Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins look to make it THREE WINS over New York teams!

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

The Penguins got another victory on Thursday night, beating the New York Islanders 4-3 in their home opener! Patrick and Hunter begin the show recapping another win for the Penguins, and it was thanks... to another full, 60-minute effort against a surprisingly fast Islanders team. They dive into how the Penguins' special teams, effort, and big guns led the way to banking another two points. (0:00) Then, they focus on two players who look like they have found the Fountain of Youth: Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson. Patrick and Hunter discuss how a new coach, a new system, and even some youth have rejuvenated two of the Penguins' stars. (11:55). Finally, with Mike Sullivan coming back to Pittsburgh on Saturday night with the Rangers, they're joined by Jenny Street of Breakaway by SI to get you set for the rematch! (21:54) Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedonright now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 The dream of going 82 and O is still alive in the Steel City. The Pittsburgh Penguins get a massive victory over the New York Islanders in the home opener and debut some pretty slick new alternate jerseys. We're going to talk about all that on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team, every day. Welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
Starting point is 00:00:41 I'm one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4WET, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, and you can follow our show's Twitter account at LO underscore Penguins. You can also find us on Instagram at Locked On underscore Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, we are free and available wherever you find your podcasts as well as YouTube.
Starting point is 00:01:16 Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, be sure to hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we dive into it today, this episode is brought to you by Fandul. Download the Fandul app now by visiting Fandul.com, and you could win. $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. More on them later. Happy Friday, everybody. Did the sun feel just a little bit brighter today?
Starting point is 00:01:48 Did the world just seem a little bit happier today? Because it kind of did. The Penguins are 2 and 0. They get a 4-3 win in a really exciting game against the New York Islanders in the home opener. and Hunter, let's just start with that. You said this to me before we started recording, and I could not agree more. That might have been the most entertaining Penguins Islanders game in like 15 years. That was a up and down, back and forth, sneakily physical, except for the end,
Starting point is 00:02:26 which we will get into, game that I was entertained all night. And if you have watched the penguins for the better part of the last 10 years, when you see the Islanders on the calendar, you can maybe go to bed early because it's not going to be a very entertaining game regardless of who comes out the winner. Pat, that might be the most fun I've had watching a game involving the Islanders since before Barry Trots was their head coach. They were playing super fast. That's the fastest I've seen them play in years. It was a lot of fun to watch. I know this week on the pod we were talking about, you know, it's like watching paint dry.
Starting point is 00:03:03 It's like watching my water boil for pasta or any other boring thing that you have going on in your life. No, this was a back and forth, up and down game, a whole ton of speed. And I was like, am I in the Twilight Zone watching the Islanders actually play a speed and skill game just because that has not been their MO for the last several years? But those first two periods,
Starting point is 00:03:27 a ton of fun. I would give the penguins a slight edge after 40 minutes, but the Islanders were still playing, I thought, fairly well. They came out the first three minutes of the third. They were getting some chances. After that, I thought the Penguins absolutely blitz them for the rest of that third period. You look at some of the underlines. They held the Islanders to 0.37 expected goals in that third period
Starting point is 00:03:48 only allowed one high danger chance compared to seven high danger chances for the penguins. They blitz them for basically that entire period. And, you know, Justin Brazo, gets the game winner. Three goals in two games. Raise your hand if you had that one to start the 2025, 2026 season. So many people were overreacting about him being in the top six. And I said, guys, it's going to be totally fine for a couple of games. I didn't think it would be elite for a couple of games. By the way, awesome feed there from Evgeny Malkin. And he has five points in two games. He's been the Penguins best player. He's never had five points in two games to start
Starting point is 00:04:24 a season with the Penguins. This is vintage stuff we're seeing from the beginning Malcon. right now. But this was a really fun win. And I'm probably going to make this point a lot on the show today. But I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated watching this Penguins team to start the year. I have no idea if this is going to continue. It's only been two games. We don't need to start buying playoff tickets or anything like that. But I am just so rejuvenated watching them. There's a different energy compared to what I saw last year. There's a different compete level, different kind of effort. compared to what I saw last year, these players are playing their absolute asses off shift after shift.
Starting point is 00:05:05 And it's only two games, but they're two of the most fun games I've watched Pat in at least a couple of years. Without a doubt. And we all know that's no shot at the former head coach. Which speaking of later on in the show, we're going to welcome in S.I's Jenny Streeter. She covers the New York Rangers.
