Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Penguins wrecked by replay, can they bounce back against Philly?

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

It's a new week, so it's time for a fresh episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. Hunter and Pat start the show by recapping the Penguins loss to the Sabres on Saturday night. They dive into how the Penguins did everything right except get the result. They get into how the Penguins had many things go against them and how they got pretty unlucky throughout this game. After that, they dive into the controversial goalie interference call and how they disagree with it since there didn't appear to be much contact. They look at how nobody knows what goalie interference is every week. Finally, they preview Monday night's Flyers-Penguins game and how this is a major opportunity to get two points in regulation. They get into some keys for how the Penguins can make that happen before analyzing who the Penguins have to stop on the Flyers.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order. SleeperDownload the Sleeper App and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL to get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleeper’s Terms of Use for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins lost the game to the Sabres on Saturday night that they potentially could have had. And on today's episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast, Pat, now you're going to recap that game, plus get you all set for round three of the Battle of Pennsylvania. Your Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes.

follow me on Twitter at Connor Hodes, joined by the best co-host in the world, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Simmons for wet, and you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. Orange War Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch today. We are freely available on all platforms,

and today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, down the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. So, Penguins lose in regulation to the Sabres on Saturday night by a score of 3 to 1. they dropped the season series to the Sabres, losing two of the three games against them, which I hope does not come back to bite them at the end of the season, considering that all three of these games are very winable.

The Penguins dominated the first meeting, should have won the second one, considering they had a 3-1 lead in the third period, and then this one they badly outplay the Sabres again, almost put up 50 shots in Ukapakilukin, and they lose, even though they did everything, right? That's where I really want to start this episode, Pat, because there have been games this season, losses, I should say, where the Penguins just didn't have it.

They didn't give it their best. But you can't say that in this one. They dominated shot attempts. They dominated scoring chances, high danger chances, expected goals. They were the better team all night. The Sabres really just sat back that entire game and just relying on their 892 goal tender to go 978 in this one. Of course, a mid-goly wants to go off against the Pitsville Penguins.

a tale as old as time. But they didn't really do anything to really win this game, except they, I mean, they did have a nice shift with less than five minutes left to get that game winning goal thanks to Gergens, since the Penguins were kind of out to lunge there. But overall, I feel like the Penguins deserved a better fate in this one. I'm not too upset or frustrated by the sauce, only by the controversial goalie interference call,

which we'll get to in just a second. This is one of those games that you get so mad at and want to throw your phone against the wall, because you know what you're going to see on Twitter, inevitably, the deserve to win o meter. That's what you're going to see. And the deserved to winometer was like 98% penguins because they, they kicked ass this game. I mean, they controlled almost 60% of the shot attempts.

They had 10 high danger chances. They had almost 60% of the expected goals share. They hit, at my count, I think, four posts. And then you had the two disallowed goals. So this sucks because. And they had three breakaways, by the way. Yeah. This sucks because we're past the point of the year,

and I've said this already in the last couple weeks, where you don't want to look at a game and say, well, you know, if they do this consistently, they're going to be great. We're at the point of the year where they need to really start stacking some wins. Now, that said, there's still only all of four points separating them from where they are now to third in the Metropolitan Division,

because once again, nobody in this division wants to run away with it except for the Rangers and now a little bit the hurricanes. But at the same time, I can't get too angry because they played really well. They deserved to win that game. They looked like the team we have wanted them to look like for the better part of the season. And they have been playing really well the past month. And they have put together a good stretch of games where they're getting either regular wins or they're getting a point out of games.

So they're keeping themselves alive in the Metropolitan Division race as well as the playoff race. So while this is frustrating, while I really wanted to come on here and tear them down, I can't because you play that well nine times out of 10, you're winning the game. It just sucks that it happens in January when you're in the middle of a playoff race. Right. And you're still eight and three and one in your last 12 games. That's very good.

