Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins pick up a massive point on Monday night, despite OT loss

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins got a massive point against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night and Hunter and Pat are here to discuss it. They analyze how the Penguins played a very fine game against the Leafs and how they may have deserved a better fate. They look at the way they started and how the Malkin line was on fire throughout this game. They then dive into Mike Sullivan's error in overtime with starting Lars Eller over Evgeni Malkin. They also discuss the power play and how it got the looks, but not the result before diving into Erik Karlsson's continued strong play. Finally, they wrap the show with a discussion about who to root for in tonight's games. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Factor MealsGet started on your resolutions with Factor, so you’re ready for the new year. Head to factormeals.com/lockedonnhl50 and use code lockedonnhl50 to get 50% off plus 20% off your next box. eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.IndeedIndeed knows when you’re growing your own business, you have to make every dollar count. Visit Indeed.com/LOCKEDON to start hiring now. PolicygeniusCheck life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.  SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARENTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON 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 didn't walk out of Toronto empty-handed on Monday night, and Pat and I are going to recap 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 hosts, Honor Hodes.

You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. joined by my host Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Sinom for Wet, and you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. Understore Penguins, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms,

and finally, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel, make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets, guaranteed that's $150, win or lose. Visit fandul.com slash locked on to get started. Maple Leafs 3, Penguins 2, as the Penguins see their four-game winning streak come to an end. But their point streak continued with this game. They are now 6-0-3 in their last nine games.

Good for a nine-game point streak. They're able to secure a monumental point in this one. They're not in a playoff spot right now, but they are tied for that second wildcard spot with the Detroit Red Wings. But the Red Wings have that spot just because they have the game in hand. And that game in hand will be played tonight against the Washington Capitals. we'll dive into that a little later on in the show. But for this game against the Maple Leafs, there's really not much I can be mad about when it comes to the Penguins outside of some stuff in overtime,

which I'll get into in a second. I love the way the Penguins came out in this game. That was arguably their best first period of the season, the way that they took it to the Maple Leafs in the first 20 minutes, the way that they were establishing the floor check, and also really suffocating the Maple Leaf when they tried to push their attack as well. It was peak Mike Sullivan hockey, which we've seen time and time again in 2016, 2017. I know it's kind of gone away a little bit over these last couple of seasons,

but it was nice seeing it come back yet again in that first period, again, one of their best periods of the season when it comes to the first period. Second period, you knew the Leafs were going to push back. That's what happens when you play one of the best teams in the league. The first five to six minutes, the Leafs were all over them. They get the tying goal. But I liked how the Penguins were able to. to weather the storm after they didn't give the Maple Leafs much else in that period and the

penguins were the ones I think pushed the advantage in the second half of that period. Then obviously in the third you get that goal from Austin Matthews, but the penguins, they didn't give up. They continue to try to fight back to O'Connor. It gets a massive goal with a little over six minutes to go. They're able to secure the point. And then the overtime situation happens. Again, we'll get into that in a second.

But overall, man, I can't fault the penguin's effort in this game. They played their absolute tails off. I think nine other times they probably win this game. For sure. Like you said, there's not a whole lot to be upset about for last night's game. Obviously, you would want the extra point to keep you in pole position here for that last playoff spot. But at the same time, you know, I was saying to you before we hit record, a team like the

Maple Leafs, you can't take a shift or two off because they're just that good and that talented. And that's kind of what happened in the second period. The Penguins took a few minutes off and the Leifes took advantage. I'm still thinking about a great win they had against Tampa Bay this weekend. But yeah, they took a couple of shifts off and Toronto took complete advantage of it. When you have the firepower that Toronto has, that is a dangerous, dangerous game to be played. Overall, though, really like the Penguins game the last couple of weeks. They seem to be finally figuring out how to play the type of hockey they want to be playing, especially under Mike Sullivan. And you would hope that things continue to break their way or they're able to