Starting point is 00:05:23 We'll get you set for that game this weekend. But back to what we saw on Thursday night, I'm curious to see how long this lasts because we're going to find out how sustainable this is or if it's a new coach bump because let's be honest here. They had a very fun, very competitive, very productive training camp in preseason and now they're off to a 2 and 0 start. So right now everything is sunshine and rainbows. And let's also keep it 100 here. They haven't played the best teams in the league yet and they still got about a week and a half. until they match up with some of the better teams in the league,
Starting point is 00:06:02 and we'll see how they do against them. No disrespect to the islanders. They're kind of in the same spot as the penguins, the Rangers. I'll keep saying it. They think they're better than they actually are. So we will see what happens when they go up against some of the league's better talent. But right now, this was once again a full 60 minute effort. They played every second of those 60 minutes.
Starting point is 00:06:28 And like you alluded to, they locked it down in the third period, but it wasn't a traditional, let's lock it down, go into a shell, play defensive. They kept their foot on the gas and they kept taking it to the islanders and it paid off. Thanks to that incredible feed from Evgeny Malkin on the bank pass to Brzo. Brazzo makes no mistake. The penguins go home with two points. But we have gone nearly seven minutes, Hunter, without mentioning the high. highlight of the night. Rookie defenseman Harrison Brunick with an absolute snipe job for his first NHL goal and you don't draw it up much better than that. The goal was great. And congratulations to
Starting point is 00:07:14 Harrison Brunich. I will also say this. I thought he played leaps and bounds better in this one compared to what I saw against the Rangers. Really rough first period. He settled in a bit in the second and thirds to kind of a fine performance. I thought. he was legitimately really good in this game. And the numbers also backed that up. He played in this one 10 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time, had a 56% shot attempts, score rate, had a 65% expected goals full rate, and also a 57% swan chance of score rate.
Starting point is 00:07:43 He was driving offense every time he was on the ice. And that goal that he scored, Sorokin, he had no chance on that. What a snipe. Celebration was awesome. You saw his parents in the crowd going crazy. And, you know, he keeps this. up, I think it'll be down the road potentially almost a lock that he stays past the nine games and he plays, you know, potentially 50 plus games this year. He was tremendous. Love the effort.
Starting point is 00:08:09 But again, Pat, I know that shot was great. Don't discount that little feed at first from Tommy Novak. He was the one that really got that going. Bumped the puck forward. Hollander gets it, delivers a beautiful pass right on a silver platter to Harrison Brunick, who makes no mistake. Again, Both those feeds there from Novak and Hollander are also so great. And one more thing before we close out this segment because we're going to discuss Eric Carlson in the second segment and how great he's playing right now. I will give some flowers to the goaltender, Tristan Jari. I was really hard on him at the start of this game because the three goals that he gave up at and I was texting you. I felt all of those were savable.
Starting point is 00:08:50 I thought he could have made saves there. I even tweeted, got to be able to make a save, man. You know, the third one, I didn't like his positioning. I didn't like his movement. It felt like he was way too slow getting across the crease for the tying goal at the end of the second period. But he stood tall at the end of the third period. After Brazil gave the penguins a lead with less than six minutes left, the Islanders threw a lot at him, even though I thought the penguins were still in control of the game.
Starting point is 00:09:17 And he made save after save. And a couple of them were really difficult because they involved some deflections. He stood tall. I will give him credit for that. He deserves it. It was a really good way to settle in after a shaky start. I will say this. I'm not going to totally disagree because I agree on the point that all three were
Starting point is 00:09:38 savable. There's a world where a goaltender stops those. We say it, our good pal Josh Yo, he says it all the time. You are allowed to make a save. But on the first and third, I can give him the slightest of passes. A knuckle puck. We have seen knucklepucks beat the best of goalies. Was it great? No.
Starting point is 00:09:57 Like I'm not sitting here saying, don't blame them for that. It's just it happens. But I can give you a pass a little bit on a knuckle puck because the way it comes off, the blade is weird, the way it moves is weird. It happens. The third goal, it was a turnover that led to an odd man rush. Was his side to side movement great? Absolutely not.
Starting point is 00:10:18 But he shouldn't have been putting that spot in the first place. The penguins should have either iced the puck, got it deep, or just made a simple play, which was one of their rare warts of the night. But then the second one, unscreened, doesn't cut down the angle very well. Gotta have that one. But all of that is forgiven because he was really good the last four-ish minutes of the game when they needed him to be. So really good bounce back for him, really solid 60-minute effort. And we got some more to talk about.
