Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins set for a crucial back-to-back against two Stanley Cup contenders

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

The Penguins western Canada swing concludes with two massive games against the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks. Patrick and Hunter get you set for both, starting with Friday night's matchup with Edmonton. While the Oilers have struggled out of the gate, they still remain one of the top teams in the NHL and for the Penguins, playing a simple and smart game could lead to success against the defending Western Conference champs. Then, just one night later, it's on to Vancouver to play a team with plenty of Pittsburgh connections. They discuss how the Canucks are a young, hungry team with a lot of talent and could present a real challenge for the Penguins. Finally, the Penguins announced that goaltender Tristan Jarry has been sent back to Pittsburgh to work on his game and they talk about how this might be it for the Penguins and Jarry as well as what has to come next. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedStill searching for a great candidate for your company? Don’t search, just match–with Indeed. Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. PrizePicksDownload the app or go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. 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.FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! 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 ( Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins' Western Canada swing concludes this weekend with a back-to-back against the Edmonton Oilers and then the Vancouver Canucks. Hunter and I are going to get you ready for those two games and more on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguin. 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. of your host Patrick Damp. You can follow me on Twitter at Synonym 4 Wet, joined as always by my co-host, the one and only Hunter Hodey's getting his hair nice and fresh for this episode. You can also follow our show's account at LO underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making this

your first listener watch the day because we're your team every day. And don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcast as well as YouTube. And before, we dive in today. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Play your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit fandul.com to get started. The Penguins Western Canada Swing is at its end, Hunter, and they've got two games to go,

a back-to-back that starts tonight at 9 o'clock Eastern Time against the defending Western Conference champions. the Edmonton Oilers and the one and only Connor McDavid. Now, this is an interesting matchup for the Penguins tonight because they have not had much success at all against the Edmonton Oilers in their last six games. They are 0 and 6 and they have been outscored by the Oilers in those six games 33 to 9. And you hear that and you think, oh, geez, this is going to be a loss for the penguins. But then you remember, it has not been the best start to this season for the Edminton Oilers. They currently are seventh in the Pacific Division.

They are two, four, and one with a goal differential of minus 13. And while Connor McDavid is still Connor McDaviding, the rest of the team around them, it has been a struggle for them to start. So this could be an opportunity for the penguins to turn some things around. Not only break this six game losing streak to the Oilers, break this two game losing streak that they're on right now, and finally beat a playoff team. So Hunter, in your estimation,

what do the penguins have to do tonight to get out of Edmonton with a victory? Well, it's pretty simple. You got to slow it out Edmonton's big guns any way you can. I mean, McDavid, he's going to get, his, I mean, he's already had another really good start to a season. Three goals, eight points in seven games. He's not lighting the league on fire like he normally does, but that's still a very Connor McDavid-like start.

Leon Drys Idol, he's also been great with three goals and six points and seven games. Jeff Skinner, really nice addition by the Oilers front office over the summer, by the way. Two goals, four points and seven games, but they haven't had some of their other big guns get going yet. You don't want Evan Bouchard to have a big game tonight. One goal, two points in seven games. he's been really quiet to start this season. But when he's on his game, this is a top 10 defenseman in the NHL. They don't call it the bush bomb for no reason with how great of a shot he has from the point.

You also want to make sure you continue to limit Zach Hyman. Heiman has had a really bad start to this season. No goals, no points in the Oilers first seven games. And I like to call him the merchant because he scores a lot of his goals from right around the area where Michael Bunting gets a lot of his goals. You know, five, ten feet out. he cleans up the garbage, gets the tap-in type goals. So you want to continue to play well against him,

like you've seen other teams play well against him so far this season too. But the main thing is you've got to somehow, some way, slow down Edmonton's big guns. Because, I mean, even though Edmonton has had a really poor start to the season, and that's the second year in a row that this has happened, this is still a very, and I mean a very dangerous team. I still get nervous seeing this Oilers forward group going up against this Penguins defensive group just because the Penguins have been more. the worst defensive team in the league to start the year.

So they're going to have to really simplify things, especially in their own end, if they want to get it done. Their goaltending, Edmontons, it's been kind of up and down. Stuart Skinner, he's not going to win you most of the games, but he's kind of just an average goalie. I think he's definitely not, again, some of the other top goys in the league. Like they'll see, you know, Shistercun, Vasilevsky, Hella, Buck, etc. But he's still at least good enough to play, you know, fine overall.