The only thing I'm a little frustrated by is that this. came on a night where a lot of the teams that they're chasing lost and they lost a golden opportunity to really gain some more ground on those teams. Also, you know, Washington won. They beat the Kings, who's one of the best teams in the league on Sunday. That's a tough one to swallow also with the Penguins losing to the Sabres in that game. But I agree. I thought the Penguins deserved a better fate in that game. Peckalukinen just had a really good game. The Sabers, again, they sat back and just let him have the game of his life this season. That happens, people. It's It was nice for the penguins to tie this game up at one with less than nine minutes to go in the third period.

You're thinking, okay, if you can just get at least a point out of this game, that would be massive. Obviously, you won't get the extra one either in regulation or overtime or a shootout. But if you can just get this to that extra session, get at least a point. That's massive. It's just what happened a few minutes later that really cost the penguins. And that was P.O. Joseph and Eric Carlson getting caught on the ice for too long. I thought Pio Joseph made a mistake deep in his own zone. He had a golden opportunity to clear the puck pat, and he just didn't.

And that led to the Sabres starting a big cycle in the Penguins' own zone, and that leads to the game-winning goal. I'm not really going to blame Tristan Jari for that one. I will say the first goal that he allowed to Alex Tuck, that's a stinker. That can't go in, especially when you have a full game, when you only allow five high-danger chances. The Penguins, they played the way that you and I and other people want them to play.

they kept the savers to the outside on a lot of their chances, including that one. That's just one that can't go in. And then for the second goal, again, that's right in front of the net. The Penguins didn't do good enough job in their own zone. P.O. Joseph took too long to try to clear the puck. Boom.

That's how the Penguins lose in regulation. Just not good enough from a player who really needs to take more of elite if he wants to stay in this lineup eventually when John Ludwig is ready to return. That kind of illustrated why I think it kind of showed us, why that Mike Sullivan has been so quick and had such a short leash on P.O. Joseph, because he isn't playing well enough to justify some of the mistakes he's been making the past few weeks. You know, I don't mean to compare the two because they, you know, one is a most likely

Hall of Famer and the other is a young guy trying to figure it out. But you remember with Chris LaTang in the day, you took the big mistakes because they were worth the risk. He was so good everywhere else that you knew that when he made a mistake, it outweighed the, the positive outweighed the mistakes. Right now with P.O. Joseph, there just isn't much there. I feel bad because, excuse me, this guy kind of did everything he could and was a loyal soldier and worked hard to get himself into the lineup and up to the NHL, but it just really has not worked out so far. And I was saying this yesterday to a good friend of ours, Josh Taylor, friend of the show,

he was on 93-7 yesterday, and him and I talked some penguins. And I think this might end up being Kyle Dubus's main trade target here as we get closer to the deadline is defense because the depth is starting to step up a little bit. The depth is starting to chip in where they need to on like they did last year. And right now, between P.O. Joseph's struggles and having to bury Ryan Graves on the third pairing, you're going to have to get somebody to solidify this defense. I'm starting to come around on that a little bit more. I will agree with you.

I've still always thought for a while that they could use another forward, especially third line center. But if these struggles continue with P.O. Joseph, Ryan Graves continues to play on the third pairing. I think they're going to have to go out and get another depth defense. And even though they have quite a few on this roster. And it's funny, man, you know, I've been probably one of P.O's just bigger supporters on this show or maybe.

out there just because I think he's better than a couple of the options that they have on the third pairing. But I will stress, he's not shown it these last couple of games. He actually needs to play at that level. I'm not trying to sound like a sim or anything like that. But he needs to play at the level that I feel like we know he can play at if he wants to stay in this lineup. Because how he played against Buffalo, how he played a little bit before that, that's not good enough. And it needs to change if he wants to stay in this lineup. And frankly, if he wants to stay on this team.

Right. And I've said this about a lot of players this year. He doesn't have to come in and be a superstar. Right. But he can't keep making big mistakes at crucial moments. I can't put it because, again, very rarely is a goal against or a loss or anything like that solely put on one player. And the loss isn't put on P.O. Joseph. But the game winning goal for the Sabres, he takes the lion's share of the blame for it because that was a very, very bad clearing attempt.