Starting point is 00:10:50 Eric Carlson looks fantastic and so does number 71, Evgeny Malk, and we will talk about both of those players when we get back. So stick with us. We're going to hop into that right after this. Before we do that, though, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Fandul. The NFL season is in full swing, and Fandul has an offer you don't want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $500 and get $300 in bonus bets.
Starting point is 00:11:23 if that bet wins. That's right, pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Fandul makes watching football so much more exciting, especially when you've got a little something riding on the action. Whether you're a casual fan or you love diving into the stats, Fandual makes game day so much better. So what are you waiting for?
Starting point is 00:11:48 Visit fandul.com to download the Fandul app today and get started. Back here on the Friday edition of Victory Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And let's real quickly before we get into Eric Carlson touch on number 71. Five points to start the year. Five assists. Originally looked like he had a goal initially.
Starting point is 00:12:15 Then it gets credited to Ricard Raquel. But these first two games, excuse me if I think that's 29. old of Gennie Malkin on the ice and not 39 year old of Gennie Malkin because the hop is there, the tenacity is there. This is vintage, if Gennie Malkin. He's been a bully these first two games. And when he's a bully, good luck stopping him. It doesn't matter how old he is. He's been a puck count every time he's out there. He's making plays that feed to Sid. And by the way, Pat, what do we call that for the Cindy Crosby goal? What type of goal was that? Vintage.
Starting point is 00:12:53 Ryan Poo Rock. Poor Ryan Poolock, he's trying everything in his power to defend against that. And Sid is like, you're not moving me. I'm down on one knee. There is just no way you're moving me here. It's like trying to move a centuries old oak tree. It was just impossible. He had no chance on that.
Starting point is 00:13:11 There was just no way he was moving him. But that feed from Malkin was also great. He gets the primary assist on the Ricard Raquel goal. That feed, Justin Brzo was also chef's kiss. I know some people will be like, well, you know, he starts fast every season. season. Not like this. Five points in two games. It looks like he has found the fountain of youth to start this year. And hey, if Justin Brazo wants to keep playing like this on the second line, even when Brian Russ returns, they might keep them up there for a few more games and then probably
Starting point is 00:13:39 reunite Rust with Crosby and Raquel. That reminds me, by the way. I think Villacquoivin had a lot of chemistry. Once Dam-Ews switched up the lines last night and put him down there with Ben Kindle, I want to see more of that because they had some chemistry during training camp. But more on that a little bit later on in the show. But yeah, man, this has been unbelievable from Evgeny Malkin. Power play. He's been great. Five on five.
Starting point is 00:14:01 He's been great. Hell, he was out there in a six on five situation last night. You hardly see that, especially with where Malkin is age-wise. But I love that Dan Euse was trusting him in that situation. Just his all-around game right now is superb. And I can't get enough of it. It doesn't matter who the coach is. When Hvgeny Malkin is at this level,
Starting point is 00:14:22 You can trust him to play in all situations. Like so many other things, though, it's early. We got to see how long it lasts, but we can't go without mentioning it. And that also applies to Eric Carlson. And I'm just going to ask this question straight up, Hunter, and I want to get your thought on it. Did Mike Sullivan hate Eric Carlson or did Eric Carlson hate Mike Sullivan? because we have been pretty strident defenders of Eric Carlson on this show. He has not been as bad as some people have made him out to be, nor has he been as good as some people think.
Starting point is 00:15:02 But these first two games, this is an Eric Carlson we have never seen in Pittsburgh. It's funny, all the things he's doing offensively, I feel like I saw for the most part last year. It was just every other aspect of his game last year, Pat, which wasn't as good. His play in his own zone. Too many turnovers. The bad pinches. And, you know, he was doing all the heavy lifting from the blue line just because he was the only player that was able to drive offense from the blue line.
Starting point is 00:15:33 But this year, you have this offensive ability, but he's also been great in transition. He's been great in his own zone. His decision making is great. he's not being as aggressive with his pinches. Look at the way he's going around the world in the offensive zone. He's making all the right reads. And when you combine all of that with the offense that he can drive from the blue line, this is what you get.
Starting point is 00:15:59 And I know the points haven't come yet, but they are going to come in waves if he continues to play like this. He has been absolutely sensational to start. The dam is going. It also helps that that Parker Weather Spoon has been a reliable presence. next to him in these two games. It's early, but I really like that pairing so far, and it's allowing Carlson to do the things that he's able to do at the blue line.