But again, that's what. what it really comes down to you simplifying their game in their own end creating chances like they have been all season but limiting Edmonton's attack because they can break out at any time even though they've been limited to two or fewer goals in five of their first seven games this is a very dynamic Edmonton team we have seen this for the last couple of seasons they are very reminiscent of the early Penguins days with Crosby and Malkin when they could just open up a game and take over it. So that is always looming over an Edmonton matchup. As for the Penguins, we found out this afternoon that Yoel Blumquist will get the start

in net for the Penguins. We will talk more about the goaltending situation as well as a couple other stories to come out of the Penguins Western Canada trip later in the show. But there isn't going to be much change to the lineup when they take the ice tonight. It was an optional skate this morning so you didn't see any sort of line rushes or anything like that. But at practice, on Thursday, you pretty much have the same lineup. Crosby with Rustin O'Connor, Malkin with Bunting and Raquel, Eller with Bolivier and Glass, Achari with Hayes and Paul Yarvey, Pedersen and LaTang, Grizzlick Carlson, Graves in St. Ivany with Shea and Pustin in the likely scratches here.

So that also means that Alex Nadalcovic will back up. up Yoel Blumquist tonight. And I think this is a really good proving ground for this group tonight. I know that we had a very rough start with these quote unquote new defense pairings, your Carlson Grizzlic pairing, Latang, and Pedersen who have played together before. We'll see if this is a good bounce back game for them. But like you said, for the Penguins tonight, it has to be a simplified game. They can't turn this into a track meet.

They will get absolutely run out of the building if they try to go shot for shot with the Edminton Oilers. And it would take a Herkulean effort from Yoel Blumquist if that was the case. And even if it was a Herculian effort, when you look at the talent on the Edmonton Oilers forward group, I don't know a goalie out there save for maybe Sergey Bobrovsky, who did pretty well in the Stanley Cup final, that's going to be able to shut them down. The Penguins tonight, you have to tidy up that defensive zone. If for no other reason, you don't want to spend a lot of time there. If you are going to give the Edminton Oilers extended looks, they are going to make you pay.

So they have to be a little bit crisper on the breakout. They have to be more responsible with getting to their positions in playing solid defense. And this will be a test to see if this team has learned anything from the first few games. Right. And I know this also sounds so cliche to say because you can say this for any game, but especially in this one, do not take penalties against the Oilers, please, for the love of God. I mean, their power play is beautiful to watch when it's in motion. They can put out McDavid, they can put out dry sidle, Newgen Hopkins, Hyman in front, and they can have Boosh just firing from the point and also being a really good playmaker.

I understand the Penguins Penalty Kill has at least been fine to start the year, but please, do not try to turn this into a special teams fest, or you will also get burned. You need to play as much of this game at five on five as possible. Though if the Penguins can get a couple of power plays, that would be nice because the power play has been at least better to start this year compared to last year. Now, you also did say that this is kind of like a prove-it ground game for everyone,

but especially I think Yowell Blumquist. He's had a good start to his initial campaign, but how does he do going up against all that firepower in that Edmonton lineup? I'm curious to see. And one more thing, this would be a. big game for Cindy Crosby to come back out of the shell a little bit and show everyone that, oh yeah, I'm still not even close to being cooked. And don't get me wrong people. He's not close to cook, but he's definitely had a bit of a slow start to the season. I really want to see if he has a

big game tonight in front of the Edmondson crowd, especially after on Thursday, you know, Connor McDavid was like, yeah, Cindy Crosby is going to be the captain of team Canada. It's not even close. I really want him to have a big game tonight. And we know throughout his career, when the lights come on, he shows up. He did this and it honestly might have been their last win in Edmonton, or at the very least it was one of their last Edmonton victories where he put on a show in overtime to beat the Edmonton Oilers with a gorgeous goal. And that was a not so subtle shot to the rest of the league to say, I know you're all obsessed with this guy, but don't forget about me. So this would be a perfect night for him to come out of his shell. And, you know,

You have to figure with all the pressure of being in Edmonton going up against the next one who, I mean, we can't even really call him the next one at this point. He is very much here in the best player on the planet. It would be a very good spot for Sidney Crosby to once again say, hey, remember me? I was the guy for a long time. So we will see that game is 9 o'clock tonight in Edmonton for all you night owls like, Hunter Hodes. It is a late game. So you'll be able to catch that one on late night TV. And do you want the box score for the last time the Penguins beat the Oilers? Go ahead.

