Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins SWEEP the western road trip with a win over Vancouver!
Episode Date: January 26, 2026The Penguins got their first 4-game western road swing sweep since 2018 with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks! Patrick and Hunter begin the show recapping the Penguins' fourth-straight win, this t...ime against the Canucks. A lot of the victory could be attributed to the play of Stuart Skinner, who saved the Penguins' bacon several times throughout the game. Skinner moves to 7-1 as the Penguins' goalie and continues to make his case to be the full-time starter. Along with Skinner's solid play, it was another great performance from rookie Ben Kindel, who broke his goal-scoring drought with a two-goal night in front of more than 150 friends and family. (0:00) A downside of the game on Sunday was a play late in the game by Bryan Rust. Rust's dirty hit should probably get him a call from the Department of Player Safety. They also go over a disallowed goal, the play of the second line, and much more. (13:18) Finally, they get you set for a light week ahead, where they'll welcome the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers to PPG Paints Arena for two games that can solidify their spot as a playoff team. (26:00)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedon right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So before tip-off, check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. A little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy.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.
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For the first time in the history of the locked on penguins podcast, the Pittsburgh Penguins have swept a Western Canada road trip.
Hunter and I are going to break down the win over the Vancouver Canucks as well as get you set for what is going to be a bit of a light week for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
All that and more 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.
A very happy snowy Monday to all of you here in Pittsburgh and welcome back 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 4 Wet, joined as always by my partner in crime, 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
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As I said in the open, first and foremost, hope everybody is safe,
hope everybody is staying warm in what was a pretty crazy snowstorm here in Western
Pennsylvania and a lot of the East Coast.
Hope everybody's doing all right.
And thank you again for taking time out of your day to talk some hockey with us.
But according to the preeminent Penguin's historian, the one of the one,
and only Bob Grove. For the first time since 2018, the Penguins have swept a Western trip that
included most or all of Western Canada. On October 18th through the 27th in 2018, the Penguins
swept a four-game trip of Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, and then Vancouver. This time,
substitute out Toronto for Seattle. So it is a true four-game Western swing. The Penguins got a
pretty interesting three to two victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
And Hunter, let's just begin for those who are watching us on YouTube,
if they're looking at the rundown with the man between the pipes.
Stuart Skinner deserves a ton of credit for that victory.
I said it before we hit record.
This was a weird game in Vancouver, and it's kind of a game that exists in three chapters
across three periods.
The first period,
the penguins didn't play well,
but they also didn't play poorly.
On the other side of the ice,
Vancouver looked like they had zero interest in being there.
The second period, kind of a 50-50 period.
The penguins played pretty well.
Vancouver hung with them as well as they could,
given their restraints.
And then the third period was all Vancouver.
And Stuart Skinner did his best
to make sure the penguins got out of there
with a clean two points.
So Skinner, I believe, is where we got to start another fantastic performance by him.
Yeah, you know, before we get to Skinner, I do want to say credit to Vancouver for really
pushing in the third period because they didn't have too much in the first 40 minutes.
They pushed back a little bit at times.
But for the most part, they weren't very good.
But they really turned it on in the third.
They probably should have tied it with less than a minute to go.
That team has been through hell and back this year.
lost quite a few games over the last few weeks.
So I do want to give Vancouver for making this a game in the third.
But that saved by Skinner with less than a minute to go on Besser looked pretty familiar,
didn't it, Pat?
It sure did look like the Mark Andre Fleury Secret Service save from the dying seconds of game
seven of the 2009 Stanley Cup final.
Unbelievable saved by Skinner.
100%.
And he continues to play at such a high level for the Penguins.
And I'll admit this man.
When he was coming back in the trade, I was like, eh, he's inconsistent.
I don't think he's going to be that good.
Man, I was dead wrong on that because over the last month,
he's been one of the best goaltenders, not just in the Eastern Conference, but in the NHL.
7 and 1 record, 1.63 goals against average 9.34 save percentage.
He saved the Penguins in the third period of yesterday's game.
I think every member on that team owes him at least one steak dinner, if not five.
the saves that he was making in tight in the final minute or two were absurd.
And I thought at the beginning of the game, he was also making a couple of really nice saves.
He was just very steady throughout.
And I think a big part of the reason why you're seeing him play at a higher level,
at least to me, he's in an environment where there's not as much pressure to win.
In Edmonton, you know, you're a bona fide cup contender trying to get McDavid his first cup.
