Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins steal a MASSIVE point against the Carolina Hurricanes

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

While the Penguins' shootout struggles continued for the second time in three games, getting to the shootout was enough of an effort to steal a much-needed point. Patrick and Hunter begin the show talking about the fight, heart, and determination the Penguins showed on Tuesday night in Raleigh. They were able to fight back from a late two-goal deficit, tie the game, and force overtime. However, in overtime, they were once again unable to score on a late power play or win the shootout. (0:00) Then, they talk about the behavior of Carolina Hurricanes' head coach Rod Brind'Amour and his treatment of the officials. After that, it's time to have a conversation about defenseman Kris Letang. Despite his legendary status in Penguins' history, his play this season has left a lot to be desired, so what should Dan Muse do with his assistant captain moving forward? (14:05) Finally, it's Wednesday which means it's time to hand out their MVPs of the week in another Warrior Helmet Wednesday! (29:08)  Everydayer ClubJoin the Everydayer Club for ad-free audio, access to our group chat on Discord, and more. Use code DEADLINE ahead of the trade deadline for one month free. Tap here to learn more: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! QuoMake this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away.Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go tohttp://Quo.com/lockedonnhl. Indeed Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   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.

There are a lot of words that you can use to describe the 20, 25, 26 Pittsburgh Penguins. Boring is not one of them because this is a team with a lot of heart, a lot of fight, and they showed it on Tuesday night in Raleigh. Hunter and I are going to talk a lot about that game and give out our Warrior Helmet Wednesday Award 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. Welcome in to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet, joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L0 underscore Penguins. You can find us on Instagram at Locked on Understand. and TikTok at Locked-on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget, we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube.

And if you're following us on YouTube, which you should be, make sure you've hit the notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Boy, was it an eventful night in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday night against the Carolina hurricanes. Unfortunately, the Penguins winless streak continued as they lost 5 to 4 in a shootout. But there's a lot of stuff to talk about when it comes to this game because a 5 to 4 shootout

loss on the surface. Looks like a pretty ho-hum, easy to describe, easy to break down game. But this game was an absolute adventure. And Hunter, I hate to put you on the spot like this, but I don't know where to start on this one. So where do we even begin with this game last night? I'll do it for you right here. The Pittsburgh Penguins have a lot of fight, a lot of pride, and a lot of heart this season. And that was on full display at the end of this game. You know, Pat, I was kind of getting ready to go do other things, watch a couple of my shows.

All right, they're going to escape to a 4-2 loss here. Maybe Carolina gets an empty-neck goal. All of a sudden, Penguins make it 4-3, a little bit of lucky balance. Noel Chari gets it. It's like, oh, okay, let's not go anywhere here. And then they execute another beautiful six-on-five, Brian Rust, the heartbeat of this team right now,

with Crosby and Malking out. He now has 23 goals on the season. Just a fabulous hockey player continues to play so well for this team. He ties the game and just see the celebrations on the ice. You can see the celebrations on the bench. That is a stolen point for the penguins. It looked like they were going to skate out of this game with no points. Columbus was going to be two behind them. The islanders were going to jump them by a point,

even though the penguins saw the game in hand. it wasn't looking good. The Penguins were not getting any help last night because you and I talked about it. Tamab Bay Lightning were supposed to be pissed off and the blue jackets go down there on the second half of a back to back and beat them to a pulp. The Islanders were down three nothing and then they come back with 22 minutes to go to win in overtime. Islanders continue their Cinderella season and the Penguins were about to go pointless until they were rescued with less than three minutes to go. It was fantastic the way that they got that point. However, It does stink that they couldn't get that second one, Pat.

That's the second time in three games where you basically have a power play to end the overtime. You can't even get set up. I have no problem admitting this right now. If Cindy Crosby and Afghanistan were healthy, I think they take those extra points against the Flyers and the hurricanes. It's just such a massive difference when you take those guys off the four on three. Yeah, I know. Breaking news here, people.