You look at a moment like that. And if I'm a coach, what I say to him there is, dude, if you're going to ice it, just ice it. Like, don't take a half measure. If you're going to try to just clear it out of the zone, dump it 200 feet. We'll take the icing. We have the best face-off man in the league in Sydney Crosby

and a couple other guys who have been pretty damn good in the face-off circle. So take that over lightly throwing it up the boards and giving a turnover and giving Buffalo possession. at the end of a long shift. So that's something that he just has to recognize. Lastly, from the game, you brought this up. I wanted to get into it real quick. I got to give a hat tip to Tristan Jari

because that first goal was bad, but he bounced back really well, had a 906 save percentage in that game. So I was worried after the last week that we might see some goalie regression because Nadelcovic and Jari have struggled a little bit the past week. But right now, I think that's more of just a bump in the road

than it is a trend. Right. I agree with you. And I saw some people blaming Jari quite a bit for this loss. I kind of disagree a little bit. I mean, I didn't like the first goal that he allowed, but he bounced back enough to the point where the penguins could have won this game, even with him giving up that bad goal to Alex Tuck to start the game. So I'm the first goal was like let's not get that. The first goal was you have to make that save. But right away from that he he rebounded very well. I agree. And I just hope overall that that isn't the start of another trend. with Jari Pat, where he plays really well November, December, and then the wheels come off January, February, March. It started to again in this game. He bounced back. Can he potentially do it again on Monday? Bounce back, at least against the Flyers.

We'll get to that a little bit later. And that's also if he gets the star, which I'm leaning towards him getting, but we'll have to see if that breaks while we are recording this episode. But that will do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss something that we don't really discuss that often on the show, and that is officiating.

I feel like when I did this show solo, I probably went into the officiating a little bit more, but the calls this season at least have been, at least not bad. The Penguins haven't had too many controversial calls, but we're going to get into the big one in this next segment. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about game time. You shouldn't have to worry when you're buying tickets to your next big event. Game time is the fastest and easiest way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater events, and you know, you. With killer last minute deals, all in prices, zero, some receipt, and the best price guarantee.

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Down the GameTime app, crane account, and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase, Terms apply. Again, pre-in account and redeem code locked on for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right here on this episode of the Locked-on Panganance podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join with my host, Patrick Dam. So let's get into the officiating for this game because it's still being talked about two days later. The first one that was disallowed. Crosby was a mile off sides. That's fine. I know it was one heck of a play by Cid to get that puck to O'Connor, but he was a mile off-sides. I have no problem with that goal coming back.

It's the second one where I disagree with that call, and that was the goal interference call, where Jake Gensel was in front of Peke-a-Lukin. I'm sorry, I know there was contact there, but I don't think it was enough for Peke-Lukinen to not play his position. That puck was going in no matter what. He had no chance of stopping that puck, even with a smidge of contact. And I continue to not know what the heck goalie interference is, man. It feels like it's a coin flip every single time. You saw the similar situation during the Vegas Islanders game where this goal stood, even though it was a very similar play.

And it feels like the league is just making it up as they go along with goalie interference. I wish I knew what this rule was, to be honest. But the play just didn't have enough contact for me. I'm sorry. I disagree with that call. I'm with you. I think it's a terrible call. But I look at it this way.

It's one of those moments where you can say, okay, by letter of the law, this is goaltender interference. If you open the rule book and you look at what goaltender interference is defined as, this is goaltender interference. However, if we are going to do the thing in sports

where we continue to have human officials, let's add that sub-subference. objectivity in because, yes, did Jake Gensel collide with Uka Pekalukin? He sure did. Yes. It happened after the puck was passing him. So it did not have a material impact on the play. It wasn't as if Jake Gensel went into the blue paint, bumped into Ucapecalukin,

the shot came, and then it went in, where he didn't give him the opportunity to make the save. He didn't afford him the ice he's afforded because he was also at the top of his crease. It wasn't like Jay Gensel was in the blue paint. If Jake Gensel was in the blue paint and this happened, even if this all played out the same exact way and you put Jake Gensel in the blue paint, I would have been the guy on Twitter throwing water on the fire and just saying, hey, guys, you're not allowed to go in the blue paint. That's not allowed. So this is a good call. But Jay Kensal was not in the blue paint. So there also has to be onus on the goaltender of, remember where you are.

because if you're there, this is a possibility that could happen. You're going into ice that's afforded to the skaters, not ice that's afforded to you. So it is looking like goaltender interference in the NHL is becoming their version of what is a catch. You're not wrong there or just what is pass interference honestly in the NFL to. I've seen goals counted with far more contact compared to this. And I get why Don Grotto challenged it. He saw the contact. He's like, you know what?

