the team is playing, right now the way it's humming with these last two games you keep him upstairs like you know what jeff i know

Starting point is 00:25:11 you may take this a bit harder considering it's one of your former teams but we're still going to have to scratch you the team is playing really well right now the fourth line is clicking we're going to have to put you upstairs from their game we're going to get you in the back in the lineup at some point but it's just not going to be right now considering the results that we're getting yeah the romantic in me says do it put them in the lineup let him have his swan song because like we talked about on the show, he's been a very loyal soldier. Right. The guys in the room absolutely love him.

Starting point is 00:25:43 He's by all accounts a leader for this franchise right now. And I would love to see him just get the standing ovation and stand up on the bench and take a curtain call with hit with the penguins. But at the end of the day, I agree. I don't think you can mess with this. You're starting to finally find some consistency and some chemistry. your bottom six and that has been this team's boogeyman for the last year and a half they've just their top six has been somewhere between good and elite and the bottom six has just been

Starting point is 00:26:19 terrible and unfortunately jeff carter at 38 doesn't have it anymore and it pains me to say because always been a big fan i was excited when we got him i think he's been one of the better players of this era and you hate to see them go out like this. But right now, if the penguins were, I'll add this too. If the penguins were off to a better start this season, if they weren't playing catch up right now, I'd say, you know what? You're 2 and 0 on the road trip. You did well. Put them in the lineup. Who cares? If you take the loss, you take the loss. But right now, you need the points. You need the victory. You have to start stacking wins because you put yourself behind the eight ball in the first month of the season.

Starting point is 00:27:03 Right. Say if this team, because they play 11 games, right? Say this team was 8 and 2 and 1. You've won the first two games on this trip. Okay, maybe you put Carter back out there. He gets his little homecoming, if that's the word you want to use. And boom, say they, it doesn't matter if they win or lose, but he gets his homecoming. Okay. I can understand that. But they're still 5 and 6. They're one game below 500. You're trying to get back to 5-1. You're trying to get out of the basement of the Metropolitan Division because the Penguins, believe it or not folks they are still in last place in this division one of the worst teams in the conference right now you need all of the wins that you can get so there's just no reason to mess with the lineup for

Starting point is 00:27:42 what's the word I'm looking for loyalty purposes I guess there's no reason to do it so right now I would continue to have him as a scratch the fourth line has looked better since he's come out of the lineup the third line has also continued to look solid and until the fourth line I guess struggles like it did when Carter was in the lineup, I would not put him back in the lineup. That's just my opinion, though. Yeah, that's the biggest thing is that this team is legitimately under 500. They're not under Bettman 500.

Starting point is 00:28:12 They are 5-6-0. That's under 500. So, yeah, I mean, it sucks. It breaks my heart because I love the guy. And I wish I could see him get his, you know, again, no pun intended because it's Los Angeles curtain call. but you're just, you can't risk it right now. So that's going to do it for us on this edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:28:37 We will be back tomorrow to recap this one as well as get you set for when the Buffalo Sabres come to town on Saturday night. So enjoy one more night of late night hockey. And we will talk to you once again on Friday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look to become Kings of California on Thursday night!

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