Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins looking to end homestand on a high note!

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

The Pittsburgh Penguins will end their five-game homestand on Tuesday with a game against the Seattle Kraken and Hunter and Pat are here to get you set for it. They preview the game by discussing how the Kraken have played thus far and how it allows the Penguins to beat a struggling team. Then, they discuss the Penguins goaltending issues and how inconsistency has almost paralyzed their ability to make any sort of change before getting into the lineup notes. Who is back for the Penguins? Who is coming out? Finally, they look at what a successful week looks like and give some keys to victory for Tuesday's game. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Indeed:Now, 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.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win or lose your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins will look to end this five-game homestand with a big win over the Seattle Cracken, and Pat and I are going to preview that game for you all 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, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. joined by my co-host Patrick Damping, follow him on all social media platforms at

Send him for Wet, 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. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. You can start the season with a big return on Fandall. New customers can place a $5 bet, and you will get started with $200 in bonus vets. If you win or lose your first $5 bet, visit fanggul.com to get started.

So Pat, the Penguins will try to end this homestand on a good note before heading on that massive seven-game road trip to end the month of January, and they'll try to end it on a good note against a team that is also struggling as of late in the Seattle Cracken. The Cracken, they were a fascinating team heading into this year. I predicted them to make the playoffs get that final spot in the Western Conference, that prediction, aging like milk, to say the least so far. Definitely one of my worst. predictions at least heading into this season.

I thought they were going to be good. I really liked their forward group, but so far, the forwards aren't playing the way, the way I thought they would. Defensively, they're not really getting much. They're getting decent goaltending from Joey to Cord. Otherwise,

this team is a flat out mess right now. They've lost five with their last six, including 11 of their last 15. And Matt, you mentioned to me, their goal differential, these last six games, minus 15,

which is, again, really bad. So during this last stretch, They're not getting the goal-tending, even though DeCort has had a pretty solid season to date. They're not getting offense, and they're a mess in their own zone. You look up and down Seattle's lineup. I like most of their forward group,

I just think they're lacking some true star talent. You know, Jaden Schwartz on your top line with Maddie Baneers and Capo-Cocco, Chandler Stevenson, who they gave a lot of money to, but he only has five goals in 43 games with Oliver Borkstrain and Andre Barakovsky. You then have Shane Wright and Old Penguin Jared McCann on your third line. and then Old Penguin Brandon Tanev on your fourth line. So they have some good depth pieces. They have some good players,

but they're still lacking, I feel like, that big star power at the top of their lineup, in my opinion. Defensively, they pay a lot of money to go get Brandon Montour. He's with Jimmy Alexiak. They also have Vince Dunn and Adam Larson.

And then again, as I mentioned, in gold, they have Philip Grubauer, who's been really bad this year in Joey Decor. So, Pat, this has been a Seattle team. They really don't do my, well this season. This is a game where they're a bit lower in the standings in the Penguins are right now. The Penguins, yeah, they've started 2025 on a sour note, but this is a team that can definitely be had right now. Now, we did say that against Ottawa coming into this big

homestand this past weekend and the Penguins got blitzed by the Senators. But again, I have to say it again here. This is a team that can be had, especially with the way that they are playing. I'm going to say something that our pals on Locked on Cracken may end up clipping and playing if the Penguins don't find a way to win tonight. But I look at the Seattle Cracken as Timo, Carolina. It is a team that doesn't have a real standout superstar, has a collection of solid depth, as okay defense and one solid goal tender.

That sounds an awful lot like the Carolina Hurricanes, where they don't really have that true blue standout game breaker superstar, but they have solidly productive forwards. They have defensemen who can play well, and Joey DeCorden net, who is having himself a fine, fine season. So you brought this up. Yeah, the Cracken are going through it right now.

They are struggling mightily. They have yet to crack more than three goals in the year of 2025. You look at their schedule to start the calendar year. 4-3 shootout loss to Vancouver, 4-2 lost to Edmonton, 3-2 loss to the Devils, 6-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They get a win over the Buffalo Sabres. So I am actually incorrect here because I was so focused on the losses. I missed the 6-2 win over the Sabers.