It's worth a challenge. If I don't get it, you know, I'll have to pay the price, but I still think it's worth a challenge. He was able to win it. I just think if that's what goal interference in the league is now, then what are we doing here, to be honest? Like that's the way I see it because that goal should have counted. And I think if it does, I think what's win that game.

Yeah. And in the spirit of complete transparency here, if the shoe was on the other foot and Mike Sullivan challenged something like this and it got overturned, I'd be pretty happy about it because, like you said, it's worth a challenge. Because if you're the, if you're a head coach in the NHL and your video review guy calls you down and said, or video coach calls down and says, hey, this is worth a challenge. This is a coin flip kind of deal where this might go our way because of goaltender interference, but it also might not.

But it is worth it is worth you challenging it for that. I would have been happy with it because again, this is a fifth, like to really get to the heart of this discussion, it's a. a bad call and it screwed the penguins out of a potential win, but it's the kind of thing that you roll the dice on as a coach because you know that there's a very good opportunity that replay and officiating are going to overturn this. So don't keep your powder dry, especially in a game like this for the Buffalo, where they kind of were getting their asses handed to them up and down the ice up to that point. So why not try to blunt some of the penguins momentum through the challenge?

Right. And even despite that second disallowed goal, the penguins had ample opportunities to tie up that game again before Rickel scored the five on three goal in the third period. They just got to do better at finishing their chances. And that comes on the breakaways. That comes on the post they hit. Just got to finish one or two of those chances. And you would have had a comfortable lead in the third period. You probably would have won this game. This was a classic game of the penguins that fell like at all times. They were up three nothing or four one or whatever lopsided score you want to there, but they weren't just because of the disallowed goals, the posts, the breakaways,

all this other stuff. And it turned out into a lot. And that happens in this sport quite often. It doesn't just happen to the penguins, funny enough. And you do have to, listen, it sucks to say, and I know it's cold comfort for penguins fans, but you do have to tip your cap to Oukapeka Lukanan. He played a hell of a game. He has been a guy who is playing second fiddle to dead.

Devon Levi, who was also struggling this year because Devon Levi was supposed to be their starting goaltender and savior between the pipes, and he has faltered. And Ucapecalukin has been the guy who has had to come in to play cleanup for Buffalo. Now, and he's had a struggle of a year. And he stepped up in a game where he was under fire for most of it. So it sucks to say for Penguins fans, because ifs and butts, candy and nuts and all that, but he played a hell of a game. He stepped up. And some nights you just have to do this for the goalie. Right. I mean, you got tip your cap to him.

He played very well in this game. Did you want to hit on the power play before we head to the final segment? Because they do get the five on three goal, but I was ready to come on here for this episode and absolutely roast that unit if they could not score in the two minutes. It was a nice slap pass from Eric Carlson to Ricardo, and I thought Carlson actually had a really good game in this one. But other than that, the unit really struggled throughout the night.

Did you want to hit on that before we had a commercial break again? Or is it not even worth it at this point? See, like, yeah, there's that. Like, we don't have to harp on it again. But at the same time, I actually don't think it was that bad. Like, they had their struggles. But again, I said this in the recap of the Boston game. We do have to keep in mind here that two teams play this game.

Like, sometimes other teams play well. Like, the penguins have won games. they have lost games, but they're not always the main character. Was the power play as a whole this year is unacceptable. It's got to get better. But we can't sit here and be so negatively polarized that every time they don't come out, get 19 shots and four goals. It doesn't mean it stunk.

Sometimes the opposing PK plays well. Sometimes the power play gets chances and they just don't go in. I thought overall they played fine. They should have done more. But, you know, hockey's a two-team sport. times the other team does well. I thought it stunk. I'll just put that out there, Pat.