But everything about those two power plays, especially last night's one in Raleigh, no urgency, the zone entries were bad, not enough scoring chances, it's just simply not good enough. Those problems will fix itself once Crosby and Malkin eventually come back. But it's just a little disappointing that they couldn't find a way to steal that extra point in the overtime. I definitely agree. I think this is going to sound like I'm making excuses. And I swear that's not what I'm trying to do.

but it feels like they almost overthink themselves into paralysis when it comes to overtime power plays because I said it going into the game last night that with all the talent that is out of the lineup right now. And they did this as best they could against one of the better penalty kills in the league, a team that runs a power kill and really does put even the best of power plays under duress. During regulation, they did a good enough job of keeping it extremely simple and just taking what Carolina gave them. They didn't do the best job, but they did enough given the talent constraints that they had in the lineup. Then you get into overtime when it's a four on three.

And I don't care how good your PK is. When you get to a four on three overtime penalty kill, you are not taking unnecessary risks. You are playing it extremely close. And it almost paralyzed the Penguins power play against Philly and then against Carolina last night to where they're getting set up and they're just kind of going to a spot, stopping, hoping to find a lucky opening, hoping to find that perfect play. And it's not there. So we're doing that a lot with Raquel there, a little bit during the four.

They were trying to feed him a little too much. And yeah, like Raquel is one of the leaders on this team right now, especially with Crawsley and Malkin out, but he's not having that good of the year. And it stinks, considering how great he was for the Penguins last year. I thought they were doing a solid job of running the power play through Chinakov in regulation. And then how when we got to the four on three, that kind of just stopped. You should have, obviously, more room out there.

you should be making quicker decisions. I didn't see any of that during the overtime power play. I just felt, again, too stagnant, just like the one on Saturday against Philadelphia. The shootout problems are what they are. It looked like it was maybe going to change after the first round. You're like, okay, they're actually up one-nothing going to the latter two rounds. And honestly,

Achinochinov buries that chance. If he doesn't sail it, I actually think they win that shootout. I think Stuart Skinner does save one of those next two. That miss, just something. up their shootout woes in general this year. When that doesn't go your way, like what else can you do? Well, let's get into that now because we're going to have a lot of other things that we got

to talk about and dedicate some time to from last night's game, mainly the officiating, mainly some coaching decisions, or I should say coaching actions, but we'll save that for the second segment. The thing is because of how bad this team has been in the shootout this year, it's going to understandably get put under a microscope what happened in Carolina. Because it's another loss. It's another missed opportunity to take what could be a really crucial point. But you look at the way they worked last night in the shootout.

They only got three shooters. They go with Kindle, Chinikov, Mantha. We've seen Mantha score on several breakaways this year. He's shown he can do it. Ben Kindle, I was ready to throw my phone at my television because, he did the same thing I've complained about on this show over and over. He comes down the wing. He cuts to the middle and he tries to go five hole.

But it worked. So he misses the smoke from this one. He escapes it. Chinakov, he just tried to get too fancy. That's the, like that was the biggest problem with that attempt. He had a man. He had him dead to rights and just sailed it.

Again, he scores there. I think they win that shootout. All he had to do was. tuck that in. And he, he, I don't, I said it last night in the heat of the moment. He tried to get fancy. I don't know if he tried to get fancy or not, but you could tell he was trying to roof it. All he has to do is tuck it.

And he wins that and, or not wins that. He scores on that and we'll see what happens. But I mean, you would have had two of your three scoring. And I'll say this for Stuart Skinner in the shootout last night. Good save on Jarvis, Svetchnikov, unbelievable move. Jackson Blake, really good shot. I can't fault him for the shoot. This wasn't like Sheelovs, who for, it seemed like every time he was in a shootout,

he just completely forgot how to play the position. Skinner got beat by two really good shots. Yeah, I also, I think was Skinner. And he was pretty hard on himself after the game. I saw a couple of his quotes saying like, hey, I'm going to put that one on me. Still, come on, man. You were the biggest reason or one of the biggest reason. reasons why this team even got a point out of this game. Remember, Pat, 4-2, he makes that sprawling

save going across the crease to keep it a 4-2 game, giving the Penguins a chance to tie that game late in the third period. He gives up that goal. They don't come away with a point. I thought Skinner was excellent in regulation. I thought he was also really good in overtime. We should mention Anthony Mantha, that back check to break up that 2-0. That was a thing of beauty. and Mantha was also really good overall. But Skinner Man, I thought he played really well. His rebound control at the beginning of the game was a little bit scary. I wasn't liking it too much.