But then a 6-2 lost to Detroit, which four or five weeks ago, that had been embarrassing. But right now, Detroit just seemingly can't lose. They've won seven in a row. Yeah, they're playing really well. But then you look at Joey DeCord, and he's having himself a fine year. He's trying his best to keep this team above. of water. He's got a 9-12 save percentage, 2.49 GAA, 13-4-2 record. Then you look at who's behind him.

Philip Grubauer, on the other hand, he makes me almost, and I say almost happy that we have Jari and Adelkevich in Pittsburgh because 5, 14 and 1, 870 save percentage, 3.76 goals against average. So for all the faults that the Seattle Cracken have, the biggest disparity is in net because Joey Decord is doing everything he can to make this team at least competitive. And then it all gets washed away the minute they put Philip Grubauer in the net. So depending on who starts tonight, you have to take advantage of a wounded beat up Seattle team. right and they come into this game the cracking that is 18 and 23 and 3 7th of the pacific division they are almost double digit points out of the final playoff spot in the western conference so the way their season is going they're going to be looking to i think sell some players at the

deadline and again with where seattle kind of is they're you know middling they probably can maybe use a little bit of a retool to try to maybe make a big trade this summer to go get a star player they can definitely, I feel like, get some decent returns for some of their forwards. You know, for example, you know, Bjork Strand, Burakowski, those are second line wingers on their team. And, you know, they're having decent seasons. You know, Berksdran 13 goals, 28 points in 43 games. He's definitely someone that can command a decent return.

Burakowski, not as good, four goals, 16 points, and 41 games. But I feel like on a contender where he can be a top nine forward, I think he could flourish there. their top point producer this year. No surprise, Pat. Jared McCann, 13 goals, 32 points in 44 games. You know, Jaden Schwartz right behind him, along with Chandler-Stevenson. Stevenson has 29 points in 43 games, but only five of those are goals.

He signed that massive contract with them over the offseason. I don't think they've gotten the return on investment just yet. Again, it is early, but he's not giving them the goals that I think Ron Francis and the rest of that front office thought he was going to. So, yeah, this is definitely a Seattle team that can be had heading into this game. For more of a penguin's perspective on the lineup, there are going to be some lineup tweaks tonight, which is some good news. So it looks like Evgeny Malcon is going to be returning from his injury.

Thank goodness because they definitely missed him. And it looks like Michael Bunting is back after missing that game against Tampa Bay. Thankfully, Pat, we can both say he is all right after getting into a car accident outside of PBG Paints Arena. Again, thank goodness that no one was really hurt. or anything like that. That's a very obviously scary situation, and we're glad that he is all right. And it looks like with those two players coming back, Matneetto is coming out of the lineup. So that's one, but it does look like Nolachari is going to be staying in a lineup after making

that really brutal mistake on Sunday against the lightning. So the lines during the morning skate today, Ricard Raquel with Cindy Crosby and Brian Rust, Michael Bunting with Hvgeny Malkin and Cody Glass, Drew O'Connor with Kevin Hayes and Philip Tomasino, Anthony Bouilliers, Blake Lazotte and Nolichari, same defensive pairs as usual, Pedersen, Letang, Grizzlick Carlson, and then Pickering Joseph.

No surprises there. So haven't found out which goalie is the first one off yet. We'll probably find that out. As we are recording right now, this will be up right around noon time, as usual for the rest of our episodes going forward between 11 and 12. This one will be up at 12. But again, Pat, I said it during our

episode on Monday. I want to see consistency from this coaching staff. Why are you basically rewarding Achari by staying in the lineup after he cost you at least one point in that game against Tampa when you need to bank points? I said it on Monday as well. If a younger player on this team,

it doesn't even matter which younger player it is, but if a younger player on this team made that mistake, he would probably be scratched the next game. So I'm just kind of sick and tired of the veteran getting the biased treatment here. If you want to be consistent, he should be in the press box tonight. No, Ola Chari, that is. I am just going to put it this way because we have had this argument a million times at this point, and there's nothing left to say about it.

