Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins return to action against two rivals, the Capitals and Rangers

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

The Penguins return to action after the 4 Nations Face-Off break by welcoming two of their biggest rivals to town: the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals. Before Patrick and Hunter dive into this weekend's back-to-back, they talk about what an instant classic the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship was with Team Canada coming out on top in a 3-2 overtime thriller. They break down the game as well as do a little bit of looking ahead to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. For the Penguins, there's no easing back into the action as the division-leading Capitals come to town with Alex Ovechkin chasing down history. They discuss how this will be a massive test for the team right out of the brake and how it's expected to be an emotional afternoon at PPG Paints Arena. Finally, the weekend closes out with a date with the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. Patrick and Hunter give their keys to victory and what you can expect from a weekend of Metropolitan Division action! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SelectQuoteGet the right life insurance for you, for less, at SelectQuote.com/LOCKEDONNHL. Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canada took down the United States three to two in overtime in an instant classic in the finale of the Four Nations faceoff. Plus the Penguins returned to action this weekend and there will be no easing back into it. Hunter and I will get you ready for both of those games and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, 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. You can give our shows Twitter a follow at LO underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. as well as the Roku channel and YouTube. Plus, if you follow us on YouTube, but don't forget to hit the notification button. That way, you can be among the first to know

when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Hunter, Canada wins the fake tournament that was totally made up. Nobody cares about it. It doesn't count for anything. Three to two in overtime over the United States. And I joke, it was my favorite meme from all of the tournament of everybody, whether it was American or Canadian, and saying, I'm just getting my coping mechanism,

ready for saying, this is a fake tournament, it's made up, it doesn't matter. But putting all the goofiness aside, what a classic game that was on Thursday night between Team USA and Team Canada. Of course, Connor McDavid wins it in overtime for Team Canada, 3 to 2. Canada are the champions of the four nations face off. But this was, if you are a sicko like us, you probably saw this on Twitter, on blue sky, wherever you follow hockey games on social media. The deserve to win a meter was essentially 50-50. So this game was a total coin flip back and forth all night long. And I'm going to begin with this.

Jordan Bennington is making a lot of us eat our words. Now, granted, it was not a tremendous game from him. He, two of the two goals he let in, I guarantee you he wants back. They weren't great goals to give up. But in the third period and in overtime, he makes some absolutely spectacular saves that eventually lead to Connor McDavid's winner. So, well, I'm not going to say he made us all look like fools because he did not have the strongest of tournaments,

but he made multiple massive saves on Thursday night that I would say were a huge part of why Canada went home with the victory. First off, guys, before I dive into my analysis of this game in the tournament, everyone don't tell the press that Pat is mad online. We wouldn't want that, right, guys? about the loss from last night. I joke, of course. I'm obviously a bit disappointed as well

because I picked Team USA to win this game, but that was still very much an instant classic, and I cannot wait for the Olympics next year with more NHL players coming in, more country's going to be there. It's going to be a movie, and I can't wait. But I'll say this for Jordan Bittington.

He was the weak link coming into the tournament because he really had not been playing that well. I felt like Canada could have done a bit better, especially with Logan Thompson. Pat, you made that hilarious meme that you posted on Blue Sky that I was like, hey, I got to post this on Twitter. We want everyone to have this on there. And we both got some fun interactions with that meme. I'll say that. Yeah. But Bittington, when he needed to make the timely saves, especially in this game, he was there to meet the moment and then some. I will probably have a nightmare or two about that Austin Matthews chance from in tight for the next

day or two before I'm over it and then I'm ready for the Olympics next year because I thought for sure Matthews was ending it right there. I felt like Matthews had a really good game last night in my opinion, had two assists on those two goals, was everywhere on the ice. His defense was mostly good. Yeah, well, until the Connor McDavid situation, that was really pissed for. But I felt like before then, he was having himself a really good game.