Now that he's away from that high pressure environment, he's able to really settle in with his new team.
expectations aren't as high
and he can just get to his game a bit more
and you're seeing that it does help that the penguins
for the most part have been playing better
defensively in front of them
excuse me than the Oilers do except yesterday
of course where the penguins gave up
way too many great A looks especially in the third period
but you know he just looks very comfortable
in net all of his teammates trust him
and he is playing at a very high level
right now. I will say this
about that point
I don't want to make this sound like the penguins are some brilliant defensive squad because they aren't.
But they have been, for the most part this season, at least solid defensively.
You compare that to Edmonton.
The Edmonton are very, the Edmonton Oilers are very much like the 90s, early 90s, late 80s penguins where they are, for my wrestling fans out there, they are Jacob Fatu, all gas, no breaks with it.
they don't play a lot of defense and Stuart Skinner was often a victim of that.
The penguins for the most part since they got Stuart Skinner have played mostly solid defensive
hockey. I wouldn't put it up as tape for teams that play great defensively, but it's passable.
So I do think that helps him out quite a bit.
And just overall, you look at the way the penguins have won, the way the penguins have played
since getting Stuart Skinner.
There is a lot of credit that needs to go to him
because they have been fueled by, at least lately,
really good goaltending performances,
which in the past few years,
hell, I'll even say the last six years since about 2019,
a lot of their failings could really be pointed back to
they weren't getting big saves,
they weren't getting timely saves,
the goaltending was wholly inconsistent.
Now,
I was always making fun of the Oilers for that, man.
Like, oh, they're just going to keep running it back with, you know, Skinner and Pickard.
Like, that seems like a bold strategy.
But, you know, now he's here.
He's playing some of the best hockey of his life.
Yeah, he really is.
So he does deserve a lot of credit.
Another player who deserves a lot of credit for yesterday.
And to our friend who wrote us on Friday for Fan Take Friday, Sarah, who was a little bit worried
about Ben Kendall's scoring drought.
it's over and he made it over in style.
The first goal was just great hockey IQ.
He gets to the front of the net,
leans on his stick so he gets the leverage and just taps it right in.
The second goal, good Lord Ben Kindle got all of that,
shattering the net cam for good measure.
And in front of more than 180 people who were there to watch him,
he puts on quite a show.
If my notes are correct, there was
192 friends and family
there to watch him for that game.
That is awesome.
Just putting that out there,
that is spectacular.
And yeah,
this was one of his best games
of the season.
That first goal,
going to the front of the net,
getting his stick on the puck.
That's great.
The release after Justin Brazzo
did a really nice job,
winning that puck battle
along the right side of the blue line
and then getting the puck to Kendall.
He makes no mistake.
He now has double-digit goals
for his rookie season.
And again, this is why I wasn't concerned about his goal drought.
This happens for young players,
especially players who are, you know, 18 or 19.
But even outside of that,
the rest of his game has still been very good.
His hockey IQ has been there.
His defensive acumen has been there.
We saw that on display multiple times in this one,
the way that he was able to win some puck battles along the boards
and not only steal the puck,
but get it out of trouble using his skating ability to do that.
in transition as well. Just all of that is great. His playmaking has also been really strong as well.
He's been seeing the ice well. I haven't been concerned about it. Like I figured the goals were going
to come at some point. And when they do, I think they're going to come in bunches. I think you saw the
start of that last night in Vancouver. Wouldn't be surprised if you see him, you know, get another one
against Chicago and then the Rangers later this week. More on those two games a bit later on in the show.
But I wasn't concerned about it for numerous reasons. And I love that.
he was able to put on a show in front of all of his friends and family.
He continues to play so well on the third line with Anthony Nanta and Justin Brzoe.
Just a great game from him.
And he got credit for the game winning goals.
So yeah, fantastic stuff from him, man.
It was another really good game for Kindle.
I mean, even if you take away the two goals, he just had another solid game where he played
a really good two-way game.
He was responsible defensively.
He was making really good passes.
And just genuinely a solid player.
And I'll just echo what you said.
For him being 18 years old and being this far ahead is a really encouraging sign.
And the way he plays the game mixed with being 18 years old, the goals are going to come in fits and spurts.
He's going to go a couple weeks without scoring.
He's going to score in consecutive games or a couple times in a week.
and then he'll go right back to kind of be in a goal drought.
But that's the process of being an 18-year-old first round pick
who wasn't picked within the top five.
So many other things about his game are just passing every test they need to pass.
So another great game by him.
But we have got a whole heck of a lot more to talk about with this game,
including some officiating, as well as one of the Penguins,
key players might be getting a call from the Department of Player Safety. We'll get into that
when we come back right after this. Before we do that, though, we've got to tell you about today's
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Back here on the Monday edition of Locked on Penguins, I'm Patrick Damp right along,
side Hunter Hodes. Let's just dive right into it, Hunter. I got a feeling that Brian Rust
is going to be getting a call from the Department of Player Safety late in the game. He comes flying
in, catches Besser with an elbow. And there are no two ways about it. There is no gray area here.