After the first few minutes, though, really settled in, played a great game. And again, I want to stress this to everyone. That is a stolen point, a really big point also for the Penguins. They're three up on the jackets. They're still in second place. You have three out of four points overall in your last two games against Boston and Carolina two playoff teams this year. It's just, it's unfortunately that you couldn't get that extra one in overtime when you had the power play.

That's all. Yeah, they really scratched in Claude for that point. And to put a fine bow on this segment before we get into whatever, everything else that we got to get into, this is what we talked about coming out of the Olympic break without Sid and now without Gino. Tread water. Keep piling up points. It is frustrating. It's annoying that you're only getting one instead of two.

But if you keep the pace of getting points, if you keep your points percentage up high, you're going to stay in this race. And then when Malkin comes back from suspension and Sidney Crosby comes back from injury, the depth gets a little bit better. The team gets a little bit deeper. The team gets a little bit more talented.

And instead of having to play catch up, you can start pulling away. So continuing to compile points, continuing to tread water, I understand. It's frustrating. It's annoying. We all want to see this team win. But given where they are and given where they want to go, this is how it's got to be done for right now. But that's going to do it for our opening segment.

Hunter, I don't think you're going to get a pat rant in this second segment, but I do have to talk about the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, one Rod Brindamore. And I will do that. We will both do that when we come back right after this. Before we do that, though, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is our pals at GameTime. There is nothing like being in the arena for an NHL game, the crowd, the energy, the moments. Getting the tickets, though, that part has not always been so simple.

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listen, I know, I know, I know, before the comments come. I know I am a goofball sitting in his office with a podcast mic in front of a computer who never played anything more than ACHA Division 2. I know that if Rod Brindamore walked through this door behind me, he would beat me to a pulp. But you know what? That was embarrassing behavior from Rod Brindamore last night. And I understand it is a hyper competitive game.

The Carolina Hurricanes while having a sizable lead in the Metropolitan Division at this point are a team that has disappointed over the past decade. They have been a team that everybody looks at and says they're going to take the next step, they're going to take the next step, and then they never do. Were some of the calls that the penguins got power plays out of questionable? Of course they were. It's the National Hockey League. It's all judgment calls.

What I don't understand is how he can get to berate and abuse and scream and yell at an official for what felt like in probably was five actual real-time minutes and not get anything from him. don't get a bench minor, doesn't get a misconduct, doesn't get booted from the game. And listen, Carolina is a good team. They don't need the help of the officials. They are not on top of the Metropolitan Division by accident. They are not consistently one of the best teams in the East for no reason. They are a very well put together, very talented, very disciplined team.

they embody who their coach was when he played. People hated playing Rod the Bod because he made you earn every single snowflake on that ice. What I saw out of him last night was embarrassing behavior. It was baby stuff. That's what it is. And I tweeted this, Pat. I have no problem saying this on the show too. If that's damn use doing that, he probably not only gets a benchminer,

he gets thrown out of the game as a rookie head coach. I don't think the official would have. any problem throwing him out. And hey, I will say this. He has earned a level of that. Rod Brindamore has. He has been in the National Hockey League as a player and a coach for a really long time. And that is human nature.

You know someone for decades at a time. You kind of know where their lines are. You know where, okay, if he starts acting this way, we're in the red. But last night, it wasn't as if the penguins were getting away with things left and right and Carolina was the only team getting rung up. Some of the calls, yes, they were questionable. I will grant you that.