So they won five to two. This was, I was a senior in college in 2019 when the Penguins last beat the Oilers. So Chiber Weedle scored for the Penguins in that game. Joseph Blandisi also scored for the Penguins in that game. Old friend Jared McCann, Chris LaTang, and then of course old friend Brandon Tannad in a five to two wins. So that was not the game that Crosby had his crazy heroics. That was actually a little bit after that one. But that was the last time the Penguins beat the Oilers, a five to two win in 2019. It's been a while, but no better night than tonight to reverse that trend.

We will see what they do. Like I said, nine o'clock from Edmonton tonight. But that's going to do it for our first segment. When we come back, guess what? They're right back at it on Saturday night. so we're going to get you ready for a game against what might be Hunter's second favorite team, the Vancouver Canucks. But we will do that when we return after we tell you about our first sponsor,

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playing your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game. All right, welcome back to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. and if a nine o'clock start tonight wasn't your thing and you want it to be even later. Well, guess what, friends, you've got a 10 o'clock game on Saturday night when the penguins go to Vancouver to take on a lot of old friends in Vancouver. And just like Edmonton, despite being a very, very good team, it has been, I don't want to say a slow start for the Vancouver Canucks, but it's been.

slower than expected. They're 3-1 and 2 plus 2 goal differential, but unlike the Edmonton Oilers, a lot of players at the top of their lineup have been performing extremely well. Brock Besser leading the way with four goals, two assists for six points. Pittsburgh native, sort of J.T. Miller, three goals, three assists in six games. Connor Garland, same stat line, 3-3 for 6. You've also got Quinn Hughes, one of the best defensemen in the league, a goal in five assists. So along with that, two other old friends are near the top of the Vancouver Canucks stat list. That is old pal Teddy Bluger with two goals and two assists for four points and Danton Heinen with the same stat line two and two for four.

So I think it's safe to say, Hunter, along with head coach Rick Tocket, former general manager, Jim Rutherford. Well, he's got a type. Yeah, they are the Western Conference version of the Penguins with how much former penguins they've amassed over there. And speaking of Danton-Hine, really funny story, I remember when the Penguins signed him and shout out to my best friend, Jeff. He made a small bet with me saying, okay, if he scores 10-plus goals, we'll go to this really good barbecue place and I'll pay for it. And he said, if he doesn't, well, you have to pay for it and you pick the place. So thankfully, I won the bet he had 10-plus goals that season. So, Jeff, if you're listening to this, thank you for the free lunch there,

I barbecue up in Ohio, but this had to tell that story here to start off this segment. But yes, very slow start at least the first three games for the Canucks, but they've won three in a row, three, one, and two. The biggest thing is they are getting scoring from most of their big guns, but they still need to get Elias Pedersen going a bit more. He hasn't been very good to start the year. He was kind of a bit quiet in the playoffs for the Canucks this past year. I felt like if he played at a bit of a higher level, they potentially would have advanced

past Oilers, but again, it's neither here nor there. but much like the Oilers, this is a team that you have to slow down up front. That top line of Debrusk, Miller, and Besser. Very good. They brought Debrusk over during free agency, gave him a lot of term, a lot of money. Very deserving. You have Neal's Hoglander, Jesse Marshall's favorite player, by the way. And you have Pedersen and Connor Garland on that second line.

I was wanting the Penguins to acquire Garland for a long time when he was in those trade rumors, but he has performed really well since kind of getting out of those rumors. but again, Danton Hine and Teddy Bluger, Kiefer Sherwood, you also have Pius Suter, or Piusuter, excuse me, on the fourth line, but yeah, the back end, buddy, it starts with Quinn Hughes. I mean, Heronic is a good partner for him, but Quinn Hughes is one of the three best defensemen on the planet. He can do things with the Pock that not many other defensemen can do.