That was a dirty, dirty hit. Yeah, Russ knows better. He can't be doing that there. I definitely
that he's going to get at least a call from the Department of Player Safety, which, yes, people,
it does still exist, even though you haven't seen it too often.
It feels like this season, even though there's been a whole bunch of other controversial hits
and all that other stuff throughout a season.
But, yeah, I would not be surprised if he gets a one-game suspension for this.
Pat, he doesn't have a history, which I think could help him in that regard.
But I still would not be surprised if he gets a game for that.
You just, you can't do that at all.
No.
It's, it's really that there's no two ways about it.
Like I will say a lot of us, whether it's here on this show, fans of any team, there are often moments and hits like that where there's debate, whether it's good faith or not, there's some gray area.
There's some ways you can talk yourself into.
Oh, it wasn't that bad.
this was as clear cut as it gets.
It was a macho man, Randy Savage.
There's two wrestling references for the show today.
Flying elbow from the top rope by Brian Rust.
Right.
You really, you can't do that.
It might help him a little bit that he's got a clean history with the Department of
Player Safety.
He's never been suspended.
I tried to look up if he's ever been fined.
I don't think that he has.
But at the end of the day, you go headhunting with your elbow.
it's it's pretty cut and dry i wouldn't be shocked to see him get a game suspension for that and he might
i feel bad for best for two because rquel hit him from behind as well so he got like double duty there so
i feel really bad for him i hope he's all right but again russian know better there wouldn't be
surprised if he gets the game we'll see how the dops sees it the other thing that we should
really get into here for a little bit uh about sunday's game the
disallowed goal for former penguin Teddy Bluger.
I said it to you before we recorded.
I was very much 50-50 on this.
Like, you could have convinced me either way that it should have stood or that Hunter's best friend,
Garrett Rank, got it right.
But here's how I described it to you before we hit record.
I think letter of the law, the way the rule is written,
the officiating crew got it correct.
It was in the crease.
It was very much goaltender interference.
So they got it right.
But I also look at it the other way too where this happened at the very tippy top of the crease.
The contact was kind of around the same time as the puck was coming through to Bluger.
So if they would have let it stand, if they would have let it stand, I'll say it this way.
if they would have let it stand,
I probably wouldn't have been that upset,
but at the same time,
they got the call right.
They definitely did get the call right.
I don't think it was really 50-50 at all.
I'm just surprised that Garrett Rank of all people actually did get the call right.
But yeah,
Bluger, he comes into the blue paint, unimpeded.
He's not being pushed by anyone,
runs into Skinner.
Was the contact light?
Yes, but that is still goaltender interference.
You cannot make contact with the goal.
in any way, shape, or form in that situation,
especially when you're not being pushed into him or anything like that.
So they got that call right.
Also, Pat, the Chinakov disallowed goal, very much the right call.
Offside, the refs got both of those.
And that one wasn't even by like a millimeter or something.
No.
Like, who, yeah, he is off sides.
Yeah, I don't like some of those offside challenges just because I hate that we sometimes
take away goals for like players that are 10 bill a millimeter offside.
that one was clear and cut.
Like that was very obvious that the pegwoods were offside there.
So no problem with that one.
And then the blue one,
yeah, man, like you can't run into a goalie unimpeded,
you know, when he's sitting in the blue paint.
That's 100% the right call.
And one more thing, Damus did confirm after the game that it sounds like
if Gennie Malkin is okay.
Did you see that clip pat where it looked like Anthony Nanttha just tapped him on the shoulder
and Malkin went down to look like in a heap of pain,
didn't look good, but Demi's did confirm that it looks like he is all right.
So who looked bad.
Didn't look good.
So hopefully that is the case that everything is okay because he scored again yesterday.
He continues to play so well on that second line.
Him and Novak continue to have such great chemistry.
I also love the chemistry that he's building with I Orchinokov,
who I think also had another really good game.
They cannot afford to lose Afghani Malkin right now, man.
No, that second line has been far in a while.
way their best line the last few weeks.
Novak, Malkin, Chinakov has been in even into yesterday, despite that being a bit of a
trap, trouble, whatever you want to call it kind of game, they were steady all night long.
It's, it's a little, it's a little sad they weren't rewarded more for how well they played.
Those three just have unbelievable chemistry together. Shout out to Gino for telling the coaching staff
in management after what a game and a quarter of Tommy Novak before he got hurt and was out
for the rest of the season last year. He was like, yeah, I want to play with that guy.