Starting point is 00:16:24 And Weatherspoon has been, you know, if there's a mistake, for example, that Carlson makes, Wetherspoon will be there to help him out. So I just really like that pairing as a whole too. But again, everything that Carlson, you know, struggle with last year, it hasn't been that way this year yet. And when you combine that with the offense that he can create and the skating ability, this is what you get. I will also say this, and you're right about Wetherspoon,
Starting point is 00:16:48 he is a pretty good stabilizing presence. And for two games, toss some egg on our faces for that, because we were pretty skeptical about that going into the year. And through two games, they're really telling us to shut the hell up. But I digress. I also have to give credit to Dan Mews, because I have been saying this for the last week.
Starting point is 00:17:09 It's something, again, I noticed in preseason in the training camp, but again, I try not to read too much into the way X's and O's go in the preseason. But this also, the way that they are working in the offensive zone and really just working across all three zones is there is such an emphasis on puck support. There are always two, if not three penguins around the puck. They are outnumbering the opposition at the point of attack. And when you have a dynamic player like Eric Carlson, and this also applies to Sidney Crosby, Fgeny, Fulgin, Chris LaTang, when you have those players and you're running a puck support system,
Starting point is 00:17:53 it gives them more room to operate because if they make a mistake, there's probably someone there to cover it, but it also opens up more room because the opposing team not only has to respect the puck carrier, in the defensive zone, but they got to respect the other players. So it's opening up lanes. It's opening up areas for Carlson to go. And that all leads back to something you said, Hunter. The reeds he is making, the way he is commanding the play, it is night and day from what we saw the past couple of years.
Starting point is 00:18:29 Oh yeah. And he's going to be a lock on team Sweden if he keeps this up. He should already be there no matter what, in my opinion, especially because he was there for the four nations. But he keeps this up. they'll potentially name him on the roster next week or something like that. A couple more things about before we get to our final segment and have Jenny Schreter join the show to help preview this third game against the New York Rangers.
Starting point is 00:18:52 I thought Billy Coyvindon struggled a little bit once again. I think having him on the third line was really good. I loved that adjustment that Dan Muse made putting him with Ben Kindle. And they had some good chemistry at Camden preseason, as I said earlier in the show, where they were feeding off each other. other, they were making the right reads, and you saw that on display once Muse reunited them, I want to see if that sticks, because there's a chance that Brian Russ could return for this game against the Rangers.
Starting point is 00:19:20 It looks like he's very close to returning. If he doesn't return then, then definitely on the California trip. If Russ returns, I think he's going to play on the top line with Crosby and Markell, someone else is going to have to come out. But I would keep Kindle with Coyvenin on the third line if you want to have Tommy Noe back there. That's totally good as well. He could also have Philip Hollander there too
Starting point is 00:19:39 because they were having Philip Hollander come up to the top six at times yesterday too and by the way I thought he was tremendous to yesterday. So those were a couple of things that I wanted to add and then oh one more, the power play. I thought it was moving a lot better last year. It's on steroids right now compared to that. Movement wise.
Starting point is 00:19:59 Everyone is moving around. There's no stagnance when it comes to this power play. You have Malkin around the goal line sometimes. You have Crosby up by the point. You have Carlson sometimes by the half ball. You have Latang sometimes by the point. Everyone is moving around. And it really just messes with the penalty killers.
Starting point is 00:20:17 And that was one of the keys that I said going into this game. The Islanders had the second worst penalty kill in the league last year. And what do you know? It's still not good to start this year. And the Penguins took advantage of it multiple times. It was a really good effort, all things considered. And I will add this before we had to break and welcome Jenny Streeter to the show. you're right about the covenin and kindle thing and that feels like it could be a mutually beneficial
Starting point is 00:20:42 agreement where the covenin has struggled the first two games ever so slightly i thought he was not very good to start the game against the islanders but then once that move was made it really benefited him and i think those two like you said had good chemistry in the preseason now let's see how it works in the regular season as for the power play dan muses appears to be a graduate of Kiss You. Keep it simple, stupid university. Just letting the big guys go out, do their thing, you know your role.