He is a treat to watch. If there is one weakness that the Penguins can definitely exploit, it's the Canucks goaltending situation right now. Thatcher Demko is still not playing, and by the sounds of it, it's an injury that he's going to have to play through whenever he gets at least back to close to being 100%. But it's either going to be Lankinen or Arthur Silovs, who he played pretty fine in the playoffs. But I still think the Penguins will have at least a small edge in net there. I assure Nadelcovic is going to go for that game on Saturday. But again, I kind of have the same key against Vancouver like I do against Edmonton.

You've got to simplify things. You've got to be better in your own zone. You got to, again, keep creating the office. offense that you're creating because they're one of the best teams in terms of offense creation so far this season. It's what's making them a lot more fun to watch this year committed to last year while they're also finishing their chances. The thing is, they're just giving back all of those chances defensively. So again, if you're able to tip-of-eye, take away the Canucks top couple lines, and while also continuing to get that depth

scoring, maybe the top six also produces as well, the Penguins will have an opportunity to win this game in Vancouver. And you think back to that last game in Vancouver, that was, I felt like one of the best penguins wins of the season. They're trailing multiple times in that game. Lars Eller ties it in the third period. And then you have Eric Carlson with one heck of an overtime winner to kind of, at that point, still keep the penguin season at least a little bit alive. It was just a joy to watch.

But the Canucks, very good team, bona fide Stanley Cup contender. And I know it's on a back-to-back, but the penguins are going to have to very much bring their A-game if they want to win this one. You do not want to give time and space to shooters like Besser, shooters like Miller, Pedersen, Garland, etc. Absolutely. And to the goaltending point, I will say this, as great as Thatcher Demko is when he comes back, should he be healthy?

They have actually gotten a lot of surprises in net. Kevin Lankinen is off to a very solid start for a 3-0 record. He's got a 941 save percentage. And like you said, Artur Shilov last year in the playoffs was a huge surprise for them when it looked like that their season was going to, come to an end strictly because of injuries in net and he played absolutely lights out. So that's a huge thing for them. But very similarly to Edmonton, this is a younger team with a ton of speed and they are

not afraid to attack. This is very much a part of the Mike Sullivan coaching tree with Rick Tocke. You can see that he learned an awful lot coaching under Mike Sullivan. and he has taken that attitude with him to Vancouver in the way this team plays. And it's not just a joke that it's, you know, Penguins West because of all the connections, but you can tell that this is the archetype of a team that they're trying to build. They're trying to build off the same successes that the Penguins had when they won the back-to-back Stanley Cups.

They are a team that plays a million miles an hour. They've got a very solid depth chart. and they have defensemen that you can depend upon, and you don't have to depend upon goaltending for them. It's very, and very similar to those teams, you have a goalie in Thatcher Demcoe that you can compare to a Matt Murray when he was at his height or even a Mark Andre Fleury to where they don't need to steal games,

but it's nice to know that you have them back there so you can take those risks. You can play that high octane style of hockey because you know that you've got somebody back there that can most of the time bail you out. So this is going to be an extremely tough test for the Penguins, especially coming off what is going to be a battle tonight in Edmonton. So they are going to have to play a very simple game, limit their mistakes. And similarly again to when they play Edmonton tonight,

do not let this team go on the main advantage because they will make you pay. and that's not an indictment of the Penguins penalty kill. That's an endorsement of the Vancouver Canucks power play. It can be that good. So they have to be ready to bring their A game. One last thing I want to add adds no real analysis to this game. It's just a fun fact that I love. Tyler Myers, the defenseman on the Vancouver Canucks,

is the last active player in the NHL to have been on the Buffalo Sabres when they were in the Stanley Cup playoffs last, which is wild to me, but I couldn't let this segment pass without mentioning that. Man, I still can't believe Tyler Myers is in the league, just because he's not even close to what he used to be. They gave him another contract. He's just not that good anymore.