Looks like he was right because they are getting along to get along very well.
And I'll keep saying it. You can talk about the goals. You can talk about the shot all you want.
It's all the other stuff for me for Igor Chinikov that is standing out. He is one of the, if not
the fastest skater on the penguins right now.
He plays with such a high hockey IQ,
especially in the offensive zone.
He knows how to get the scoring areas.
He knows how to put himself in a position to score.
He has just been really, really good since he became a penguin.
Yeah, I'm loving the way he's playing right now, man.
I mean, he was closer scoring a couple other times.
Last night as well, the puck just continues to explode off of his stick.
He's been such a great fit on that second line.
They should not be looking to tinker slash tweak at all with that line.
Just considering, you know, he's a sniper on that line of getting him all can.
He can still shoot the puck.
Tommy Novak's release is underrated.
But for the most part, you know, those guys are such great distributors of the puck.
They feed off one another so well.
And then you have the pure sniper on there that can bury literally any puck out there in the offensive zone.
They're all just humming right now.
And again, I just can't say enough about Chinov.
One other thing that we got to keep an eye on here as we,
get ready for the rest of the week, which we will talk about here to close out the show.
But Jack St. Ivany does appear like he is going to miss some time, left the first period with a hand injury.
And that's a bit of a loss because I do think, you know, as much as we will talk about the bottom bearing,
kind of be in deck chairs on the Titanic, him and Ryan Shea have been finding a groove.
They have been finding a way to play well together.
and I've said it before on the show.
That pairing has had success in the past.
And I think I'm not going to sit here and pretend like they have been,
oh, so good and tremendous.
And it's not like the second line where we're like,
you can't break that up.
But you could see they were really the last few weeks starting to round into form
and starting to really figure things out together before,
obviously the Latang injury, the Carlson injury.
but I've liked that pairing for the most part.
So I'm curious to see what comes next,
depending upon how long St. Ivney is out.
It's been fine, I guess.
I honestly think Clifton's been playing a bit better than St.
I've been a bit better than St. Ivany for the last little while,
at least when Clifton has been in the line I'm saying with St. Ivany.
So I think, you know, it's a wash.
But again, I just think Clifton's playing at a little bit of a higher level.
So not too concerned.
Just obviously hope that's seen.
be he can get back as quickly as possible because it stinks that he did get hurt last night
in Vancouver.
And one last thing before we do go to break.
It's just, you know, me nitpicking probably a little bit.
I want to see the Penguins defend the six on five better.
That was way too passive last night, man.
Like they were kind of allowing Vancouver to do whatever they want, not putting pressure
on any of the puck carriers.
It's not what they do on the PK where they're a lot more aggressive and they're forcing
players into quick decisions.
They weren't doing that on the six on.
and that is also something that I have talked about, you know, at length on the show this year.
I think they need to be better putting more pressure on puck carriers on six on fives because
it feels like it's almost like a five on three.
It looks like out there obviously with more skaters, but that's the type of situation it feels
like because penguins just aren't putting pressure on any of these players.
So that is something that I do want them to work on as the season goes on.
That's not a nitpick because if this team wants to get where they need to go, they're going to
find themselves in the lead with a lot of games and it's going to lead if they're up late
in the third and it's a goal or two, they're going to find themselves in six on five
situations more often than not. And you're right. They are far too passive. They do not attack.
And it has, there's been a lot of games where they've survived it, but Ben don't break only
lasts until you break. So you got a game. I mean, I know it's only one example, but that was a
perfect one of how passive they are on six on five situations.
They really do got to get better at the six on five defense because like you said,
it's too passive.
It's opening the door to potentially some losses or some lost points, but no harm,
no foul on Sunday, they come out with two clean points.
They sweep the Western trip.
And it puts them in a really good position with a pretty easy week coming up and just a few
games left before we take a break for the Olympics. Hunter and I are going to make sure you're set for
this week ahead when we come back right after this. We've got one more sponsor to get to before we do that,
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closing out the Monday edition of Locked-on Penguins.
I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes.
And if you really enjoyed having hockey pretty much every other night,
this week is not going to be for you.
The Penguins are off until Thursday night when they will take on the Chicago Blackhawks
at PPG Paints Arena.
Then they will be off on Friday night.
But then Saturday afternoon at 3.30 p.m.
Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers come to town.
And not only is it just a Penguins Rangers game,
it's the 2016 Stanley Cup reunion because dear God,
it's been almost 10 years since that Stanley Cup.
That is crazy to say.