Starting point is 00:21:17 And what do you know? It works. That's Todd Nelson too, by the way. Todd Nelson as well. But early returns, pretty good. Penguins are 2 and 0. Big win, but massive night, Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Starting point is 00:21:32 A rematch with the Rangers and Mike Sullivan's return to p p paints arena. We will preview that game for Saturday night with our friend Jenny Streeter who joins us on the locked on penguins podcast right after this. We're back here on the Friday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Patrick Damp, right alongside the one and only Hunter Hodies. And joining us for the first time on the Locked on Penguins podcast is Jenny Streeter from breakaway at SI. She's got a special emphasis on the New York Rangers,
Starting point is 00:22:14 and she is going to help us get ready for tomorrow night's game, the return of former head coach Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers. Jenny, welcome to the show. And for our listeners who may not know you, let them know what it is you do. Yeah, thanks guys for having me on. I'm super excited to be here. I got hired two months ago. I'm an NHL reporter for Onus I at Sports Illustrate, Sports Illustrated.
Starting point is 00:22:41 with a special emphasis on the Rangers, have really been enjoying my time there, covering all 32 teams. I'm actually currently in Pittsburgh right now, excited to be kind of on site for the game and see what all the fans have to say because what I'm personally excited about this game is it's so cool that we're seeing such a big game like this
Starting point is 00:22:58 with so many storylines so early on in the season. I really feel that it's making people get excited for the year to come, and I'm just super excited to get into it with you guys. But, Hunter, I do want to give you a shout out before we start. I did see that you did just hit, six years with locked on. So hey, congratulations to you before we get started on that. Hey, I appreciate it. It was nice building the show from the ground up, but I had to get some help at some point in getting my good friend and Co's Patrick Dampen here. It's been great.
Starting point is 00:23:25 We have a lot of momentum right now. Thank you to all the new subs out there that's been subbing to our YouTube channel and following on audio. But, you know, Jenny, this is such a big game for a lot of reasons. The penguins are off to a two and no start. They beat the Rangers on opening night. they beat the islanders on Thursday, something that has really happened over the last couple of years. The penguins have just really struggled against islanders. And honest,
Starting point is 00:23:48 I shouldn't even say, Pat, for the last couple of years, it feels like it's been throughout their entire history. The history of the franchise. Yeah, they've been the Penguins boogeyman forever at this rate, but the Rangers that come in,
Starting point is 00:24:00 off a win against the Buffalo Sabers for nothing. Jenny, what did you see in that game compared to Tuesday's night? Tuesday nights one against the penguins. Yeah, so obviously Tuesday was a slow start for the New York Rangers just with the three and no loss. Not exactly the way they wanted to welcome in the Mike Sullivan era. It was nice to see against Buffalo. We kind of got to see J.T. Miller record his first goal while wearing the sea.
Starting point is 00:24:25 That was super good to see as well, especially when you consider that he's coming off of an injury from preseason, which it's very obvious when you watch him skate that he's still kind of dealing with some pain and battling some injury. but, you know, obviously he's the captain and he has a responsibility. So really good to just see him get his first goal wearing the sea. We also have had Vincent Trocheck exit the game early with an upper body injury. So he didn't return. He's considered day to day. What I feel like a lot of fans don't know about that specifically is that Trochec actually
Starting point is 00:24:57 was wearing a full face shield for the majority of preseason play after taking a puck to the face in preseason practices. So we don't know if the interest. injuries are related, but that's just a kind of good tidbit. But obviously, the main storyline now is Sullivan's return and not just Sullivan's return, but we have David Quinn and Ty Hennis coming back as well. So it's just going to be a super big night, I feel, at PGG. So obviously Hunter and I have talked about this at pretty great length because the Sullivan stuff was a season and a half long narrative. Hunter and I basically did presidential level debates on whether or not Mike Sullivan
Starting point is 00:25:39 should have remained the Penguins head coach or been let go. Obviously, we all know now that happens. Sullivan and the Penguins quote unquote part ways. Dan Muse comes in as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sullivan returns to the Rangers where he spent a few years under John Torrella as an assistant coach. But Pittsburgh fans obviously have their knowledge, their experience, in their opinions of Mike Sullivan. For the Rangers, however, what exactly have you seen? What has the team said? Because we know from our experience when Sullivan came in a decade ago, it was a fresh
Starting point is 00:26:22 breeze on a beautiful spring day for a franchise that so sorely needed it. So for the Rangers, how has the Sullivan experience been thus far, even though it is still pretty early? Yeah, Pat, that's a really good question. From all of the reporting I've done and from everything I've seen, we've seen Sully really just come in and hit the ground running with the Rangers, which is what everyone pretty much expected. He's a very hands-on coach, but he's also a very tough coach. You know, you're seeing him in practices being really involved,
Starting point is 00:26:52 but not only being really involved, being really vocal and being really tough on the guy. which to be honest, you know, after they missed the postseason the very year after winning the president's trophy, that's exactly the kind of coach that they needed to come in and do. We saw that their latest practice shirts say no BS, so no bullshit on them, which both Sullivan and J.T. Miller have gotten a kick out of. So I think it's really just showing that they're looking to erase mistakes and they're really just looking to start fresh, kind of just exactly like you guys said. But yeah, definitely been very tough on that. the guys and kicking their asses in gear, which I feel is what they needed. Yeah, no doubt. And the other thing that we obviously got to get into really quick because we love our listeners, but we don't want to take up their entire Friday evening. They hopefully have things better to do than listen to the two of us and you, which we're very happy you're here.
