Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin named to NHL Quarter-Century team!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, it's that time of year when Pat and I revisit our preseason bull predictions and get to laugh at ourselves for some of the bull predictions that we made. That's coming up right after this. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:31 You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, or Tamp you can follow him on all social media platforms at Sin and Overwet. And you can follow the shows, Twitter, at L.O. Understore Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, this episode is brought to you by Fandul. Right now, new Fandual customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.

Starting point is 00:00:59 So Pat, your bowl predictions, you went two out of three. So I can't laugh at you all the way, though I can laugh at you, for one of them that you got horribly wrong. Me, I went one for three on bowl predictions coming into this year. But the one that I did call, I don't think a lot of people had that one. And that one was the penguins going over 500 in just three on three overtime this year. I said it. I knew the penguins were really struggling in three on three over time these last

Starting point is 00:01:25 couple of years before this year. But they made some tweaks to how they wanted to run it. And they went nine and six in just three on three over time. Obviously, if you count these shootout losses in there, It gets to below 500. But I didn't say that in my bowl predictions. I said just three on three overtime. So I will take the W with that.

Starting point is 00:01:43 I'm glad that they were able to kind of return to basics a little bit. They were a lot more patient in three on three overtime throughout the year. They weren't making too many dumb decisions when the puck was not on their stack. Heck, even when the puck was on player sticks, they weren't being dumb. Like they weren't trying to rush it. That was, I think, one of the biggest reasons why they were so. at three on three before this year was because they were trying to do too much in those situations. They were also galaxy braining the face off situations to start over time.

Starting point is 00:02:15 Didn't do that this year either. Obviously, there's going to be a new coaching staff in place and they'll have their own strategies for three on three for next season and in years beyond. But I will credit Mike Sullivan at the time for really turning that around. The two I got wrong, though, Michael Bunting scoring 30 plus goals. Sorry, I screwed that one up. He had 14 at the time of the tray finished the season with 19. He probably would have been around that same number had he stayed with the penguins for the rest of the year. So I'll take the L on that. And the other one, I was very close, my friend.

Starting point is 00:02:47 I said, Cindy Crosby would score 100 plus points. He finished with 91. Very close. If he had a couple of other really strong games, he would have had 100. Not to say that he had like some bad season or anything like that. I mean, for God's sake, the guy had 91 points at 8. age 37. Anyone that says he has a bad season is out of their damn minds.

Starting point is 00:03:08 But it was just nine points off, very close. I will give you half credit on both bunting and Crosby just because Bunting was traded while hurt. And it looked like he was going to be out for quite a while, which he obviously ended up being. And you look at the way he played prior to the trade. It kind of looked like he might have been in and around a 30 goal pace. So some external factors kept that one from being correct.

Starting point is 00:03:33 He probably wasn't going to hit 30 by the end of the year. Probably not, but I think he would have definitely eclipsed 20 the way he was playing and the way he fit into the penguins. So you still would have been wrong, but it would have been very close. And it was the same thing with Sid played extremely well this season. You can't call a 91 point season in your mid 30s a bad season because it absolutely is not. But whatever on that. And I will say for the overtime one, I did go back and.

Starting point is 00:04:03 watch the tape for our bold prediction episode today. You were very, very specific. You said three on three overtime. You didn't just say overtime or overtime and shootouts. So they did have an under 500 record overall, though. They were 10 and 12 if you count shootouts and wins and losses. So good thing you put the caveat out for that because otherwise you would have been egg on your face.

Starting point is 00:04:31 Now, for me, got to give myself a little bit of. credit. I go two for three on my bold predictions for the season. Let's just get the wrong one out of the way, Hunter. Let's just go right into it. It's in hindsight, indefensible take on my part saying that Mike Sullivan, the now fired coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was going to get nominated for the Jack Adams Award. I will say at the time, my take on it was, I went again, I went back and watch the episode. I didn't say he was going to win. I didn't say the penguins were suddenly going to be great. I said I thought they were going to outperform expectations, maybe sneak into the playoffs. And Sullivan was going to get that classic, hey, we thought your team was going to suck this year.