No La Chari better be shot out of a canon tonight. You have been given a reprieve. You have been given, I don't know, early release, whatever metaphor you'd like to use. but you committed a Cardinal sin that lost a game that was extremely winnable for you on Sunday and you're not getting taken out of the lineup. So you better be a house on fire tonight. Anything wearing a crack in Jersey, you better be ready to put into the third row. You better be skating your ass off every time you take the ice.

You're going to be on the penalty kill because for some reason, no matter what happens with the PK, Noel Achari is stapled to the penalty kill. unit. So you know what? On the penalty kill, I better see you in front of every shot. I better see you fighting for every loose puck. I better see you in the face of every point player on the Seattle power play because you have been given a reprieve. You have been given a second chance when you absolutely did not earn it against Tampa Bay. So now that you have it, earn your spot. I don't get this anymore. I really don't. He's not. replaceable. He's not so good. He's not even Blake Lazot, who I will give all the runway in the

world to because he busts his ass game in and game out and can produce from time to time. He's not even that. So you know what? You're getting your spot. You're keeping your spot. Now go out there and show us that you deserve to have it. And hey, who knows? Maybe the fourth line will be better now that Anthony Bavillier is on it, who at least can give you a little bit of offense compared to someone like Matt Nietto, who, again, really hasn't given you offense all year. And to be quite frank, really hasn't given you much of anything. Which that goes into what I said yesterday. At the very least, now he is with two players who aren't going to be a complete and total drag on

his game. Again, I don't think he does anything particularly well himself, but since he has been a penguin, he has been shackled with guys who are drags on possession, drags on offense, and don't do anything particularly well. Now you have them with Lazotte and Bavillier, two guys who have shown they can give you some bottom six production. So it brings it all full circle. You are getting another chance that you probably don't deserve, but you're getting it with two players who might be able to elevate your game. So now you have to go out and earn it. I will say, well, even with Nietto on his line, Lazotte should be able to elevate his game.

But again, there's really only so much Lazot can do there when he himself is also shackled to two players who really haven't drove much offense this year so far. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat I are going to discuss some keys to victory for the Penguins tonight, as well as, again, taking an early look at this next big stretch of games. But before we get to that,

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And Pat, the tweet just came across my phone because I have notifications on for a lot of people on social media. Trishonjari is the first goaltender off for the Penguins tonight. And honestly, I don't really have too many hot takes about this anymore. They're waiting for either goalie to try to be consistent. They're just going to keep rotating these two guys until they feel like they can't anymore. Again, I feel like we've gotten to that point where they really can't rotate them anymore, considering how bad they've been. They obviously haven't.

But no surprise that Jari is getting the net again. I'll say this. I disagree with you a little bit on the, I think we've reached a point where neither guy is going to take the net because they have had both Jari and Adelkovich in the last month and a half, games where they play fairly well. There's one very much right in the rear view against Edmonton with Alex Nadelcovich played very well. Handful of games prior to that, I think Jari played well enough.

It's not to the point where it was early in the year where Jari had to get sent to Wilkes-Bair and Nadellcovich was hurt as well as playing poorly. The problem is you have to keep doing this rotation, as you said, until one of them puts together a string of good games because their biggest problem, and it's what we've talked about, is that they'll have a good game, and then the next start they get, they don't have a good game. And then the next start after that, they have a good game. So it's not so irredeemable at this point where you have to pull the rip cord and call up Larson or Blumquist, but it's also not good enough that one of them have taken the

starting job. So you're kind of between a rock and a hard place where it's not so bad that you've got to make a move, but it's also not so good that you've got a true starting goalie. So you're continuing to give them the opportunity. And if you get into this stretch here to end the month and you find yourself in position where you might be back in a close into a playoff spot or even in one, then maybe it's time if this trend continues to say, you know what, Ned and or Jari, you're getting buried in Wilkes-Barre and Larson and or Blumquist is coming up. See, I feel like I disagree a little bit with you because I feel like it is at the point where it is that bad and like one of these two goalies should be called up because you're right.