I thought it was terrible. I thought they couldn't game the zone. I'm not saying good. Like, let's not get that twisted. I'm not saying it was good. But I have seen this power play look 10 times worse this season. That's fair. I'll give you that.

I thought it was really bad in this one. I kind of disagree a little bit with you on that. But I will agree with you that it has looked way worse than this, which is scary, considering the talent. But hey, they got the five-month eagle. I was going to come on there and absolutely. most of for that five on three, considering how bad that was. But Ricardo Rakele was a much cool out of it.

So, like, that's what we've asked for them. Right. Score in the big moments and they scored in a big moment. I agree. I thought they were going through Gino a little too much on that five on three. I just wanted them to give it to Eric Carlson and let him do his thing. And eventually they did. They had a nice zone entry.

And he has a slap past to Ricardo Rekal to tie the game before the Sabres won the game later on. That would do it for the Penguin Sabers game. Coming up to end the show, it's the Cold War in Pennsylvania yet again. round three of Penguins Flyers coming your way on Monday night. Pat and I are going to preview that game for you all and how the Penguins can get to crucial points in the standings. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Thandall. The NFL regular season has wrapped up, but there's still time to get in on the action with Fandul America's number one sportsbook. Right now,

new customers get $150 bucks in bonus bets. Guarantee when you place a $5 bet. That's $150 in bonus bets win or lose. The app is so easy to use and there's so many different ways to bet like live same game parlays. You can find new bets in the new explore tab. You can make a parlay in the parlay hub and you can do so much more. All you have to do is visit fandle.com slash lockdown and make your first bet a layup. That's Fandle, the official partner of the NFL. All right, we're back here in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am one of your host owner, Hodes, join by my co-Patter-R-Dam. So for the third time this season, it's Penguins This time it's in Pennsylvania on Monday night.

The Penguins badly need a win against this team. They've taken two points from the Flyers this season, but both of them were loser points, one in overtime, and then one in the shootout. The Flyers, they've struggled a little bit. As of late, they've lost six over the last eight games, though they did just beat the Calgary Flames at home over the weekend, and that was a crazy back-and-forth affair

that had some nastiness to it. Those teams don't like each other for some reason. But the Flyers, you've said it on this show. Every time we've talked about them, It's a classic John Torrella team. The wheels have served to fall off a little bit as of late, but they're still in the race when you look at the standings. They are third in the Metropolitan Division at 46 points,

20 and 13 and 6 record. The penguins have a game in hand on them. If they're able to take two clean points in regulation here, there'll be two points behind them with one game in hand. This is a massive game for this team. As all these metro games are, the penguins need a result in this one if they want to stay in the race.

This, like, you already beat me to my point. This is a John Tortoella team, if there ever was one. They are not very talented. And yet, they're getting a lot of contributions up and down the lineup. Travis Kinectney, man, that dude, that dude is a player. That dude can play. And they just play a very structured, very disciplined game. And if I can steal some, some content from,

one Steve Dangle, when you play the Philadelphia Flyers and just a John Tortorella team in general, it is a long night. They are going to take a chunk out of you. They are going to play physical. They are going to play hard. You are going to have to earn every single inch of ice that you want. And this team is going to be relentless in that pursuit. So you have to be prepared for that.

Now, these may not be the Penguins Flyers battles from the late 2000s into the 2010s, but it's still going to be a battle. And you have to be ready for that. This has to be a game where Mike Sullivan tells the team, you may not score three goals in the first period. You may not score three goals all game. But you have to be ready to play and locked in for 60 minutes. Because if you're not, this team is going to beat you. this is a classic game, I feel like, of sometimes less is more. Don't take all of those aggressive approaches in this game against the Flyers.

You're going to get some chances. You're just going to have to bury them, even though, again, the Flyers are a very good defensive team under John Torrella. That's not a surprise, considering that everywhere Torrella goes, he has a defense-first mentality. And in turn, the Penguins, they're going to have to play also very stout defensively. this is probably going to be, if I had to guess, a classic 2-1 or 3-2 game. Maybe they surprise me, and it's a 4-2 final, 4-3-5-3-5-4, something like that. But in my opinion, I think there's a better chance of this being a 2-1-3-2 game

compared to a much higher-scoring game. And the Penguins are going to have to be prepared for that. They're going to have to get good goaltending in this one. The goaltending has kind of regressed a little bit over the last week. Alex Sedalkevich wasn't that good in Boston, was good enough to get the win, but wasn't that good overall. Sorry, had a bad start to that game against Buffalo, as we talked about, but was able to rebound, but you don't want to be giving up those free beagles to a team that you are chasing in the standings.