Starting point is 00:27:49 No offense to you. Yammer on for maybe way too long. But we know how the season opener went. it seemed like the penguins almost kind of surprised the Rangers with the effort. It really felt like that it would have been a big night for Mike Sullivan and the Rangers to start this new era with a big win over their new head coach's former team. But the exact opposite happened. The penguins came out.
Starting point is 00:28:14 They played a really solid 60-minute game. They locked it down defensively. And the penguins go home with a three-nothing win. And the Rangers are left to wonder what happened. And so in your estimation, let's answer that question. What happened? Yeah, I think, to be honest, I think just there were a lot of mental errors from the Rangers in that game specifically, but I think you really kind of saw the collapse when Igor
Starting point is 00:28:40 Shasturkin was pulled for the empty net. And I think we've just straight up seeing how vital he is for the team. We've seen Sullivan say in press conferences that he's glad that he's now a coach who has Shisterkin instead of facing off against Shisterken. So I think it really just goes to show how vital that particular goaltender is not only to the New York Rangers, but to the league as a whole. Right. I mean, I think he's the best goaltender on the planet. I have no problem saying that. Pat, I think for keys to this game for the Penguins, it's pretty similar to what I said during my solo episode earlier this week when you were on IR. You got to get in Shisterkin's kitchen.
Starting point is 00:29:17 He doesn't like it when players get around the net mouth. You've seen it a bunch, especially during some of his battles with Crosby. If you can take advantage of their bottom two lines and their bottom two pairings like the penguins did, I think they'll have a really good chance of winning this game. And again, the way the penguins were able to just completely neutralize their breakouts from their own end was just insane. So those, again, are the same keys. I'll just say the same thing right there.
Starting point is 00:29:43 But Jenny, I'll flip it to you. What do you think are some good keys for the Rangers here? I would really like to get an update, first of all, on Vincent Trocheck. that's one of the first things on everyone's mind fans and reporters alike. I would really like to see J.T. Miller look a little bit more comfortable on the ice, not in the sense of like his comfortability, but more in the sense of like pain and just seeing where he's at injury-wise. And then I guess Noah Laba, he's someone who Sullivan made the choice to keep on the roster. And it's really good to see some youth there. So yeah, just really looking
Starting point is 00:30:18 to see kind of how the Rangers continue to adjust in everything that's, a new slate for them honestly. Well, you said adjustments, and if you ask a lot of our listeners, Mike Sullivan doesn't know how to do that. And I will continue to agree to disagree with them because there's a lot more nuance to it than just rip the system out of the wall and put a new one in. But I digress.
Starting point is 00:30:41 It's the Penguins. It's the Rangers. Mike Sullivan returns to PPG Paints Arena for the first time as not the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. We're sure it's going to be an incredible ovation for the man that guided them to two Stanley Cups about a decade ago. You can catch that game on SportsNet, Pittsburgh, and the MSG network. If you are someone listening to us from the New York area.
Starting point is 00:31:08 But before we close it out here, Jenny, let everybody know where they can find you and where they can find your work. Yeah, thanks for that. Anybody who's listening in can find my work on Breakaway on SI, part of the Sports Illustrated Network. And I would also love to be back on the pod anytime. So I really appreciate you guys having me on. Well, we know that there's always time to talk Penguins Rangers because it's a historic
Starting point is 00:31:33 and fantastic rivalry. So when we need insight to the New York Rangers, Jenny, keep that phone on because we're going to be coming to you. And to everybody else, thank you so much for tuning in to the Friday edition of the locked on penguins podcast. Hunter and I will be back on Monday with a fresh episode recapping this game and covering any other news that might happen between now and then. So enjoy your weekend and for Hunter Hodes and Jenny Streeter. I'm Patrick Damp.
Starting point is 00:32:04 Thank you again for tuning in and we will be back on Monday.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.