Bennington just made a really nice save there, robbed him right after. Like the U.S. was taking it to Canada in a, overtime. I felt like the two sides played to a draw in regulation. I felt like, you know, they just kept trading punches with one another. No one was really carrying the game for an extended stretch. But the U.S. really carried the play in overtime. But all it takes, man, is one shift, one moment for Connor McDavid to do his thing because he really was playing poor last night. I don't think Connor McDavid was very good. Jacob Slavin was doing an incredible job on him. more on that in a second.

But if you give him the slightest amount of time and space, they gave him way more than that on this play, by the way. But if you give him that time, Puck's going to be in the back of the net. Connor Hulloughbuck had no chance. I thought Hela Buc played really well in this game for Team USA. I thought he had a really nice tournament for them, but you cannot leave McDavid that wide open.

I think they were kind of double shifting Matthews a bit in that overtime trying to get him. The chances they were kind of shortening the bench, which makes sense in that situation, but it looked like he was a bit gassed and he did not do enough defensively there, even though he is usually a very good two-way player in the NHL. But for Bennington, shout out to him for those saves in overtime. I'll be curious to see how they handle their goal-titting situation for the Olympics.

Do they bring Logan Thomas and leave someone at home? Do they start Bennington at the Olympics next year? TBD, but he was still very good. But from a USA standpoint, man, and from a hockey standpoint, this was such an amazing game to watch, such a gigantic win for the NHL. I saw people on the timeline tweeting about hockey that I had never seen tweet about hockey before. You had people like Warren Sharp for my football fans out there. He is a very big NFL analytics guy.

He's out here tweeting about hockey the entire time. You have other NFL reporters, NBA reporters, MLB reporters as well, tweeting about this game. It was the biggest sporting event of the day, and it more than lived up to the hype. Such a great game. And if these two sides want to play a best of five, best of seven, sign me up for that. And I'm just so excited for them to hopefully have a rematch in the Olympics with the U.S. and Canada, I should say, both a little bit healthier. I was missing Quinn Hughes quite a bit in this game last night.

The thing I will say about the USA Canada saga in this tournament, the two games, is as a hockey person, I think we got the best of both worlds in both games. The first matchup over the weekend was nothing but raw passion, raw emotion. It was physical. You had the three fights in nine seconds. There was all kinds of drama. Both teams were going at one another physically.

And then Thursday night, you see the other side. of the coin of what hockey has to offer, where you have two teams who are just overflowing with elite talent, playing like they are overflowing with elite talent. Because I know people have their quibbles and I understand them with Sean McDonough on ESPN, but he kept making the point that that first period was moving at lightning speed. both because of how fast the pace of play was and because both of these teams were just going and the clock was moving because we look back at Saturday night. The first period was a little bit of a slog because of all of the dustups, the fights and

everything else. The first period lasted quite a while. And then there was such high emotion in the first period. You weren't going to match that for 60 minutes. The second period was kind of meh in that Saturday game. Last night, it was all gas, no breaks. The crowd was into it. The players were into it.

In every good thing about hockey was on display, the players who were the most skilled were making some unbelievable plays, whether it were passes, deeks, scoring opportunities. You brought up Jacob Slavin. Hello world, Jacob Slavin. Because the game winning goal, was a defensive miscue off of a face-off. Austin Matthews lost his man, who was Connor McDavid.

McDavid's wide open in front. You leave McDavid there. He's not going to make a mistake. But before that, Jacob Slavin pretty much made Connor McDavid a ghost. McDavid tried on multiple occasions throughout the evening, whether it was passes, moves, shots, or just front line speed to get around Jacob Slaven, Slavin, Slavin was having none of it. He shut him down all night long. And you and I aren't the biggest fans of Rod Brindamore Carolina Hurricanes hockey.

But my God, man, outside of Zach Worensky, Slavin really introduced himself to the hockey world in this tournament. He needs no introduction. Like we see Jacob Slaven at least three to four times a year. We see how good he is. I said heading into this tournament, I felt like Gustav Forsling was the best defensive defenseman on the planet. Well, Jacob Slaven, and I also did say Slaven was right up there with him. I think those are the two best defensive defensemen in the league, though. Right now after that, with how the torment went, we might have to bump Slaven up a little bit above Forsling. Like, don't give you wrong.

