Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - RECAP: Penguins get a BIG two points on Thanksgiving Eve over Buffalo!

Starting point is 00:00:00 It was a tale of two games on Thanksgiving Eve at PPG Paints Arena, but all that matters is that the Pittsburgh Penguins came out with two clean points, and they're back in the wind column. We've got a quick recap of Wednesday night's game 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. Hello and welcome and a very happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Starting point is 00:00:38 This is 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 L.O. You can also find us on Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins and on TikTok at Locked-on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine.

Starting point is 00:01:14 Don't forget that 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. Be sure to hit that notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. This will be a pretty quick one today because it's Thanksgiving. You got better things to do than listen to us. Two goons yap about a Thanksgiving Eve game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres.

Starting point is 00:01:44 But the Penguins come out four to two winners in what was, how do I put this mildly, a very weird game at PPG Paints Arena. The first 30 minutes of the game, total snooze fest. Very boring. And then the last 30 minutes, it was all hell breaking loose at the PPG paints arena. So quick recap here. Matt Dumba opens the scoring in the first period with a very fluttering shot that beats Uka Peka Lukanin, no goals in the second period, then almost as if it was a script that had been written multiple times this season.

Starting point is 00:02:24 The Penguins give up a third period lead when Jason Zucker, one of our old friends, scores on a tip shot. Then just 11 seconds later, the penguins flip the script. Brian Rust scores to give the penguins a 2-1 lead, a lead they would never relent the rest of the game. Kevin Hayes scores off an incredible pass from Eric Carlson to make it 3-1 Penguins. Jack Quinn then scores to make it 3-2.

Starting point is 00:02:52 But that would be it for the Sabres as Connor Dewar would put this one on ice with an empty-net goal, sealing a 4-2 Penguins win. win. We're going to do about two segments today, Hunter. Let's start with this. Let's start with dessert. Then we'll have our vegetables in the second half. Love that the penguins were able to hold on to this one. And I love that they pushed back after giving up a lead in the third period. It was a game that looked very much like the penguins were going to be lulled to sleep. But they were able to hold on and get the victory. 100%. And you and I were texting about it. You even had a potential intro that you were going to lead off of if the game

Starting point is 00:03:34 just kept being a very low event snooze fest. The Sabres only had five shots, Pat, through the first 30 plus minutes of this game. The Penguins were doing a great job in their own zone, not giving the Sabres much of anything. Tristan Jari was basically taking a nap in net for the first half of this game. And then the final 25 minutes happened. I will say this. I thought the Penguins were playing great for the first 35 minutes. And then, Buffalo just took the Penguins to school right after that. And you look at some of the data for this game, it very much supports the eye test, you know, especially all situations. Well, most of the game was at five on five. The Sabres had four expected goals. The Penguins 1.65. And Pat, it literally turned right around that 35 minute mark. And then that's when the Sabers kept pushing and pushing. But credit to the Penguins, they were able to stick with it and find a way to win, get those two massive. points, but we have to start with Tristan Jari. I thought that was his best game of the season.

Starting point is 00:04:37 Numerous 10 Bell save after 10 Bell save. He saved two goals above expected tonight. He was the main reason why the Penguins won this game. Yeah, they got a couple of fluky goals from Matt Dumba and Brian Rust. Kevin Hayes gets his first goal of the year off of a great pass from Eric Carlson. More on that a bit later. But the Penguins do not win this game. without the services of number 35 in net.

Starting point is 00:05:03 He was awesome and we have to get him his flowers. He was just great. 29 saves, 935 save percentage. And when Buffalo woke up and really started to play, it was Tristan Jari who was there to keep the penguins in it. Can't say enough about that return. And it gets into exactly what you and I have been discussing on this show, especially as he was working his way back from injury,

Starting point is 00:05:28 is how does he respond both after an injury and can he keep his good start rolling? And this was about as good of a start from Tristan Jari as you could ask for. He was on top of the crease most of the night. He was controlling his rebounds. And I know this will make a lot of Penguins fans nervous because it certainly makes me nervous as well. You can tell when Tristan Jari is on top of his game and feeling confident. when he plays the puck because I know that we love to do the Steve Dangle. If you're a goaltender, tend the goal meme, but he makes the right decisions when he's

Starting point is 00:06:09 confident when to play the puck. When he's off his game, he tries to do too much. He tries to guide the puck in certain places, but tonight he picked and chose his spots really well of where to come out and play the puck, when to push it forward, and when to stay in his net. It was a really, really good performance by Tristan. He was also playing on top of his crease as well. When he is doing that, when he's playing aggressive, you know that you're in for probably

Starting point is 00:06:38 a fairly solid jarring night in goal. When he's not confident, Pat, when he's playing nervous, he's basically swimming in his crease, standing in the net, basically. Tonight, you didn't see any of that. And especially in the third period, as Buffalo kept pushing and pushing, he was just there to make every single big save for the penguins. You could feel that tying goal coming in the third from a mile away just because, again, this was another stretch for the penguins just completely fell asleep.