One usually gives them one start, but then they turn back into a pumpkin the next start. I feel like at that point, that is at a level where you can't rely on either one and you should be bringing up one of the net minors from Wilkesbury to at least give them a run. You know, Blumquist was able to do that during their worst month of the season. And even though he was playing behind this defensive group, which is not easy to play behind because they're not good defensively, he was still able to outperform both of these netminers on a more consistent basis before he got sent down. So I get what you're saying.

I just think, in my opinion, we have reached a point where I think it is bad enough where you probably do need to see if one of these goalies that's lighting up the AHL, because both are playing really well this year, could maybe give you a spark because, you're right, they'll have both Jari or Ned, they'll have one good start, but then they'll turn back into a pumpkin and then maybe have an okay start the next game.

That's not good enough. You need one of these goalies to have two to three to four plus starts in a row where you're consistent. You're around 905, 910. That type of goaltending, Pat, will win the penguins more games that it will lose them. They're just getting such poor goaltending this year where, again, there are combined 15 goals,

below expected. Like that's not good enough. And that's where the contradiction begins because you have that one good start. And you're not going to punish a guy for having a good start. You're going to reward him for said good start. We saw it this weekend. Ned makes 40 saves against a very talented Edmonton Oilers team. And then just a day and a half later goes up against Ottawa,

who he earns a second start because he played so well. And then he blows it. So you keep getting this, this trend where they play a good game, then they play a bad game. They play a good game, they play a bad game. You want to reward them for playing well,

and you're not going to punish them for playing well. So it's, it's almost a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of scenario, which puts the coaching staff and management in such a bad place, because you know that Sergey Mureshov is too good for the ECHL. you know that both Larson and Blumquist are probably ready to get on with their lives work in the HL, but because the two guys at the top aren't truly blowing it anymore,

you almost are paralyzed by this. Truly blowing it. I can agree with you a little bit there, but I do feel like for the majority of this season, again, they've low key. That's not to say that they have been good. I don't want anybody in our comments to be like, oh, look at damp. defending the goaltending. The goaltending is mid at best, at absolute best.

But it's to the point where you just, you, you, one day, you're like, okay, these guys are terrible. We got to make a move. And then the next day, you're like, well, maybe there's something there. And then the next day, it's like, ah, these guys are terrible. Then I say, oh, maybe something's there. So like one, eventually in it, I think at this point, you let you let this month play out.

You see what happens on this road trip. Does Jari or Nadelcovich grab the net? Do they string together one, two, maybe three good starts? If they don't and you can get out of this road trip 500 or better, then maybe you go, okay, you know what? We won in spite of goaltending. Now imagine if we have a goaltender and you make the move. Plus, you have the trade deadline looming.

So maybe there's somebody out there that you can sell on Alex Nadalcovich because we know that between now and March, somebody is going to get hurt. somebody is going to fall back to earth. And you can maybe step in and do that. While I'm skeptical, stranger things have happened. We can at least agree that the goal tending has to be again, so much better in the second half. As I've said, a few times these last couple of shows now,

both Jari and Adelkevich have combined to allow 15 goals more than expected. And once again, that does account for team defense. It's not close to good enough. One more thing, though, before we do head to break, some keys to victory for the Penguins tonight. You know, really jumping on Seattle early. I think that's the biggest key right off the bat. The Cracken have been really poor as of like lost five out of six,

11 of the last 15. They don't really do a lot well at all. If you can have a really good start, kind of similar to what you did against Edmonton, that will go obviously a really long way. And I think with that type of start, the game will more feel like it's over compared to Edmonton where Edmonton can kind of strike back.

at will Seattle, they're not built to come back from a deficit like that considering the lineup that they have. So a good start, Pat, very crucial for this one. I know breaking news people, good start is crucial for the Penguins to win a game, but especially in this one against a Seattle team that is really. A good start that lasts 60 minutes. Yes. I said this after the, victory over Edmonton, their effort lasted 60 minutes. Edmonton's just so damn good that their pushback was much better than what the penguins could ever imagine because they're just that good of a team. But they started so well that by the time Edmonton found their footing, the deficit was too much. So when you play a team like this in Seattle, you have to have a good start and you have to push it for 60 minutes.