But we're not here to wax nostalgic about the 2016 Stanley Cup.
This is two games that they really should win.
The Chicago Blackhawks have come back to Earth.
They're doing okay, but a badard injury for a while,
a Frank Nazar injury for a while,
it kind of threw a good start into chaos.
They're back to about where we expected them to be.
And as we know,
the New York Rangers have waved the white flag on this season.
So for the penguins to get where they want to go,
these are two games they need to and should win.
Yeah, the schedule is really opening up.
for the penguins in their final five games before the Olympic break.
They still have the Islanders and the Sabres,
though that's next week.
Those are going to be two games that are huge for the standings.
But their next three games,
A, they're at home,
but B,
they come against teams that are not in a playoff spot right now,
starting with Chicago and their defensive metrics,
once again,
are not very good.
They're running near the bottom of the league
and high danger chances against,
and scoring chances against,
and in terms of expected goal share,
32nd at 5-on-5, 44.1%. Also in terms of actual goals, Pat, they're at the bottom of the league to 27th, 44.1%. There's only five other teams lower than them in terms of actual goals.
They're ranked 5-on-5. Expected goal share, they rank dead last. So they're having trouble scoring goals or having trouble defending. I do like Spencer Knight quite a bit when he's been healthy.
Connor Bedard is obviously great when he's been healthy this year. Probably should have been named to the Team Cana Olympic.
roster if he had not been hurt for that time. But I could watch him play every night, man.
He's been so good. Frank Naser, he's been awesome as well. But that's still a game that you want to
win considering where the Blackhawks are in the standings. The Rangers man, I mean,
woof. I mean, they've waved the white flag. They are putting their players on the trade market like
Artine Panarin, for example. I think he's going to get moved pretty soon. Wouldn't be surprised
if Ben Chrochev gets moved, Braden Schneider. They're also a
without Adam Fox right now in Igor's historic.
And I don't think either of them are going to be back by Saturday.
I could be dead wrong on that if I am.
I'll come on here and count on myself.
But right now they are both hurt.
That also is just not helping matters when you're down.
A, your number one defenseman and B,
a top three goaltender on the planet.
Like they just,
they're not getting saves.
They don't have really anyone that can move the puck up the ice at an elite level
with Fox hurt.
And they're just not getting the scoring right now either.
I do think Zabinogen.
is having a good season for the Rangers.
You know, Miller, I guess, is producing a little bit as of late,
but he still has not been good for the entire season.
You see his effort level on some of these plays in his own zone,
hasn't been there.
So that's a team that is just very much out of it,
feels like they've kind of quit this season.
Those should be two games that you really need to win,
just considering where they are in the standings.
And then after that, you have Ottawa,
which I know the Penguins have really struggled against Ottawa
over the past, you know, two, three seasons.
That's also a game, though,
you really want to win, considering how Ottawa has also struggled this year after making the playoffs last year. So the schedule is right there for the taking path.
They have a chance to really solidify themselves in the standings. And I wrote about that for the hockey news over the weekend, too.
That's the biggest point is that this is a chance for them to really solidify themselves as a playoff team for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
As we sit here and record this on Monday, they are four points up.
on the New York Islanders.
And the other thing is, most of the games in hand, they're gone.
They won the games in hand that they needed to win.
So they are doing pretty well with that.
They got two more, two games in hand on the Capitals, though.
I won't put that up.
Yes, but that's what I was going to get to is then, but then you go down the,
you go down the standings.
They are six points up on the Flyers, six points up on the caps.
They're going to have some games this week.
So you're not going to be sitting in that position most likely.
when you get to Chicago, when Chicago comes to town, I should say, on Thursday night.
And obviously when the Rangers come to town on Saturday,
but you have really put yourself in a position where you can start separating yourself
from the rest of the Metro Division and you continue to look at the Eastern Conference standings.
Montreal and Boston now sit in the wild card.
Florida, right behind them.
Toronto, right behind them as well.
This is more than likely going to be a.
year where the Atlantic Division sends five teams to the playoffs.
So to get into the playoffs as a Metropolitan Division team, you're going to need one of
those top three spots.
In this next two weeks before the Olympic break, the Penguins have to get wins to really
solidify their spot in the top three of the Metro.
But we will dive deeper into those games, the closer they get here.
and we'll also be back with a new episode on Tuesday to talk about any news and whatever else we want to do.
Because we got a little break here from Penguins Hockey this week.
So make sure you're sticking around with us for that.
We got some stuff planned that we're going to do.
So make sure you're subscribed.
Make sure you got the notifications on on YouTube.
But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.
Thank you as always for tuning in.
And we will be back on Tuesday.