Forzling is tremendous, but Slaven, man, he was all over the ice for Team USA, making so many great plays in his own zone, locking so many shots. he doesn't have the offense yet, but he is still so good in his own right, in his own zone. He works perfectly with a partner who drives a bit more offense on that pairing. And I am so stoked to see what he can do at the Olympics in 26. I felt like he was Team USA's best defenseman. He and Wrenski, McAvoy was also really good. Sanderson was good. I still want to see what this team looks like with Quinn Hughes.

Big disappointment, though, is Adam. Fox. I think when healthy when he's on his game, he is a top five defenseman in this league. He was horrendous throughout this tournament. That was really unlike Fox. He, I don't really see him play that poorly that often. Like, that was really strange, in my opinion. And you brought up Sean McDonough as well. And I tweeted about this this morning. I know McDonough, there's a lot of mixed reviews out there about him for hockey. He's really good with other sports, especially college football, and he's done some work in the NFL and a whole bunch of other sports. But I feel like for the last year, he's really fine-tuned his craft.

I felt like he was mostly good during the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, and he met the moment on Thursday. He was very good as the play-by-play announcer for ESPN. I still like Bob Wichuzkin, quite, Wabwitchin, excuse me, quite a bit. But I thought Sean McDonoughman was fantastic. I thought the ESPN crew was really good. I thought Ray Ferraro was really good as well.

Just a really strong broadcast from ESPN. and I'll close out the segment with this. I think Team USA mostly got this roster right. This wasn't like 2016 where you bought a bunch of role players who weren't very good. You mostly got this right. However, I don't mean to be a bit picky. I think you can fine-tune the margins of this roster. I don't think you need to bring Chris Kreider to the Olympics next year.

I don't think you need to bring Vince Trocheck to the Olympics next year. Same thing with Brock Nelson. I think you can bring some of these other players who are better goal scores. Like, for example, I think much, Selevin did a mostly fine job during this tournament. The team played very hard under him. You saw his system work quite a bit. There is no reason to scratch Kyle Connor for Chris Kreider.

I'm sorry, that makes no sense. Kyle Connor is one of the top goal scores in the league this year, not just among Americans, Pat, in the league this season, scratching him in this winner take-all game, even though it's just a four-nations title game, that makes no sense. You cannot do that. I just don't understand that decision.

But there's no reason to play Kreider. There's no reason to bring Trocheck. Brock Nelson really didn't do anything for me during this tournament either. I usually am fine with J.T. Miller, but he's not really playing that well this year. I think if you can fine-tune this roster, bring players next year, like maybe a Clayton Keller, Cage Thompson, who's been great, Cole Cawfield. I think that'll improve your chances of winning. I understand some people, you know, they really like the role players that they like USA hockey bringing,

and they want the team to kind of be like the 1980 team at times and stuff like that. but we're not in 1980 anymore, guys. Like, we have caught up to Canada. Like, this isn't also even 2014 anymore when, again, I've said on the show before that it felt like those two teams could play six more times and the U.S. would not score. The development program has been so strong for USA hockey that we have finally cut up to Canada. We can play with them now.

We beat them in the round robin. I know we lost them here in the winner-take-all game. But if they make a few tweaks, just a few, I think Team USA will have what takes to potentially dethrone Canada at the Olympics next year. That's all I want to say about this. I thought this was a great success for the NHL, but I had to get that little mini rant out there. Still, what a game.