But hey, you know, they see something there. He does bring this eyes. He can lay the boom. Again, still kind of confuses me a little bit, but hey, it's also. Very much is another example of a player that was drafted. to be the guy but should not have been seen as the guy. Now that he's a second pairing defenseman who has size,

who can move pretty well, he's not slow, but has a solid first pass, but isn't a number one defenseman. He has been able to, I don't know if I would use the word thrive, but he has been a very solid contributor in multiple teams lineups in that role. So happy to see a guy who got all that responsibility. thrust upon him in that draft in that draft placement that he had to go on and be able to carve out

a very nice NHL career because again got drafted to be the guy wasn't really equipped to be the guy but is a solid NHL defenseman so that's another big one for the Pittsburgh Penguins that's Saturday night right in Hunter's Wheelhouse 10 p.m. on Saturday night so night owls rejoice the penguins will finish their Western Canada road trip against the Vancouver Canucks Saturday night. But that is going to do it for this segment. When we return, boy, it's the days of our penguins, isn't it? Because they are never boring and there's a lot coming out of this Western Canada trip, including Tristan Jari being sent back to Pittsburgh while the team is on the road.

We will talk about that and more when we come back. But we have to tell you about our last sponsor and that is Fandul. Hey, NFL fans. you can start the season big with a big return on Fandul America's number one sports book. So when you're sitting down this NFL Sunday and you're watching all the games and you might get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play by play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. And you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Just go to fandul.com to get started.

that's Fandle, America's number one sports book. All right, welcome back to the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. One more time, I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter, Hodeys. And boy, these penguins, Hunter, they sure are never boring. They will always give us something to talk about. And this trip to Western Canada, certainly no exception. As we found out yesterday that Tristan Jari is not with the team anymore.

He has been sent back to Pittsburgh as part of what Mike Sullivan has called a plan to get him back to his best game. And I'll start it with this. I can see the logic here. I've spoken about it on the show before. If you're going to put him through this training plan or whatever you're going to do to try to get his head back on straight, you don't want to put him through rigorous workouts in practices, morning skates, in the gym. whatever else you're doing with him, and then have him back up that night should Alex Nadelcovic or Yowel Blumquist have a poor game or God forbid get hurt.

And then you have to throw in an already tired goalie who's already in his own head. It's just a recipe for disaster, but it's hard not to look at this and think that they're maybe protecting him a little bit before they maybe try to move on from him. but if they can't do that, this to me is the best way to get him and get his head back on straight because you're removing him from the pressure of the game, you're removing him from having to start,

and you're letting him work on his game. And when he comes back, if and when he comes back, you can see if it worked and if it didn't, then you address the problem when it's right in front of you. My question is, why did he come on the road trip at all if you just sent him back to Pittsburgh two games into that trip. I felt like you could have just taken Blumenquist and Adelkevich on this trip.

It kind of just left him in Pittsburgh to have him work on his game for a bit longer, right? I guess I don't understand the logic in doing it halfway through the trip. It was kind of weird to me, I think. But I do think this kind of screams like it's their last ditch effort to try and fix his game because whenever he does make his next start, if he's still on the team, and say he does play poorly again, for example, is below water and goals, say it above expected, allow some goals that, again, should be easy saves.

I think at that point, you'll have no choice but to move on. But I think we've kind of, it feels like in a way we've already gotten to that point right now. Something is going to have to give really soon, I think with this, I really don't know if you can go through an entire season with this. No, you can. You eventually have to make a decision here, whether it's burying him in the

HL in taking that cap space and just hoping that somebody, whether this season or this coming off season is willing to take him off of your hands or whatever else. It's going to have to be a trade, I think, in that situation. And I understand his value is at an all-time low right now. Don't get twisted people. Like his value is right now. But if you can somehow, we gain a little bit of that value off of a start or two down the road.

I think that would be worth it to get that contract off their book just because of how crushing it is right now. And I think that's also part of it as well is that they're hoping that they can put him through this process and maybe mask some of it when if and when he comes back and they can kind of artificially inflate his value to say like, hey, look, he's figuring it out. But you know, you can get Kyle. Dubus on the phone with some other general managers and just say, hey, listen, he needs a change of scenery.

He's still a very good goalie, but for whatever reason, it's not working here. Take a shot on them. We'll take back what we need to take back to get them off our hands. And hopefully he can figure it out with you. I know that's not the best sales pitch, but that to me feels like kind of where they're going with that. But a couple other things reported from our good pal Josh Yohe today, both regarding defense We'll start with the first one, which is Marcus Pedersen.

He basically came out and said that he's got to be better. He does not off to a good start. We've seen it, which shows that he's got the self-awareness. But he brought up a really good thing when speaking to Josh, where he said, there's been a lot of talk about goalies, but it's really us in front of him that had been the problem. I saw a stat. We've given up the most shot chance, slot chances in the league. We have to do a way better job of that.