avoid any regulation losses the rest of the way out so they can continue to stack points and maybe make a push here into the playoffs. Right. I just hope that they don't run out of time just because they only have four games left until the end of the regular season. But I do have to touch on a little bit of the negative from this game. And let's go into overtime. Obviously, I disagree with starting Lars Eller out there to start OT. I fired out my take before Mike Sullivan announced that Cindy Crosby had a skate issue. So I'll walk it back just a little bit, but not all the way. You have the Viggeny Malkin right there. With the way that he has been playing over the last several weeks, why not put him out there with Michael Bunting, who

was also, again, one of the Penguins' best players. And then you can have Eric Carlson out there as well. It's just a decision that I really don't understand from Sullivan. Their overtime struggles, this isn't just a one-year thing. They were doing similar stuff last year as well. Pat, I know you're the president of the Jeff Carter fan club, but they had Carter out there to start overtime numerous times last year, which again, he's just galaxy-braining this whole thing in overtime. I get it. You're trying to figure out ways to win in overtime just because you've been struggling really badly over the last couple of seasons. But putting Eller out there is not the answer. And I'm not trying to dog on Eller. He has been one of the Penguins' best players in their bottom six this year,

if not their best player down there alongside Drew O'Connor. But putting him out there with everything on the line, with how much that second point still means, even though you got that first one, I just don't understand it. Right. I'm, you know, you said on the fan of the, the president of the Jeff Carter fan club and while that does ring true, he should not be seeing the ice in overtime. He just doesn't have the legs for it anymore. He did it last night, but last season, he was out there to win the face off for Cindy Crosby. It was just like, what's the point?

Yeah. And I mean, the thing that I will get more upset about when it comes to coaching and overtime is that it appears like they don't practice three on three overtime. So that becomes a big problem. At the same time, though, you look. at the way they've struggled in overtime in the last two years, whether it's been Jeff Carter, Lars Eller, Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Chris LaTang, Eric Carlson, whomever, they still lose. I get everybody's frustration.

And I overall agree with the point that why not just load up and let everybody go at it? Because that's probably just the best strategy overall. But really at this point, like if you're going to bemoan the lineup decisions going into three on three overtime, it's fair. but it's not been different when the big guns have been out there. It's not like you're sitting there and thinking, man, they're really good in overtime when the big guys start. Why are they not starting them?

They still stink in overtime when the big guys start. I get what you're saying, but I'm going down swinging every single time. I don't care heading into this game that Sydney Crosby has been outscored in overtime this year. And again, I know you have this skate issue. I understand. But the same is sure that I've been. Malkin. He didn't have a skate issue. And yeah, he's also been outsporting overtime this year,

but I don't care. That extra point could be really important at the end of the year. I mean, we can play the what if if the season ends and they don't get in, but I can also dive into five or six games that they blew in the third period that mean way more than this lost point. But I'm still going down swinging with my best players to start overtime against the other team's best players. That's just my mentality for overtime. Overall, I agree with you. Why not? not put yourself in the best position to win right out of the gate rather than trying to play the matchup game in an overtime period that has essentially become similar to how it used to be in overtime football where the most important play was the coin flip.

Now the most important play in three on three overtime is the face off because it's become a lug possession game. So if you can't win the opening face off in overtime, then you're kind of screwed because it just turns into a game of keep away with the team that wins the drug. So at this point, why not load up? But you know what's funny, they did have the puck off the opening face off. They had the puck for the first 20, 25, 30 seconds. And O'Connor actually won a really nice race in the corner to set up Eller,

but he fired a Cody Cici like shot 30 feet from the net. And it's just like, that's not the chance that I'm looking for in overtime. And then they never saw the puck again. Another big problem I've had with overtime, and it's not even just this year. It's last year as well. Their changes or their lack of changes. both ways are abysmal. Either they change at a completely wrong time or B, they don't know when to change because they had every opportunity when they turn the puck over to have a couple

players go to the bench and to potentially have Crosby or Malkin come on with someone like Brian and Russ or Michael Bunting, but they decided to stay out there and then they were caught and then they got cooked. It's just like their changes are awful in three on three. That's a huge problem, I agree. And that's situational awareness. I get it's three on three overtime. It's much more wide open. There's much more space.