Penguins, as you said, they have to be on high alert for Travis Keneckney, but they're also going to have to be on high alert for Sean Kuturia. He has had one heck of a bounce back for the flyers here, 10 goals, 27 points, and 37 games. He ranks in the 84th percentile for 5-on-5 offense, 96 percentile for 5-on-5, even-strength defense. he has gotten back to the player that we all know he could be, even though he had missed quite a bit of time these last couple of years. He is still one of the best two-way centers in the league, and he is playing like it this season. That's going to be a big matchup for the Penguins in this one.

And he's a Penguins killer. He is always shows up. Both games is a good, Pat, the shootout winner and the overtime winner. He was, he's been great. And even if it's not goals and assists, he plays the top six of the penguins so well. And he always had it. It's why it's why like in the rivalry I make fun of them because damn do I respect them.

Because every time that guy plays the penguins, he brings it. And again, it's a Torrella team, man. Like you are not going to get anything easy tonight. So you really have to be willing to commit to your game. They have to commit to the style they played against. Buffalo and they have to stick to it very rigid, rigidly tonight. And Carter Hart's starting for the Flyers. And historically, Carter Hart is not good against this Penguins team.

I've said it already this season in previews against the Flyers. You've got to get an early one or two on him because he is very easily rattled when he plays the Penguins. I agree with you on that. He hasn't really played that well against the Penguins on his career. but also another big topic for this game, special teams, as usual. The Flyers have the league's worst power play at just 10%. Penguins meanwhile have a top 10 penalty kill.

Penguins are going to have to win that battle every single time. I'm sorry, you're going to have to if you want to beat this Flyers team. So that's another big one. And then in terms of the Flyers penalty kill, that's the big one. 86.3% they are second in the league in penalty kill percentage. That's a big test for the Penguins PowerPlayer unit that we all know as Shuggled very much. I don't have to repeat that on this show for you all. You all watch the games as well.

But that's a penalty killing unit that is very aggressive. They get short-handed opportunities virtually every time they have to kill a penalty. The Penguins are going to have to be on high alert in this one. And dare I say, they might have to think about putting an extra defense. offensemen out there considering how good this penalty kill has been this season. I don't know if it's still a stat or not. I know it was for a good while up until the new year. The Flyers at one point had more short-handed goals than they gave up power play goals.

So that's a unit that is very, very good, which again brings us right back to the point I've been made, you and I have been making all segment long. John Tortorilla team, man. Yeah. They commit to play in a. rigid, aggressive structure, and if you're not ready to counter that, do so at your own peril. Agreed. This is just such a massive game overall in terms of the standings.

They need to get a win over this team, considering how the last two games went against the Flyers. I honestly thought in those two games, the Penguins really didn't play that well. They were kind of fortunate to get two points, especially in the first one, where the Penguins could have lost that game in regulation. But since that time, the Penguins have turned it up a notch overall for their season. they've won eight or the last 12 games. They need to play the way they've been playing for most of the stretch

in this game against the Flyers to get two crucial points in regulation. This is the start of another big week. After this game, you have the Vancouver Canucks coming to town, a true bona fide Stanley Cup contender. I am all in on the Canucks this year. That is one heck of a team. And then you go down to Raleigh to play the Hurricanes again. A team of the Penguins finally beat this year,

but that's another big game down in Raleigh, considering where the standings are right now. But I think that will do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. But I will say, dare I say it? This is as the makings of another big Sydney-Crosby game because it's in Philadelphia. So that's an easy prediction from me. I know you probably would agree with me on that as well.

But again, that would do it for this one. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. We'll be back same time on Tuesday to recap this game against the Flyers. Plus get you all set for the rest of the week ahead for this team. We'll talk to you all that.