The last game was better, but there's still so much. much to work on. We love a self-aware king. We really do. He's not wrong in either regard. It's been a very slow start for Marcus Pedersen, uncharacteristically so, but he's also right in the sense that this team has given up the most high danger chances in the national hockey league. This team is giving up the second most goals per game on average. The only team they're better than is the Philadelphia Flyers. And that's not a good place to be. So overall, I'm happy with these comments, but he does have to find a way to break out of this fun. Right.

And we can say the same about all the defensemen, at least in their own zone to start the year where they're just not doing their jobs and also the forwards, especially in their own zone as well. They're not getting the support from the forwards in their own zone. And that's just leading to all these high danger chances against, all these scoring chances against and all that stuff. So I'm very glad that he's self-aware. He knows needs to play better. He also knows, excuse me, that they need to defend a lot better as well. And then you also did see a quote in the article from Eric Carlson, where Yoey was asking him to analyze his performance.

And Carlson was like, great. And he even said, like, yeah, I'm satisfied with where his game is. And I saw a couple of people on social media upset about that. Like, there was one tweet I saw calling him like a diva or something like that. And I'm just like, what are we doing here? Like, Eric Carlson right now, if you just look at the counting stats, he is tied for third on this team. points. He has one goal in six points in eight games. Larzellers also tied with him for six points. Only Sidney Crosby and Hvgeny Malkin have more points than him this season. If you want to

compare his start this year to last year, Eric Carlson has been a lot better this year compared his start last year. Last year, he wasn't even really producing that much to start the year. And he also looked out to lunch in the offensive zone. He's always going to look out to lunch in the defensive zone because he doesn't really play defense anymore. And honestly, he hasn't been that good of a player in his own zone throughout his career. You did not acquire Eric Carlson to play defense like Marcus Pedersen usually does, or so on like a Chris Tanev in the league, or someone like a, just going to throw out Brandon Montshor,

who we used to be on the Panthers, or someone like Gustav Forsling, of course, he is great in his own zone. You do not acquire Eric Carlson to be any of those players. You acquired him to push offense in the offensive zone and to be a really good playmaker and occasionally fire pucks from the point. And he is doing that to start this season. Yeah, did he have a rotten effort against Buffalo?

Absolutely. Yes, has he been bad in his own zone this year? Yes, but you know what? He was also bad in his own zone last year. One of the positives, at least from this season so far, to me, is that Eric Carlson has been better to start this year compared to last year. I understand a lot of people like to pick on him,

but it's not just him that's thinking in the defensive zone, people. It's basically every single one of their defensemen and all the forwards as well. That is a group stat with how many high danger chances they have given up, how many scoring chances they have given up, the rate per 60 rate as well. So picking on one guy, you're missing the forest for the trees. I'm right with you on that. And I also look at it this way. Marcus, like you, you kind of alluded to it.

Marcus Pedersen is supposed to be a two-way defenseman, if not more of a defensive defenseman. And so his start being this way is alarming because you count on him for that one exact thing. On the flip side, you're counting on Eric Carlson to produce. And so far, he's producing. And when you are the stature of player like Eric Carlson, the last thing you want out of a player like that is a crisis of confidence. You don't want him to come out and say, oh, yeah, I'm terrible. I'm the worst.

I should be sent down to the minors. I should be cut. I shouldn't even be on this team. No, you want him to think I'm the best player on this team. I'm playing my ass off. And yeah, is he bad defensively? Of course he is. He's always been bad defensively.

That's been the knock on him since he entered the league. But at the end of the day, if he's producing, I'm happy. Does he need to improve his defensive game? Of course he does. But like you said, the entire team has to improve their defensive game. And I don't want that to come off as a blind defense or putting up a shield to defend Eric Carlson. I'm not saying he's been great.

But at the very least, he's fulfilled the role he needs to fill as an offensive defenseman. And if he rounds a few things out throughout the next couple weeks, I'll be very happy with where Eric Carlson is. But that is going to do it for the Friday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We will be back on Monday. We might have a special guest that we're working on. So keep your eyes out for that and tune in when we may have that special guest. But regardless of that, we will be back with an episode on Monday.

We'll recap both of these games from the weekend and get you set for the week ahead. But until then, for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will be back on Monday.