There's more opportunity to be creative. And let's be honest, be a hero, because you can go win the game. And that's tempting, especially when you're a competitor at the highest level. You want to be the one who wins the game. You want to be the one who scores that big goal to secure that second point. But you cannot let that usurp the fact that you have to play smart hockey. and the way they change in overtime, especially the last two years, has just been boneheaded. Oh, 100%. I agree. And one more thing before we head to break and we discuss more about this game.

I do have another small nitpick for this game. I promise. It's probably the last negative thing I will say about this game. I really liked the way Nadalkevich played again in this one. That said, no, I'm being very nitpicky. That Austin Matthews goal, I want to save there. It's from too far out. You can definitely make it arguing that there was a little bit of a screen. I think Rust also could have blocked it, but I want to save there. I understand Austin Matthews is the best pure goal score in the game today. I even said on the Monday episode for the preview that his release is unlike anything in the NHL right now, but I still want to save there. Yeah, and Rust was particularly hard on himself after the game saying that he needed to block that shot. He kind of put it on himself instead of his

goalie, which is nice to see. But yeah, I also have to add that he's the best pure goal score we've seen in a long time. And he's having the kind of season where when you have it, you just have it. So sometimes the puck goes on his stick and it just goes in the net. And I don't know, I agree sort of that it should have been a save. But at the same time, you got to take it in a little bit of context. That's fair. Again, that's probably the last true nitpick I have.

We'll discuss the power play in the second segment and how I actually really like the powerplay, but they just weren't able to finish. But that would do it for this first segment. As I tease, just a couple of seconds ago, we're going to discuss the power play in the second segment and the continued excellence of Eric Carlson and a couple of other players who have been playing really well as of late too. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Fandall.

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Visit fandual.com slash lockdown and make your first bet an automatic win. That's Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. All right, we're back in this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join by my host, Patrick Dam. So before we get into the continued great play of Eric Carlson, because I think he was one of the best players in Toronto on Monday night, we do have to discuss the power play.

O for five, that's never a good. But the power play didn't play like it has for most of the season. The zone entries were terrific. The movement was crisp. The shoot first mentality was there. They weren't just playing patty cake at the blue line. They were getting plenty of quality chances, one of which Cindy Crosby won heck of a save by Ilius,

Samsonov in the first period. I don't even know how Samsonov saved that. And I should shout out Samsonov. He was great in this game overall for Toronto. One of the biggest reasons why the Maple Leafs won this game. I think if he wasn't on top of his game in the first period, I think the Penguins are potentially running them out of the building, heading in the second period.

He was that good in the first. But I liked a lot of what I saw from the power play, but they just weren't able to finish. And still, I would just like for one time this power play to finish on a lot of these chances that they got. but the process was still there, which I'm glad I can say that because it really hasn't been there for most of the season. No, I think at this point, it's safe to say this power play is just cursed because you go

up against a team like Toronto who has firepower and can actually hurt you short-handed. And they played very well. Like you said, the puck movement was there. They were willing to shoot. They kind of cleaned up their zone entries to the point where they were making it into the zone with possession or at the very least putting it in the zone and then going and getting possession. They had movement, which is something I have been harping on all season long to where I've said, like, the system doesn't really matter to me because they're not moving. They're standing

stagnant and that's killing it. But overall, I like the process last night and you, but at the same time, you eventually want that power play to step up and help you win the game. And they just didn't do that last night. Right. And it feels like I'll believe it when I see it when it comes to the power play, getting a big goal for this team. And they only have four games left to make that happen. But it was unfortunate because if they score on just one of those power plays,

I think they get that extra point and they win this game. But enough about the power play. We can discuss that for probably 20 more minutes at this point. Eric Carlson once again was terrific. He was making everything happen from the blue line. I also thought he was great in his own zone. Once again, this is the best hockey he's played for the penguins this season these past few weeks. I know I've said numerous times on the show that he has been as advertised for the most part this season.