Starting point is 00:05:15 And they didn't suck nomination that usually you see. But this year, that's kind of the opposite. You have three coaches who had very good teams this year. I think Spencer Carberry is the leader in the clubhouse to win because the cap go from barely making the playoffs to winning the east. That's pretty damn good improvement. Scott Arneill from Winnipeg. They win the president's trophy. They look like a wagon all year long. They're still kicking in the second round.

Starting point is 00:05:42 And then Marty St. Louis with the Canadians, who at one point this season looked dead in the water. And what do you know, they end up making the playoffs? So three very deserving coaches to get that. So let's go to the ones that I got right. you could if you want a nitpick say I got this one wrong, but I said Ricard Raquel would score between 25 and 30 goals. What do you know?

Starting point is 00:06:09 He gets 35. If you want a nitpick and say I'm wrong, because I said between 25 and 30 and he overshoots it, I'll let you have that argument. But I've said it on the show a million times at this point. I really think the previous season was a blip on the radar. the injury was too much for him to overcome, comes back too early, negativity snowballs, and he just has an off year.

Starting point is 00:06:34 He bounced back so well this year. And again, I think whatever decision they make with him is the right one. I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping him. I also don't think there's anything wrong with getting a haul for him. So he's a very valuable asset no matter what happens. And then one that I know I got a lot of grief for, even more so than Sullivan, because I think people thought I was just meming that one

Starting point is 00:06:59 rather than actually having a take. I said the power play was going to be top 10 this year. And I based it off the preseason. They seemed to fix a lot of the things that ailed them in the prior season. They were moving the puck. They were moving bodies. They were shooting it. And what do you know?

Starting point is 00:07:17 They finished sixth overall in the NHL this year. And it was a pretty formidable power play. Yeah, they had their hiccups like everybody. else does. But for the first time in quite a few years, if there's one positive, we can take away from this previous penguin season, PowerPlay was a legitimate threat. When they came on the ice, it was, it was an issue for other teams. So you got to give them credit for finding a way to make all that talent work and having a threatening unit, which they did for most of the season. I definitely remember you did take a lot of flack for that one, just considering how poor it was,

Starting point is 00:07:53 especially during the 23-24 season. This year, it's a completely different unit. Shout out to David Quinn for really working with the players to make some tweaks to how the power play is run. Obviously, Matt Griswick, quarterbacking that for most of the season, taking over for both Eric Carlson and Chris Lange, had a lot to do with it as well. But again, they have a lot more of a shoot-first mentality. They're not playing patty cake to the blue line. They're, what's the word I'm looking for?

Starting point is 00:08:20 They're more deliberate with what they're doing in the offensive zone. Again, everything about the unit was 10 times better this year, compared to last year. They weren't giving up odd man rushes basically every time. They go on a power play. That was also a major issue during the 23, 24 season. They were getting to the net front. They actually had a full net front presence this year,

Starting point is 00:08:43 which made a whopper of a difference too. So I know it took a lot of flack for that one. Good job. And same with me with overtime. A lot of people thought, oh, they're just going to keep struggling in overtime. No, and it's also funny that I think those two were the biggest issues during the last penguin season, along with the goaltending, of course. Two of those rebounded, goaltending stayed the same. They were worse this year.

Starting point is 00:09:05 It's just, it's funny. There are also other issues, of course, with the penguins. But heck, it was great the power play improved, great that three on three overtime improved, great that Cindy Crosby had another marvelous season. Yes, we all know they missed the playoffs. But, hey, Pat did better than me. He got two out of three. I got one out of three. Hopefully I'll try to beat them next year when we have the Bull Predictions episode.

Starting point is 00:09:26 The next one at least coming up probably in early October, late September, whenever we want to do it for the start of the 25, 26 season. But I think that I'll do it for this first segment of today's episode. Coming up in the second segment, Cindy Crosby and Evgeny Malkin, we're named to the NHL's quarter century team on Friday, a pretty awesome honor. And we'll discuss Cindy Crosby being named Team Canada's captain, as usual, no surprise there. and then we'll end the show with some playoff talk

Starting point is 00:09:52 because the second round of the playoffs so far, it's been pretty fun to watch. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Amazon Fire TV. Did you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV stick 4K devices.