But the reaction by Brindamore was just completely just disproportionate to what was happening on the ice. Like sooner or later, you had to give them a bench miner for that. And after that, the officials, it felt like they let Robbendmore change the game. with how it was called. Some of the Carolina players were just diving to get calls, and they were being rewarded for them. Like, that cross-check,

there's the diving motion for everyone watching on YouTube. Like, come on, man. Like, some of these guys went down really easily. I don't understand how they didn't get embellishment calls. It was embarrassing, to say the least. And I don't like when players just try to dive to get calls like that. And, you know, it was because,

because Rod yelled at the officials, and it felt like they were almost scared of what was going to happen next if they were just weren't going to call those penalties to say the least. It's funny, I have some Capp's friends from back home, and I was messaging them during the game, and they even said, yeah, Hunter, this is why we hate Carolina so much. Like, you haven't seen it because we played them a lot in the playoffs and such, but this is what they have done before. And I was like, well, this is only the first time I'm really seeing it. just they haven't really done this it feels like against the penguins a lot but last night i was like

rod come on man you're acting like a baby on the bench i don't know how you don't get a minor there then your team just starts diving for calls i don't respect that i do think the penguins were taking it to the hurricanes for a good portion of this game i thought overall pat the first 10 minutes all carolina they were steamrolling them right off the ice the penguins though they pushed back in the back half of the first period all started because of that kindle shift in the offensive zone. He dragged the rest of the team back into the fight. They blitzed them in the final half of the first. They played a very professional, very good 20 minutes in the second period. And then Carolina blitz them for most of the third. So if you want to add all of that up, 30 minutes each right there.

And I thought that's one of the biggest things. To me, I'll give this right back to you. They showed to me that they can play with this team. They really can. Like in years past, they've been outskated, badly outplayed by this team and you can tell right away. This year through two games, they can play with this team and they can skate with them. This is why I'm glad that we do this show after the fact and not like a live stream or a watch along because now looking back, because I'm sitting at home. I'm watching the game last night. I'm watching that first period, the first 10 minutes.

I'm thinking, geez, like Stuart Skinner is the only one who decided to show up in Ralee tonight because, but then now that we have the entire game behind us, this was just two good teams trading punches. This was two good teams going at it. You said it. It was about a 30, 30 split in regulation. The Carolina hurricanes had 30 minutes of really good hockey. The penguins had 30 minutes a really good hockey.

If I really wanted to break it down, I would maybe say 25, 25 each. And then it was five minutes of a stalemate each to where they were going back. and forth. And you're right. The other thing I texted you about last night that I noticed in the second period, and this kind of goes into what I was saying about Brindamor, for the second period, the penguins punked the Carolina hurricanes. They were goading them into everything after the whistle. They were goading them into taking penalties. They were goading them into wanting to take liberties with everything the penguins did. And to your point, that's the penguins telling the hurricanes, we aren't scared to you.

We know you're good. We respect the fact that you're good. But if you think we're going to back down just because you got a big lead in the metro, think again, we are going to battle our asses off right along with you. And again, I'll toss this back off to you for any other thoughts you might have from last night's game. What I noticed out of last night's game more than anything is that if this team, gets healthy, continues their level of play, or at least something comparable. I feel incredibly safe in saying that I think this team is a playoff team.

Just the way they've hung with some of the better teams in the league. Now, obviously, this month can go completely haywire. They might not get healthy. They might get more injured because it's the Pittsburgh Penguins. And we know that they love getting bit by the injury bug. But you look at the way they've played since returning from the break. This is a team that was rested, a team that was ready, and most importantly, it is a team that is motivated. They're in all these games, and there's a certain level of confidence that is just beaming throughout this locker room, spills out onto the ice, and everyone is playing for one another.

There's all the heart, there's all the pride, there's all that fight. Everyone is having a blast out there. And again, this team continues to play such confident hockey. I know they've been losing a little bit more than one. winning as of late. But the more important thing is they're at least getting points in most of these games. They're staying afloat. Yeah, Columbus has been hot.

Islanders have been hot. You know what? As of right now, the Penguins are still ahead of both teams and they still have that game in hand on the Islanders. Fagney Malcon is set to come back in five days. Sidney Crosby could come back as soon as tomorrow against the Golden Knights. It looks like he's really ramping it up in terms of his return. You get those two guys back.

Let's have some fun for the rest of this month. And it's April. Hopefully, Justin Brzo gets back sooner rather than later. Sam Gerard, I think the third pair really missed him last night. And this leads me to my final thought about this game, Pat. Chris LaTang needs to be so much better. And I am really concerned about his level of play right now. He is one of my all-time favorite penguins.