Starting point is 00:07:07 Brian Russ was able to give them the lead. Kevin Hayes makes it three to one. Even when the sabers cut it to three, two, he had to come up with some huge saves towards the end. Before Connor Dewar got the MDNF goal, Buffalo Easy could have easily, excuse me, could have tied it. There were a couple of great high danger chances. in the final couple of minutes. Ben Jari was able to shut the door.

Starting point is 00:07:29 So he was great. He'll get another start this weekend. They'll probably go to She-Logs, I'm guessing, for Columbus, and then Jari against Toronto, just because they're going to probably keep doing that back and forth, that 1A, 1B. But he was the first start to me tonight. Excellent performance.

Starting point is 00:07:44 Another underrated effort, I think, tonight, that you would never expect to say it about this player, but it was the captain, 87, Sidney Crosby. He made a lot of really good, He had one bad defensive play on, I believe it was the tying goal or maybe it was the three to two goal. It was the second goal. And I'll say it really lazy, clear, you can't make that play in that situation.

Starting point is 00:08:08 I still don't like how the top line continues to get caved in defensively. And that play kind of just illustrated it. He's got to make a little bit of a better play there. I'm going to let you keep cooking. I just, I'm pushing that. I should remember the goal. So I'm glad you stepped in for that because, again, this game was nothing, nothing. nothing, nothing. And then everything happened. So it kind of all smashes together in that regard.

Starting point is 00:08:31 But I do think outside of that lazy clear, he made a lot of good defensive plays. The line as a whole wasn't great defensively. But there were several instances. There was especially one where Crosby went down to block a shot and Tage Thompson steps around him. Crosby makes the desperation play, flips himself over, gets the poke check. He was good individually, I think, defensively tonight. That line isn't really working right now overall, but Crosby is continuing to work really well. I also thought it was a good night for Evgeny Malkin. Didn't get on the score sheet, but he was involved all night long. He was confident with the puck. And I'm going to, I understand and agree with the idea of that the penguins didn't put together a full 60 minute effort,

Starting point is 00:09:23 but as we talked about on our Wednesday show, you can really tell that this team is struggling with injuries because their top guys are playing good to very good. The rest of the roster is just replacement level to below replacement level, and you can really see that. So this is why we got to hope the team is getting back to health here soon because you're not going to be able to sustain having your top guys totally carry you while the rest of the roster is just eating minutes and getting caved in.

Starting point is 00:10:03 Right. And the main reason why I want this team to fully get healthy soon is because, you know, when they were healthy, they absolutely tore up the league in October. I still want to see, okay, was that fully just a mirage or is there actually something cooking here when this team is fully healthy? That's the main reason why I want a lot of these guys to get back. And hopefully Brazo is getting closer. We'll have to see about Achari.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Raquel keeps skating, et cetera, et cetera. So there is help on the way. Also, Pat Rucker McGority could be getting a call up at some point in here as soon as we keep talking about. He scored again tonight, three goals and three games for Rucker McGority. But how about we talk about the wild and chaotic game of Penguins' defenseman Matt Dumba? Everything that could happen happened for Matt Dumbah in this game. gets a very fluky goal later in the game he absolutely shanks a beautiful setup for a one

Starting point is 00:10:55 timer that just doesn't even get to the net he then makes a really nice defensive play on a two on one right off that he's a one man zone entry he also makes a pretty big hit and that all came after he absolutely flubbed a two on one offensively with penguins captain sidney crosbie So Matt Dumbah, what a wild game from him. You got the full Dumba experience in this one, but we've got quite a bit more to talk about from this game. So stick with us. We're going to take a quick break and we will be right back right after this. But we got a couple of sponsors we've got to tell you about here before we continue our recap of the Penguins victory on Thanksgiving Eve and our first.

Starting point is 00:11:45 sponsor tonight is Fandul. The NBA is back, and there is no better place to get in on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you just want to ride the hot hand, Fandul has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout.

Starting point is 00:12:09 Obviously, this is a Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh-based podcast, so not a lot of hoops going on here outside of college in Pittsburgh, but you do know that we have got Thanksgiving Day NFL action. Then we've got the Steelers back in action on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. Plenty of action to be had on all of those right on Fandall. Fandall, it keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. Right now, Fandle is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5.00. bet wins. So head to Fandul to sign up and play your game with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And we're not done. We've got one more to go here. And that is Monarch.

Starting point is 00:12:57 Let's be honest, most of us can't even name all of our financial accounts, let alone what they're even worth. Between 401k's savings and investments, it's pretty easy to lose track. And that means you could be leaving money on the table. That is why, as you all have heard me say, I have started using Monarch an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy-to-use interface on your laptop or your mobile device. I've got my long-standing rivalry with both math and Excel spreadsheets, so thanks to Monarch, I don't have to worry about them giving me trouble anymore. Everything is right there, whether it's my bank accounts, savings, investments, 401k,

Starting point is 00:13:41 Monarch's bringing it all together for me, and I don't have to give myself the headache of using Excel because I'm not very good at it. There's a reason I'm talking into a microphone and not doing accounting because math has never been my strong suit. So don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code locked on NHL at monarch.com for 50% off your first year.