I also do think there is some merit to some people saying that maybe he hasn't been as good as they thought he was going to be. But you are seeing why the Penguins acquired Carlson these last few weeks with the way that they've been playing. I mean, he could have had two to three to even maybe more points. with the way he was playing last night. He was terrific. Yeah, he's been great. I really don't know what else to add. He, he is looking like the Eric Carlson we expected to get when the trade happened. He has full command of the puck. His passing is next to Sidney Crosby's, I would say. Just the vision that he has on the ice is incredible because he can make complicated passes to the point.

And we saw this early in the year when he was still getting. acclimated to being in Pittsburgh, he made passes that guys weren't ready for. He was making passes that caught his teammates by surprise. But now that it's kind of gotten to the point where these guys have been together for a full year, he's starting to make those plays with more regularity. And you look at the way he battles at the blue line. That's the biggest thing for me. He is able to keep possession in the zone like none other.

And that if we were getting something like that for the entire season, this team would be in a much different position. And I said it yesterday. We're fully in better late than never mode. So you're just happy to get it now. But it's hard not to think what would it be like right now if they would have had this all season long. Oh, great. And during one of the power plays, his skating made a good chunk of one of it happened. I believe it was early on in the first period. And he was just flawless in the offensive zone, setting up numerous quality chances. But Ilya Samsona was there to make the saves. He was just, again, terrific all game long.

And you know who else was terrific all game long? That second line. The bunting Malkin-Rakel line man continues to absolutely torch teams. They played 13 minutes at 5 on 5. And when that line was on the ice, the Penguins had 75% of the shot attempts. One goal for, that was the Ricard Raquel goal. They also had 11 scoring chances for, three scoring chances against, three high danger chances for one high danger chance against. That line is firing on all cylinders right now.

Bunting has been a perfect fit with Hvgeny Malkin. And speaking of, Evgeny Malkin, by the way, did you see his skating throughout this game? I mean, that's one of the best games I've seen him skate all year. And even Ricard Raquel, I thought this was one of his better games of the years. Well, that release that he had to open the scoring was awesome. And this line continues to be fantastic for the Penguins. They are cooking every team on a nightly basis. And they have something building into next season, at least with this line. I'm not going to say that the penguins are entering the, oh, if they get in, you wouldn't

want to play them territory because there are still numerous flaws with this team. But with the way Sidney Crosby has been playing all season long now with the rejuvenated of Genie Malkins, who has found a great line mate in Michael Bunting, and it appears to have resurrected Ricard Raquel to an extent. That's a pretty formidable top six. And they can do some damage in that top six if that third line can continue to play to even. And you can shelter that fourth line with Jeff Carter and company. But I really like the way of Gennie Malkin has been skating because that's always been the key to his game.

It's the old Malkin Gallop. When he is galloping, he is bigger than most players. He's stronger than most players. and he has the skill and the vision to make that a dangerous combination. So I really liked his game last night. I'm going to continue to sing the praises of Michael Bunting. He is everything and more that this team has been missing for the last few years. And like I said, if they get in, I at the very least won't sit there and say that they're can and fodder anymore.

Because if that top six can continue to cook into postseason series, they're going to make it a hard out for whoever they play. I don't know if they're going to win around if they get in, but they're not going to go down without a fight, whether they play the Rangers, whether they play the Hurricanes. That's going to be a long series for either of those two teams, if the Penguins get in. And one more thing before we do head to break,

and we look at who to watch for tonight's matchups. I love the play once again of both P.O., Joseph and Drew O'Connor. O'Connor gets his 14th goal this season, a full-on garbage goal, and I loved how Joseph was able to get that shot. through. He had another really strong game on the top pairing. I've noticed that he's been getting a lot more of his shots through. Earlier on, before he started playing again with Crystal Tang, a lot of his shots were kind of quote-unquote muffin like they weren't getting through.