I love best on best hockey. Let's fast forward to next year, buddy. Yeah, I want to add one thing to, kind of to real quick before we had to break about what you said. I agree with pretty much everything you said. I thought Sullivan did a very, very solid job with this roster. You can see what his system.

does when he has the talent to utilize it. But I think two things kind of came together for Team USA in this tournament. One, it was an NHL rule tournament. So they had limited roster space. So when they go to the Olympics next year and they are under I-IHF rules, they'll have expanded rosters. But I think a lot of those names you put out, including a few others, are going to be on the team. And they will have a much wider pool on the roster.

to use. And then I also think at the same time, because we went nearly a decade without best on best hockey, I think those Vincent Trocheck types, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, it was a little bit of it. And I think Canada did this as well a little bit too, where I think the programs kind of said to some of these quote unquote older guys who hadn't played in best on best yet. Like, Listen, you're probably not coming to Italy in 2026. So we're going to put you on the four nations roster so you can get a taste of this. But when it really matters in in 2026, sorry, guys, there's a handful of other players. We got to take over you.

But obviously, like you said, we will see. But that's going to do it for the first segment. When we come back, Penguins hockey is back. And there's going to be no easing into it. The Washington capitals are in town. on Saturday night, Hunter and I are going to get you ready for that game. So stick with us. We'll be right back after this.

But first we got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Fandul. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started. And there's no better place to get in on it than Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. With Fandle, you can place live bets throughout the game. So even if you miss the opening tip off or want to bet on a fourth quarter comeback, you can stay in the action. And if you're looking for a bigger payout, you can even combine your live. bets into a same game parlay. I love the Fandul live betting feature because it keeps every moment of the action exciting.

Whether I'm backing my team for a late game rally or picking a player to hit a clutch three, I never feel like I've missed my chance. Plus, the app is easy to use and when you win, you get paid instantly. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Just visit fandul.com to join today. That's fandul.com for your shot at $150 in bonus. bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandul, the official sports book betting partner of the NBA. All right, welcome back. It's the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick

Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And it's the return edition of Penguins hockey. We had our fun for two weeks with the Four Nations face off. But now the NHL has returned. And for our Pittsburgh Penguins, it's right back into the fire because the Metropolitan Division and NHL's second place team, the Washington Capitals come to town on Saturday. Another chapter of the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry will be written. And man, this is going to be a tough beat for the Penguins. They have struggled a little bit against the Capitals this year. They obviously got that massive win back in November, the 4 to 2 victory over the caps,

where they played probably their best game of the season. But then just before the break, they play the Capitals. They lose 4 to 1. And while the penguin, the 4 to 1 score doesn't quite tell the story, the Penguins played well enough, but the caps at this moment are just a better team. No, 100%. Washington has done such a good job with this retool on the fly. their roster is very strong right now.

They've made a lot of really shrewd moves over the offseason. The Chick-win acquisition was really good. Same with Andrew Magiapani. I really like the Capitals run office and the job that they have done. And this is a team that can really win the Eastern Conference this year with how weak it is. Like, I still think when healthy, Florida is pound for pound the best team in the conference that I would take the Panthers to be the Capitals in a seven-game series. But it will be really close.

like the capitals are playing excellent hockey right now. And we're on record watch, Pat. Alex Ovechkin might do this this season. If he doesn't do it this season, it's going to be really, and I mean really early next season. I keep circling the game at the end of the season, the final game,

Pat of the Penguin season between the Penguins and Capitals is actually in mid-April and I'll be going to that game. I keep circling and I'm like, hmm, is that when Obetchin's going to do it? Or with the pace that he's on right now, could he do it a bit before? But you're right, it's always special when Crosby and O'Betch can go toe to toe with one another. We have to see if Sid is going to be good to go for this weekend.

I don't know. Something in the back of my mind, I just get nervous because you could tell Sid was playing banged up throughout this tournament, wasn't shooting as much. I'm curious to see if the Penguins give him a day or two off this weekend. I know it's a back-to-back, and I know these games still have meaning of the Penguins because, you know, to the players, they think they're still in the race, even though us as podcastos and analysts and a whole bunch of other fans out there think that they're not and they're not going to make the playoffs, which again, we definitely do think that.

But I'm curious to see what the plan is for said. Does he come back in right away after playing throughout this tournament? Or do they give him a game or two off to kind of be like, okay, hey, we know you just played this tournament banged up. We will give you a little bit of time off. And I know some fans aren't going to like that, but I can see that happening people. I'm just putting that out there in case it does. But you look at this Caps team, even outside of Levechkin, Dylan Strom, has been once again very good this season.