He has been through hell and back throughout his career. He's the greatest defenseman in the franchise. history. He has done everything for this organization. He needs to wake up down the stretch here. His play lately is simply unacceptable. And I know he's a lot older now. Again, he's been through Hellen back. His skating is just not there. He's not making quick and simple decisions. Even now that he's back with Ryan Shared the last couple of games, I'm just not seeing that mistake-free, simple hockey that I was seeing when he was paired with Brett Kulak. It has not been good, man.

Yeah, I saw Red, just like Rod Brindamore did when I went through that segment that I almost completely biffed our rundown here where it said, let's talk letang. But to your point, I agree. I mean, listen, I said it on social last night. I kind of furthered something our pal Adam Gretz said about basically, you know, there's all this talk about 87 and 71 and hurt feelings. and what to do. I know they won't because it's not something Kyle Dubus does. He has explicitly said it's something he doesn't like to do. But man, like I would not be against exploring a buyout for Chris LaTang.

Just because it only costs you about $3.25 million against the cap the next two years and then about 1.4, the two after. And with how high the salary caps go, with where the penguins are, that's a cost I don't think would be that prohibitive for them. And again, I don't want this to come off as me saying he stinks. This isn't me coming off saying his reputations tarnished, but he has become a genuine liability on the blue line as of late. And I'll finish it with this because this is going to be a little bit of a, I don't know

if it's optimism, but it's definitely something to keep in mind, something to kind of put the perspective on it, this is part of what happens in this kind of rebuild because he played his best hockey with Brett Kulak. He traded Brett Kulak for a premium pick and a better defenseman, somebody who better suits what they want to do. That comes at the cost of Chris Lattang's game, but as we have talked about on this show, as much as that sucks in the immediate, as much as that hurts right now, Kyle Dubus's job is to see the 10,000 foot view.

His job is to plan for the next 10 years, not the next 10 games. So I don't know what they're going to have to do to get him back in action. I don't know if it's an even more of a declined role, putting him on, say, a third pairing and limiting his usage. But until the guy finds that stride he had with Brett Kulak, it is genuinely difficult to see him on the ice and high leverage moments because the big things he did well, he just simply can't do anymore. And it stinks to say all this because again, he's a franchise icon.

He is a legend through and through. It just stinks that one of your favorite players of all time has just, his game has just gone so downhill. And this happens to everyone in sports pat. Father time is undefeated. comes for everyone. It just thinks that it's happening right now when they're in the fight for their lives to get into the playoffs. That's also a big thing for me. And again, I really want his game to turn around, but the skating's not there. He's not driving offense. The decision making

is really poor. He's not defending well in his own zone. Everything with his game needs to be so much better. And I hope it does turn around again. I love this guy. But man, it's a tough watch for him out there. It really has been, but that's enough depressing stuff for this episode. It is Wednesday. That means it is time once again to hand out our MVP of the week as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday. And we will do that when we come back right after this. But we've got one more sponsor to get to and that is Quo. Spring is a natural reset point. And if there's one thing that can quietly cost businesses money, it's messy communication. Mist calls, scattered texts, no clear threat of who said what.

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Quote, no missed calls, no missed customers. All right, we're closing out the Wednesday edition of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm Patrick Damp. That's Hunter Hodes. Thank you so much for hanging with us on a jam-packed Wednesday edition of Locked on Penguins. And as we do, every single Wednesday, we hand out our MVP award in what we call Warrior Helmet Wednesday. If you're new here, this is us paying homage to the 2016 Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins,

which we're going to be celebrating that 10-year anniversary here pretty soon, Hunter. That's pretty freaking crazy to think about. But if you know about that team after victories throughout the regular season and into the playoffs, the team would hand out their player of the game after wins with a warrior helmet. So that's what we do here. And this was a really difficult week to pick an MVP for the Penguins because despite the injuries, despite the results, despite everything else, a lot of contributors this week.