Honestly, very similar to what they did against Tampa Bay. because when we reviewed that game, they played well, I would say, for 55 minutes. They were the better team. And that's not saying they played good for the first 55 and then fell off for the last five. There was maybe 55 minutes where the penguins carried play cumulatively.

And then five minutes where Tampa played well back at them. So if you can have a similar effort and you don't make the dumb mistake and you get a save or two from Jari, this is an extremely winnable game. Oh, 100%. Again, you need the timely saves from your goaltender, need the good start. It would be nice if more of the depth really contributed to this win as well. And it's not just the same faces. You know, Ricard Raquel, Brian Rust, Sidney Crosby, Michael Bunting.

I want to see maybe some more of the depth really shine in this one. Which we talked about that in the first segment. I am very curious to see what this fourth line does. Yeah, I am very annoyed with. Noelle Achari and how he apparently can do no wrong and never leave the lineup. But I'm very intrigued by a fourth line of Bavillier-Lazotte-A-Chari, because we've seen that Bavillier and in Lazot have been able to produce in bottom six roles.

Can they do enough to help Achari raise his game? I think that there is something there. And then same thing for the third line. Hayes and O'Connor have some very interesting chemistry. They seem to play off each other fairly well. And I've liked Philip Thomasino's game, regardless of where he's been in the lineup. So while I'm not going to pretend that this is a fantastic bottom six, I'm intrigued by it. I want to see what they do against a team like Seattle with this bottom six.

I like that you brought up Kevin Hayes because I don't think enough has been said about how well he's played since coming back in the lineup. He's been great on the power play, especially the second unit. He's been great at even strength. I know he's not the best skater, but he's so strong with a puck on his stick. Really good passer has a really underrated release. You've seen that on display the last seven to ten days. I want to see him continue to cook in this lineup because he's been really strong as of late. Who do I always compare him to Hunter?

Why am I blanking on this? Brian Boyle. Brian Boyle, yes. The same deal. There is no logical reason for him to fit in as well with. this team as he does, but he does for whatever reason. So he is finding his game. He's finding his stride. He's doing really, I don't want to say really well, but when given the opportunity, he's doing a very solid job. So why not let it go until it stops working?

100%. And with that, I think that'll do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. We're going to discuss what a successful week for this week is for the Penguins as well as a couple things that probably need to change if this team wants to start getting back to its winning ways. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our final sponsor, and that is Rocket Money. Did Rocket Money help you find any subscriptions you forgot about or that you were paying for twice? That's definitely happened to me. I've had a few subscriptions that I didn't even realize I was paying for, and Rocket Money made it so easy to track them all down. It's like having a personal assistant for your finances. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps you find

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money.com slash locked on today. That is rocketmoney.com slash locked on. One more time, rocketmoney.com slash locked on. All right. We're back here in this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host Patrick Tam. So, but I think a successful week for the penguins this week, it's at least two in one. You're playing two teams that are below you in the standings. The Cracken, we've already discussed how poor they've been as of late. The Sabres have been really bad this year. And I think they're probably trending towards a GM change at the end of this season with how Kevin Adams has been as GM these last few years, you've got to win those two games.

Yeah, I know one of them is on the road where the penguins have struggled this season. But you've already beaten Buffalo ones. That was a crazy game, by the way, earlier this season. But if you want to start trying to bank some points again after how awful this weekend was for you, you got to win those two games. Those two teams are not good. They're not playing well. four out of four points, I think, is a necessity there. And then see what you can do against Washington on Saturday. You do. And I look at this from a little bit more of an expanded viewpoint.

This past weekend, absolute nightmare. You had a golden opportunity up against two teams. You were sandwiched between in the wild card race and you just completely blow it. But then your schedule completely softens to end January. Seven game road trip, yeah, that's going to be difficult no matter what, because you are essentially away from home for close to two weeks. But you look at the quality of opponent coming up on this seven game road trip. And you have two, you have a really, I don't want to say easy because no game in the national hockey league is easy.