16 goals, 54 points, and 55 games. How about Lexi Protoz? 22 goals, 46 points in 55 games. He has been really good for the Caps this year. Started a little bit lower in their lineup once he got to the NHL, but he is really molded into a really solid middle six, excuse me, slash top six player. He's been really fun. Tom Wilson, you know you're going to get from him, and I wouldn't be surprised if he is on the team Canada roster next year, by the way.

Connor McMichael, he's almost a 20 goal score this year. You have Pure Luke Dubois, who's also playing fairly well for the Capitals. This is a very deep team from top to bottom. John Carlson has also been great. But again, their goaltending has been one of the biggest reasons for them being one of the best teams in the league. Logan Thompson and Charlie Lingren have been two of the best goaltenders on the planet this year. And as long as they keep getting performances like that, they are going to be a very tough out, not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs.

So penguins, they have the work cut out for them in this game. I liked the way the penguins were playing before the break. I felt like they obviously outplayed the Rangers quite a bit in that game in Madison Square Garden. I felt like they deserved a better fate against the Flyers, especially with the way they played. And I know they've been off for two weeks, but I want to see if they can carry that level into these two big division games this weekend.

And heck, you look at this next week of games, even after the Taps and Rangers, get the flyers twice, get some more big games after that. Penguins fans are going to be feeling pretty fired up for the next week of games, considering how many division rivals are coming to town. Yeah, it might not be the same level of play, obviously, that we got at the Four Nations face off. But if you're a Penguins fan, it's a week of rivalries coming up. So you'll be very interested in it. A couple quick things before we head to break and then talk about the Rangers game on Sunday. what I will say about the Washington Capitals this year is they are a very balanced team. They have 10 players with 20 or more points on the season.

So they're getting scoring in production up and down the lineup. So you look at this team. And yeah, obviously Strom, Protas, Dubois, Ovi, all of them are always going to be threats. And by the way, for Alex Ovechkin, he's 15 goals away from. tying the record and 16 away from breaking the Gretzky record. So this is very, very much, this is very possible for Alex Ovechkin to do because they've still got about half a season, a little under half a season to go. And 16 goals for Alex Ovechkin in that time frame, not unrealistic.

So we'll see what happens. The other thing, the capitals do remind me a little bit of the 2016 and 2017 Penguins in the sense that they are a relentless machine. They come at you in waves. They make you play on their terms. And if you're unable to match it, you're going to be in for a very long night. So this is going to be a massive, massive challenge for the penguins on Saturday. But as we've seen, like you said, from the past couple weeks prior to the Four Nations break,

they were playing a pretty solid brand of hockey. And while I'm not going to say that they can go toe to toe with the very good capitals team, they can give them a run for their money. They can definitely make them earn two points in this one. And then finally, the last thing, I know that you and I and everybody else we've had on this show this season is pretty much an agreement that this Penguins team isn't a playoff team. But I will say this.

They are five points out of a, of a, of a, wild card spot. And we know with how tight the Eastern conference is, especially in the race to the wild card, one good week for you can put you right back in that mix. So while I'm still sticking to my original thought that they are not a playoff team, they find a way to string together some wins. Suddenly they're in that conversation. But that's putting the cart very much ahead of the horse.

But that'll do it for this second segment. It is the Penguins. It is the Capitals at 3 o'clock on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. And that will be a truly nationally televised game. That game will be on ABC at 3 o'clock on Saturday. But when we come back, we've got to get you set for the second game of the back-to-back this weekend against the New York Rangers. Hunter and I will do that when we return right after this.