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Starting point is 00:11:35 They make sure your post is seen by the right candidates right now. Now you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 sponsor job credit. Just go to Indeed.com slash locked on right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast, terms and conditions apply if you're hiring indeed is all you need. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Damp and Pat. Pretty awesome honored today. Both Cindy Crosby and Afghani Malkin were named to the NHL's quarter century team.

Starting point is 00:12:08 They joined the players that were named today, including the Magic Man, Pabald Datsuk. I loved watching him as a teenager. One of my favorite players while I was growing up, the moves that he would make. when he was on the ice were superb. They don't call him the Magic Man for no reason, people. This is going to be a little bit of a throwback for some people. But, man, if there was ever such thing as an and one mixtape for hockey, it was Pavel Datsuk, man.

Starting point is 00:12:39 That dude was so silky smooth. It was awesome. And hockey, while I still think it's in a very great place, just ain't the same without the Magic Man. You know, do you know the song Magic Man by heart? By the way, the talk song. Every time that song would come on on the radio when I was listening to the classic rock station as a teenager, I would just think of Pablo Datsy because that's what I used to call it when he would make all those moves.

Starting point is 00:13:04 He was ridiculous with the fuck on his sake. But moving on, they also joined Alex Ovechkin, Stephen Stamcoast, Patrick, Patrick, and Patrice Bergeron. And it's funny, Pat, you and I were talking about this before we start recording. You read the press release. and you still see all the accomplishments. Like we know how many Art Rosses Sid is one. We know how many Gino is one. We know the heart that Gino has.

Starting point is 00:13:28 We know the heart that Sid has. We know the Stanley Cups that they have. The Kahn Smyth's, the points, all that stuff. But just seeing it again in written form, it still makes me go like, holy crap, we have been spoiled for the very long time. Like, it's crazy. Here's the thing that stands out to me,

Starting point is 00:13:49 And my apologies to of Genni Malkin to Mr. 101. But this stat right here, because remember, Hunter said it, but just to reiterate it, this is the quarter century team. So this is the NHL ranking players or honoring players from January 1st, 2000 to December 31st, 24. So in that time frame in these 24 or 24 to 25 years, you're coming out of an era where there's still a lot of legends active in the NHL. But in this time frame, Sidney Crosby, so this is his career, obviously, 1,637 points first among all players who played the game between that time frame. And you hinted at it. We know how good these guys are. We've watched them for 20 years, but we kind of have

Starting point is 00:14:52 grown numb to how good they are in the day to day of it because we're on this show five days a week talking about what they got to do to retool, what they got to do to rebuild, why this game was a disappointment. And we're never going to stop doing that. That's our job. That's what we do on this show. We have to cover the team somewhat objectively. We still are fans. We are. We are Obviously, you're still a big fans, but the fact. We're not homers is what you're trying to say. Bingo. But the fact that these guys have done this much for this long,

Starting point is 00:15:24 we are eventually going to have to Ferris Bueller this and stop and look around because before we know it, it's going to be gone. No, you're 100% right. I mean, Pat, we're potentially what a year away from Afghani Malkin calling it a career. his contract is up after next season. By all indications, he's probably going to walk away unless he signs another one-year deal

Starting point is 00:15:51 to play with Crosby once again. Crosby's contract man. He only has a couple years left. I think he might sign a one-year deal after that to maybe keep playing in maybe another one-year-do after that. But again, we're at minimum here for Cid two years until he potentially calls it a career. And for Gino, one.

Starting point is 00:16:12 Let's hang. He obviously has three years left on his contract. So the time is very much coming, my friend, when all three of these players are not going to be here anymore. And yeah, it's going to feel weird. It really is. But this isn't a moment where you take a second, you read all that,

Starting point is 00:16:34 and you're like, holy crap. We have been blessed to watch this for 20 years. Like, again, I tell this story sometimes. I was seven when they started playing here. I'm 27 now, man. Like, this has been virtually almost my entire life. So many people go so long in their lives without seeing players this talented play for their sports teams. And it goes to show how, again, blessed everyone has been to watch these players,

Starting point is 00:17:10 do their thing for so long, not just for this team, but for this city. It's an embarrassment of riches. It really is. And to kind of build off of what you were saying, I've brought it up on the show myself. These two came into the NHL.