All them are just kind of getting blocked or just going wide. But lately, it seems like he's been really working on that shot. And he's been getting a lot more puck through. And it's been leading to a lot more chances. And then obviously they'll go with Drew O'Connor. I can't say enough of how both of them have been playing over the past couple of weeks. It's really, nice to see these two young players find their game overall. It does feel like P.O. In O'Connor's case, I should say he hasn't really been finding his game. He's been on his game all year, but P.O. Joseph especially has been finding his game.

Yeah, that's totally fair. I was going to say it does feel like P.O. Joseph has really started to find some chemistry with Chris LaTang, which is good to see. Because P.O. Joseph still does have the tools to be an effective middle pair, maybe top pair and a pinch defenseman. I'm not going to say he's great. I'm not going to say he's elite because he's not. But he's a guy that you can put on your second pairing and he can do pretty well.

And like I said, in a pinch with injury or whatever, he could fill in for a few games because it appears like he's really got something going with Chris LaTang. And we all know how hard that is to do. Brian Dumlin was stapled to Chris LaTang for years. And the thing with that was, Brian Dumlin's a great stay-at-home defensive defenseman. he can cover up for when Chris LaTang starts improvising and joining the rush and joining the offensive attack. Now you have a little bit more of a dynamic partner with Chris Latang mixed with the fact

that Chris LaTang has really found his defensive acumen this season in a bit of a reduced role thanks to the acquisition of Eric Carlson. So so far, I mean, I like a lot of what I've seen from P.O. Joseph the last couple weeks. But at this point, you can say that about the entire team. I've liked a lot what I've seen from them as a whole for the last couple weeks. I'm solely starting to get there where I do think this team finds a way in and plays either New York or Carolina or potentially Boston if they're able to get the number one seat. But I'm solely starting to get there. But that Thursday game, man, biggest must win of the season.

PPG paints arena is going to be rocking. But before we get to that game, there's quite a few games that are going to be played on Tuesday that are going to be pretty. important to the Penguins and their push the playoffs. And Pat and I are going to look at where the playoff race is right now and preview those games at least a little bit in the final segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Sleeper, which is the official daily fantasy app of the locked on NHL network. Sleeper is our number one choice for daily fantasy sports and especially a daily fantasy

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Use promo code Locked on NHL and get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. That's code Locked on NHL, sleeper's terms that use for details and locational availability. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join by my host Patrick. I should say that I don't really talk about a fish. too much on the show.

But Garrett Rank, as an official, stinks. He was awful throughout that game on Monday night in Toronto. He is the Ted Valentine of officials in hockey. Ted Valentine, for those that don't know, he is a official in college basketball. He's really bad at his job. He is also just like Angel Hernandez of Major League Baseball. That is how bad Garrett Rank is.

I'm sorry. I try not to complain about officiating that much on the show at this point. I used to do it a lot during my early days as a host. but Garrett Rank was awful in this game and he's awful every single time the Penguins play when he's roughing a game. So I just had to put that out there. I'm sorry, Pat.

I'm just, I'm tired of him roughing Penguins games. It doesn't matter who they're playing. He always wants to be the star of the show no matter what. But anyways, that's my rant on officiating for today's episode. Folks, he surprised me with that one. He brought that up in out of nowhere. And you know what?

I can't disagree with him. He stinks. He's probably, arguably, the worst ref in the league, to be honest. But outside of that, we do have a playoff race to discuss. And right now, when you do look at the standings, Penguins, 36 and 30 and 12, 84 points in 78 games. They're tied with the Red Wings, though again, they have the game in hand. And that game in hand will be played tonight against the Washington Capitals. In my opinion, you can make an argument for either team to win this game.

it just has to end in regulation. I do not want a three-point game for the Red Wings and the Capitals. Say the Capitals win in regulation, right? They get up to 85 points. They knock the Red Wings out of a playoff spot. The Penguins are then one point behind the Capitals, heading into that massive game against Detroit on Thursday. No matter what, the Penguins are going to have to win that game in regulation on Thursday,

and if they do, there's a good chance they could be in a playoff spot by the end of that night. Now, if Detroit wins, which again, you can make a good argument for them to just win regulation, they would have 86 points, knock the capitals further back in the race, and then all the Penguins we need to do on Thursday is again, win the game in regulation, and they would have the tiebreaker and then control their own destiny for the rest of the season. So, again, you can make an argument for either one, but what side are you on for this game in terms of looting interests for the Penguins?