But before we do that, we got to tell you about our last sponsor of the day. and that is Select Quote. In sports, having a winning strategy is everything. It's how the best teams make it to the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup final, and the Olympics. The same goes for life. Having a strategy like Life Insurance from SelectQuote can protect your financial legacy

and keep your family's future secure. Select Quote makes it easy to find the perfect life insurance policy. As one of America's leading insurance brokers with nearly 40 years of experience, they've helped over 2 million customers find $700 billion in coverage since 1985. What sets select quota part is their personal touch. Unlike other brokers that offer one size fits all policies,

their licensed agents tailor their coverage to fit your unique needs. If you're in good health, you might even qualify for same-day coverage of up to $5 million with no medical exam required, and it's more affordable than you might think. You can get up to a million dollars in coverage for as little as $20 a month. get the right life insurance for you for less at select quote.com slash locked on NHL. Go to select quote.com slash locked on NHL today to get started. That's select quote.com slash locked on NHL. Select quote, they shop, you save.

All right, welcome back. It's the Friday edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. And boy, the hits just keep on coming, Hunter, because you get the capitals on. Saturday and then on Sunday, you get the New York Rangers. And this is going to be an interesting game because the penguins and Rangers have been exchanging

blows all year long. Obviously, the season opener, the penguins get absolutely boat raced by the Rangers in one of the worst games of the season, six to nothing. Then they lose a 4-2 game in early December where another one of those games where 4-2 doesn't quite tell the story. Penguins didn't play poorly, but they also were unable to match up to the Rangers at that moment. And then the penguins get a massive three to two win at Madison Square Garden without both Sid or Gino in that game. Or they did have Sid, right? Did they have sit in that game, Hunter? No. No, they didn't. Okay, that's what I thought. Because I know that was the weekend

with the Rangers and Flyers. No, Sid did not play either of those two games. That's what I thought. Trust me, my brain is still recovering from the absolute fever dream that was the the Four Nations face off. So you'll have to give me a little bit of distance on this one. But that was a great effort by the Penguins. And the Rangers prior to the break, kind of starting to figure it out, kind of starting to turn it around, but still dug themselves such a massive hole through November and December that it's going to be really challenging for them to get back into the race. Yeah, the Rangers have been really poor these last couple of months. And you saw that on display. Like, when

I was watching that game before the break. I even tweeted about this. I'm like, how does Chris Drury look at this team and thinks, wow, I should really add to this team before the deadline in two weeks? And by the way, people, yes, the trade deadline is it two weeks from today? Stay tuned because there's going to be, I'm sure, quite a few trades over the next 14 days. Kyle Dubas is going to be fairly busy at the deadline. But they already acquired J.T. Miller. He was okay at the Four Nations faceoff.

Didn't really impress me that much. and though he has been better for the Rangers since being acquired by them, but they've still had a lot of players that haven't really played as well this year, you know, including Adam Fox who we just saw have a really disappointing Four Nations face-off. Again, when healthy, when he's on his game, there aren't five defensemen better than him, but he still needs to play a lot better down the stretch here if the Rangers want to make the playoffs.

Crider, he's been very quiet throughout this season, same with Vince Trocheck. Panering, they've gotten the production out of him. Zabinajad has been hit or miss. But it feels like some of their elite players that they have have not been as good this year as they were last year. And I feel like that's the biggest reason why the Rangers are where they are in the standings. You're getting the goaltending from Shastarkin, but they're still kind of trying to do the same thing they did with Henrik Bonquist, where you're just relying on your top goalie to kind of bill you out of a lot of situations.

And in that game against the Penguins, which the Penguins were really short-handed, the penguins were taking it to the Rangers in those first. 40 minutes without Crosby, without Malkin, they were absolutely lighting the Rangers up in that game. And yeah, they didn't play that well the third period, but they played good defensively, and they were able to keep the Rangers to the outside and really help Alex Nadelcovich in that regard. Now, I think this is going to be a really fired up Rangers team coming out of the break. They know that they haven't played well this year. They've had a little bit of a reset now. So penguins are going to have to match that, especially on the second half.

of a back-to-back. It looks like Ricard, Raquel, and Eric Carlson have returned to practice today for the Penguins, so they should be in this weekend for them. Still TBD on Cindy Crosby, but, hey, man, if they get Chasturkin once again, you know the keys, you've got to get him off his game, you've got to get him riled up. And you saw they were able to beat him from in-tight on a couple of occasions during that game against them two weeks ago. And on the power play, especially Philip Tomasino, where was that shot, Pat?

about 10, 15 feet out, beautiful one timer. That's the chances you've got to get on Shasturkin in these games. So I'm really fascinated to see how that game goes, especially after a really emotional game, I think, will take place on Saturday. Yeah, we kind of, and that's our bad on this, again, our brains are still so fogged up from what was a great two-week tournament in the Four Nations face-off.