Starting point is 00:14:04 That's monarch.com code locked on NHL for half off your first year. all right we're wrapping up our quick recap of the penguins four to three victory over or four to two excuse me we don't want to make it any harder on the pittsburgh penguins than it already is but they get the win tonight and thanks to the great work of the preeminent penguins historian bob grove the penguins make their record on thanksgiving eve now 28 16 two overtime games and six ties all time. This was their 52nd Thanksgiving Eve game in the history of the franchise. They continue to cook on Thanksgiving Eve. One other thing I wanted to get into tonight, Hunter, since we kind of went with the positives in the first half of this episode, the penguin's got to do something when it comes to not having 60 minute efforts because, yes, the first half of the game was low event. It was, a snooze fest and a half both teams have single digit shots going into the second half of the game

Starting point is 00:15:18 but it felt like the penguins just kind of lulled themselves out of the game i do have to give buffalo credit because as i always like to say we got to remember it's the n hl these are two professional teams and the team on the other side is also trying to win but the penguins kind of controlled the pace they kept the sabres at bay and then they just opened the door, the last half of the game. Good on them for responding and getting the win, but we eventually got to see a full 60-minute effort where they're in control from start to finish.

Starting point is 00:15:54 It's funny. I feel like we keep saying that after every game for the last few weeks, even when they have won some games in the month of November bad. And it's been rare after their great October. We've still said during those wins, they're not 60-minute performances. So I still want to see that as well. And I felt like the intermission was coming at the perfect time because it was only the final five minutes of the second period where Buffalo really pushed.

Starting point is 00:16:18 And I was saying myself, okay, got to the intermission here, you're up one, you can regroup, talk it over in the locker room, and then get back to basics what you were doing for the first 35 minutes in the third period. That didn't happen. It was the same thing you saw in the final five minutes of the second where the sabers just kept pushing and pushing and they were heming the penguins in their own zone and just relying on Tristan Jari to. bail their asses out. Thankfully, Jari was tremendous in this game again, but you don't want to have to rely on your goaltender to win you games all the time. So I agree. They got to do something to find a way to produce a 60-minute effort. I think part of the reason, again, is due to the injuries, but you still can't fully use some of it as an excuse. You have to put together a 60-minute performance at some point, even with the injuries that you have going.

Starting point is 00:17:10 on right now. So I agree with you. There's always things to work on, but can't understand just how massive those two points are just to stop the bleeding a little bit. You end your two-game losing streak, seven of nine. You now go into Columbus on Black Friday with some confidence. And you also have Toronto right after that. So we talked about how important this week is going into it. That's now two points you got, Pat. You said you wanted to see five. There's the potential with these back-to-back games coming up here, but I still want to see a more consistent 60-minute effort. I do want to shout out Eric Carlson for his performance in this game. He was once again exquisite.

Starting point is 00:17:51 That passed to Kevin Hage, the patience that he had with the puck there was beautiful. And I think he continues to have such a stellar season for the Penguins as the number one defenseman. Hayes gets a big goal there. I wrote about him for the hockey news the other day, saying he was one of the players that I really want to see step up. Didn't feel like he played that well outside of the goal, but hey, he got them a really big goal

Starting point is 00:18:15 when the penguins needed it. So I will give him his flowers. And Brian Rust, he hasn't been playing well as of late Pat. He gets a big goal there, even though it was a little bit of a fluke, but you will still obviously very much take that. And the Penguins were able to at least seize a little bit of momentum back

Starting point is 00:18:30 until the Sabre started pushing. So a lot of things to work on, but just grateful for the two points because they really needed it. The Eric Carlson pass, as the late great Mike Lang would say, more patience than Mercy Hospital on that one. It was absolutely beautiful and a no-doubter finish from Kevin Hayes. And this is what Kevin Hayes kind of does. He kind of lurks around. He doesn't play great, doesn't play poorly, but steps up when you need him most, which is huge for him.

Starting point is 00:19:04 And as for Carlson, it's been really impressive. to see him just grab the number one defenseman role this season and not let go of it. He has been absolutely tremendous pretty much all season. And I know that we've often said this about Chris LaTang. And it still rings true to a certain extent. But at this point, it feels like Carlson has taken over the mantle of as Eric Carlson goes, so does this team. When he is on, they're usually playing. pretty well when he's off it kind of derails the entire the entire operation so huge night for him

Starting point is 00:19:47 big two points for the penguins and you know what it's thanksgiving i think that is going to do it for this quick recap of the penguins thanksgiving eve victory over the buffalo sabers hope you all are having an absolutely awesome happy healthy thanksgiving enjoy it. I know the two of us will, and we're going to be back on Friday to get you set for the weekend back-to-back, and just because there's a back-to-back coming. It doesn't mean we're forgetting about all of you, our loyal listeners. Keep an eye on our socials. We are going to put the call out for Fan Take Friday. We'll answer some of your questions, react to your hot takes, and obviously we're going to

Starting point is 00:20:34 have another poll question for you to answer. We'll also give you the results. that but for now for hunter hoodies i am patrick damp thank you as always for tuning in have a happy thanksgiving and we will talk to you on friday

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - RECAP: Penguins get a BIG two points on Thanksgiving Eve over Buffalo!

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.