I am swallowing my pride. I'm taking my peng, even though it's a Pirates hat for our YouTube watchers, I'm taking my Penguins hat off, and I'm rocking the red tonight. Because ideally you want the Capitals to get a regulation win tonight just for the fact that you look at the where the standings are. They are one point behind the Penguins with 83. If they win in regulation, they jump the Penguins with 85. But then that puts the penguins in position to jump ahead of both Detroit and Washington. on Thursday night.

And you want to see that win just to give them, I don't want to say an easier road because this is not going to be easy in any way, shape, or form. But it's going to make the math easier for the penguins should Washington win tonight. The problem there is the caps are in the midst, excuse me, of a six-game slide.

They've lost to Ottawa, Carolina, the penguins, Buffalo, Boston, in Toronto. So they are struggling right now. A couple OT and shootout losses. in there, but they have really, really fallen off. That said, they're taking on Detroit, who is also in a little bit of a slide 4-4 and 2 in their last 10. They beat Buffalo recently, but then they lost to the Rangers.

They got a huge win against Tampa, but before that, lost to Florida, lost to Carolina, lost to the capitals, lost to Nashville. So these are two teams that kind of sum up how this race has gone for everybody in the east at the bottom. nobody wants to seize control of it. Detroit could have done it. Washington could have done it. The islanders are kind of doing it.

Penguins are kind of doing it. The flyers are falling apart. But at the end of the day, if you're a Penguins fan that wants to see them get into the postseason, you're unfortunately going to have to root for the Washington Capitals tonight. That's just disgusting to hear, to be honest. I mean, I don't like saying it. I'm going to be honest.

I did not like saying it. I mean, I have my nationals had, you know, speaking of the nationals, big win over the San Francisco Giants. on Monday night. And maybe I'll take that fandom over to the Capitals for one night. But either way, whoever wins this game, it has to end in regulation. And also, no matter what, the Penguins have to win that game on Thursday against Detroit in regulation, no matter what. So that's the biggest game overall tonight. A couple other ones that we're going to be keeping our eyes on.

The Flyers will take on the Montreal Canadiens. On the road, the Flyers have also been really bad as of late. If the Canadians can do the Penguins of Solid and win that game, regulation that would put a damper into the flyers playoff hopes even more even though they're really struggling as of late and then finally the new york rangers will take on the new york islanders in the battle of new york in this one everyone i know the rangers are considered the penguins biggest rival right now but you're going to have to put that aside and root for the rangers to be the islanders and regulations so that the penguins stay just one point behind them heading into Thursday's game against the Red Wings.

Yeah, for sure. And I mean, that's a game that's going to be very interesting to watch outside of watching it for the Penguins' playoffs, because that rivalry, for the most part, is all the way back. Those teams do not like one another. So that is going to be a very fun game to watch. If you don't feel like getting out the antacid and worrying about what happens in Detroit, Washington, go enjoy a rivalry game with the Islanders and Rangers.

Agreed. And if you are a sicko like me who has to have dueling screens, please, by all means, put every single game on if you're a sicko like me, if you're a sicko like Pat, put the Flyers game on one screen, put the Islander game on another screen, and put the Capitals Red Wings game on another screen. I believe that game is also televised by ESPN tonight. So that's a nationally televised game overall. So that is your rooting interests for the Penguins tonight and what games we're keeping an eye on as the race for the final two playoffs spots. is in high gear and buckle up, my friends, these next eight days are going to be pretty crazy. But I think that I'll do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back on Wednesday for another episode of the show before we preview that monstrous game on Thursday against the Red Wings. And then we'll recap that game for all on Friday, get you all set for Penn's Bruins on Saturday.

But again, that will do it for this one. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We'll talk with you all on Wednesday.