And Hunter, because it is our award and we made it up and the rules are whatever we decide they are, you go ahead and tell the people who get your warrior helmet for this week. So yeah, I'm going to change mine up a little bit this week. I'm going to get half to one player and then half to another player because I felt both these players were the two best Penguins players for this past week. The first half goes to Igor Chinokov, a goal in four assists for five points in three games. He has been exceptional in all three zones. He made that overtime goal happen against Boston before setting up that beautiful goal

to Brian Rust on the Power Play to make it a 2-1 game in Raleigh on Tuesday night. The vision that he displayed there was awesome. I think his skating has also been great. He's getting countless chances. He almost won the game 17 seconds into overtime as well. Freddie Anderson had to make a really nice save there. He has been fantastic. Even without Evgeny Malkin, who we all know those two are so in sync when they're playing together.

He has been great. Second half, Eric Carlson, also a goal and four assists. for five points in three games. With Crystal Tang really struggling and a lot of the blue line as well, not playing particularly on their A games. Like even Parker Wathers, but I feel like is really not played well

the last few games and that's going to change. I think he's had a really good season, but last week hasn't been that strong. No, Soloviov has been fine. You know, I like Connor Clifton, fine enough outside of yesterday. I felt yesterday wasn't really his strongest game. Eric Carlson has been by far the best defenseman

on this blue line, not just this last week, but for this season. He is doing everything possible to carry the load for the penguins in these stretch games without Crosby, without Malkin. He has been fan-fricking-tastic, man. His skating has been marvelous. His decision-making has been also really good. The way that he has back-checked in his own zone to get to loose pucks, who look like he's going to be beaten, that has also been great.

I can't say enough about how well Carlson has played over the last week. So both Carlson and Chinokov get my warrior helmets for this week. Yeah, I mean, I'll add this real quick before I get to mine. Chinikov has maybe been the Penguins best player in the last week. Like genuinely their best player, not just having himself a really good week. He has really, he has blossomed into a pretty complete player with the Penguins. We love the goal scoring. We love the offense.

We love the shot. but he has shown he can play in all three zones, at least recently, and that's a huge development for this team. And you're right about Carlson. He has been doing everything he can to keep this team afloat amid the injuries, and he has done a pretty damn good job at that. But for me, I am picking a different one. So if you're watching us here on YouTube, it will get spoiled.

But I am taking Anthony Mantha for my warrior helmet this week. While the week started a little bit quiet for him, no points against Buffalo or Philadelphia, two goals against Boston, a goal against Carolina. And he was a menace against Carolina last night. This is a bit of a recency bias warrior helmet for me. But his game last night, whether it was back checking, blocking shots, score and a goal, creating offense. He had himself a really good game.

a really good game against Boston as well. And I joked about this. I do think at the end of the year, at the end of the regular season, if this season continues to go the way it's going, Dan Mews should get Jack Adams considerations. Kyle Dubus should get general manager of the year considerations. And if for no other reason,

he should get that GM of the year consideration for Anthony Mantha, who is hitting career highs at age 31, after knee surgery, got him on an unbelievably affordable deal, took that chance, and he has been so good for the Pittsburgh Penguins. So he gets mine for this week, really good two games to end the last week, and he has been one of the Penguins' steadiest soldiers all season long. Now, let's take a look at the tracker for this season. Leading the pack with Five Warrior Helmet Awards is Captain Sidney Crosby,

right behind him with four is of Gennie Malkin. Anthony Manta joins Justin Brzo and Eric Carlson with three on the season. With two, we've got quite a long list. Kyle Dubus, Avery Hayes, Ben Kindle, Dan Mues, Sergey Murashov, and Artur Sheelves. And with one, Igor Chinikov, Connor Dewar, the special teams units, and Stuart Skinner. We're keeping track of it because as we do, at the end of every season, season. We do our recaps. We do our awards. And this year, we're going to add in a year-long Warrior Helmet Wednesday award for our Warrior Helmet player of the year. But that is going to do it

for the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you again for hanging with us on what was a jam-packed Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Hunter and I will be back on Thursday because we got late night hockey coming back. We'll get you set for the penguins and the Vegas golden nights on Thursday and cover any other news that might happen between now and then. So for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you again for tuning in and we will talk to you on Thursday.