But yeah, Saturday is going to be a truly emotional game at PPG-Paints arena because of, of obviously the passing of the great Mike Lang. You know that there's going to be a tribute. You know that there is not going to be a dry eye in the house when the puck drops. And a lot of these core players, they know who Mike Lang is. They know who he was. They had very special relationships with him.

And you figure they're going to want to go out and have a great performance in his memory. And if you have a great emotional game, in an emotional victory on Saturday, be real easy to be let down on Sunday against the Rangers team, who frankly is desperate because getting into the top three in the metro for them is probably out of the question at this point. They're 10 points back of the New Jersey Devils. I don't see the Devils falling off so hard that they drop a 10 point lead for the third spot.

And that pretty much means they're among this logjam of teams that are fighting to get one of the two wild card spots and their three points out of the second. So for the penguins, you can add a little bit of misery to what's been a miserable season for the New York Rangers, but don't let them fall too far because we kind of want that first round pick now, boys. But I mean, you're right, though. It's the same keys as always when you play the Rangers. You got to get in Shasturkin's kitchen.

You got to get them moving side to side and look for that mismatch where you can catch him on left to right, right to left. And realistically, I think one of the things about this Rangers team is they're a little bit fragile right now. They're a little bit unstable because of how their season has gone. They were supposed to be Stanley Cup contenders going into this season. They've been anything but. And those expectations can wear on a team.

So if you're the penguins, play a little bit of rat, hockey on Sunday. A couple jabs here and there. Play physical. Get in their heads. A Michael Bunting game, baby. I need that. Always a Michael Bunting game.

But you can, because the one thing that didn't really find any way of falling apart down in the last couple weeks before the break, Penguin's power play still looks good. So if you can get in this Rangers team's head, let them parade to the box. You can beat them on the power play. Hey, man.

If it keeps uping Matt Grislyke's trade value as well, by all means, I hope the power play keeps cooking, especially in these two games this weekend. I'll be looking forward to that. Also curious to see what Mike Sullivan does with the goalie situation this weekend, which goalie gets which game. That's going to be fascinating. Like, Nadalkovich also, can he sustain his really nice hot streak that I've touched on a couple times this week? He's been playing really well the past few weeks before the Four Nations break. I want to see if he can keep that up here to maybe also build up a little bit of trade value of his own, potentially heading in the deadline in a couple of weeks. But at the very least, we'll see U.S. Blumquist and Adelkevich this weekend.

And I just hope that they keep getting at least average golden game because I know that's been hard to come by for the penguins for a lot of this season. It really has. And I stick by my prediction of it. I don't, prediction is probably the right word. But my thought on it is that I think Blumquist will get the Saturday game because he has been playing games in will. Sokes Bear while Alex Nadelcovic has been enjoying a much needed vacation during the Four Nations face-off. And then we'll see Nadelcovich on Sunday against the Rangers. That game 3.30 at PPG Paints Arena, another nationally televised game that will be on TNT.

Or if you're a streamer like I am, it is on Max as well. So two big games for the Pittsburgh Penguins this weekend against two divisional rivals. Hunter and I will have a recap of both games on Monday. Hopefully we can get our good pal, Jesse Marshall, for another edition of Marshall Monday. But for now, that is going to do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you, as always, for tuning in and making us part of your daily routine. Hunter and I will be back, like I said, on Monday with a new episode recapping these games.

For now, for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always for tuning in. Have a great weekend. Let's go, Penns.