But you have an absolute tire fire in Buffalo. Nothing is going right for that franchise or that team. it's a complete disaster. But then it's the Caps and then the Kings. Two teams that have, one who has completely shocked the hockey world and the Capitals, I think we knew that they would be better. I didn't think anybody thought they were going to be this good. The Kings, they're a good team.

They are an up-and-coming team that is going to be good for quite some time. And they're just starting to hit their stride. So those are two very challenging games, but they are winnable because you have beat you have beaten both of these teams already this year. You know the formula of how to do it. You just have to go out and execute. And then, yeah, you're going out west, but Anaheim, you've beaten them already this year and they are struggling.

Seattle, you got them tonight. It's a team that's very beatable. They have struggled mightily all year. San Jose, fun, young, but not good yet. And then Utah, who is in about the same position, you are where they're not quite a contender, they're not quite a bottom feeder, they just kind of exist in the middle. So yeah, you blew it this past weekend, but you've got a lot of opportunity in front

of you to make up even more ground than you seated over the last weekend. And going with that, you know, a couple of things that have to change. We already discussed the goaltending has to be more consistent. But another thing, and we've got to discuss this a little bit over the last week, the penalty kill needs to be so much better. I understand officiating this time of year has been very poor, especially in some more recent games. I'm not going to get into that again, but you are allowed to kill a penalty. You've had one of the better penalty killing units for most of this season,

except the last seven to ten days, give or take. It's in the bottom third of the league. You know, last week, Pat, there was a time for that stretch at the end of December through last week. The Penguins were 27th in penalty killing percentage. during that just that week. You can't win games like that. I know you have a top five power play, but you need your other special teams unit

to not just crush you on any given night. And that's what the PK has been doing the last week and a half. It's been crushing them. They're giving up. It feels like one goal in the power play every game at this rate. And you need to get back to the level

that we've seen the penalty kill be at earlier this season where you were killing off, you know, 12 to 15 plus power plays in a row. Right now, they're not to think. ending zone injuries the way I want them to. They're being way too passive. They're just making things so easy for the opposing power play. That also has to change.

It does. Now, when you have a top 10, I mean, realistically, at right now where we sit, Penguins have a top five power play because they sit fifth. You, I, you can say that, all right, you can get by on special teams when you have two units that both exist in the top half of the league, which, the penguins do right now. Power plays sitting at number five, penalty kills sitting at 15. The problem is that is not a solid 15th overall for the penalty kill because it was so good to start the year and throughout most of 2024, but because it's been so good to so bad, excuse me,

to start 2025, it's dropped like a rock. So it's 15th just in the sense that. it has slid so far, so quick. You get that PK back on track, you keep the penalty or the power play humming along as you have all season long. You're back in a good position because we know even with officiating this time of year and just in general in the National Hockey League,

you win the special teams battle nine times out of 10. You win the game. So if they can get the PK back on track, keep the power play humming, I like this team's chances, especially considering who they've got over the next three weeks. Yep, 100%. And unless you have anything else to add about this matchup or this next week,

the biggest thing I need to see over the next week. You hinted at it early in the show. The depth has to come up a little bit bigger. Yeah, we are having a hell of a time watching Ricard Raquel play full petty after getting left off the Four Nations rosters. But it's got to be more than Sid. it's got to be more than Rust, it's got to be more than Raquel. A guy who I think has slid under the radar a little bit the last few games hasn't played poorly,

but he hasn't been up to the standard he was to start the year. I need Eric Carlson to get back to that dominant level he was at for a couple weeks. And that's not to say he's been bad. He has not. But we just need him to do a little bit more again because when he's humming, this team is humming. I think that's fair to say. I don't think he's been bad these last few games. I just think you're right.

I think he can get back to the level that we saw him play at for three to four weeks. Again, that will also go a long way. I know. Breaking news, everyone, that's listening to this. But that'll do it for today's episode of the Lock Tom Penguins podcast. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Wednesday to recap this game against Seattle. And of course, give you all our Warrior Helmet MVP for this last week.

Again, reminder, episodes drop between 11 a.m. and noon Eastern time every season. single day now moving forward. But again, that will do it for this one. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Wednesday.