Starting point is 00:17:30 I'm not that much younger than both of them. They've both just got a couple of years on me. So they came into the league. Crosby started in the NHL my freshman year of high school. Right. So like Sydney Crosby and the Penguins going on this ascent into this golden era has been literally milestones and markers in my life. They won the 2009 Stanley Cup the day after I graduated high school.

Starting point is 00:18:01 I literally wore a Penguins jersey under my cap and gown at graduation. That's how excited the city was. but you also think about it this way. We talk about the unrealistic expectations placed upon Crosby and Ovechkin coming into the league post-lockout. They got to save a league that's been falling apart and falling in relevancy. And not only do they meet those expectations, they absolutely exceed them. You go on a micro level to what the expectations were for Sidney Crosby, of Gennie Malkin, at the time, Mark Andre Fleury, Jordan Stahl, Chris Latton. they more than achieved them because, yeah, we're in a tough spot right now.

Starting point is 00:18:44 They haven't made the playoffs in three years. It kind of seems like we're reaching the end of the road when it comes to this era. But they made the playoffs for 16 straight years. They won three Stanley Cups. They went to a fourth Stanley Cup final. They've been to the conference final five times. They've been to the second round multiple times. This is, it's a stress.

Starting point is 00:19:07 of hockey that is pretty unrivaled. You have the Detroit Red Wings who still hold the longest streak, but again, when your competition is one of the most historically successful teams in the history of the entire league, not just the modern era, that's really good company to keep. So very deserving to both of them just on the numbers alone. But when you go away from the numbers and the accolades, you just look at what they've been able to achieve, what they've meant to the league and what they've meant to a city, very deserving to be considered two of the best players of the last 25 years. Oh, 100%. And it's funny, you were talking about your graduation ceremony. I don't know if I've told this story on the pod before. I might have, but it was probably

Starting point is 00:19:55 so long ago that I can't remember it at this point. I'm not even sure if I told you this, but we couldn't have our phones during our high school graduation ceremony. It was on June 12th, 2016. team. You obviously know what happened that night. Everyone that listens to this show knows what happened that night when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup of the San Jose Sharks. Again, I wasn't allowed to have my phone. The first period is just going very quick. I'm just sitting there waiting for my name to be called. I'm like, can we just get this over with so I can get my phone back and get updated? And my name gets called. I come off and I know exactly where my family's sitting. And I point to him. My grandpa is sitting there. And he said, one, nothing. I'm like, who scored? He said,

Starting point is 00:20:33 Dumlin and I just like freaked down in front of probably too many people that I don't even remember their names anymore. It's been almost 10 years since I've seen these people at this rate. And then once I got my phone back, I told my whole family, like, we need to race home right now. I'm not missing the third period. Thank God. But again, like it's just, it's memories like that that will stay with me forever. And again, congratulations to Sid and Gino, very, very well deserved honor, two of the greatest players, not just of this quarter century, but of all time. Sidney Crosby, top five player of all time of Guinea Malkin squarely, I think when you look at all time, top 20, top 25 somewhere in that department.

Starting point is 00:21:11 I think he's my opinion still the second best Russian player to ever play the game right behind Alex LeBetchkin. So very well deserved. And then of course, Pat, one more thing for Sid, he's captaining team Canada at the World Championships. No surprise there. None whatsoever. And honestly, I hate to step on Crosby being Team Canada captain at the World Championship.

Starting point is 00:21:33 championships. What else did we expect? They weren't going to give it to anybody else. The only other way it would go to anybody else, I think, is if it was a passing of the torch moment, but the Oilers are still in the playoffs. So Connor McDavid's not going. So there's not going to be a passing of the torch. But real quick, I got to backtrack. I said so much about Sid and your story made me think of this. I can't remember if I don't think I've told this story on the pod, but we all remember the iconic Hattrick goal. in the 2009 Stanley Cup run against the Carolina Hurricanes from Evgeny Malkin. Fun fact, I didn't see it because I was at prom.

Starting point is 00:22:17 And my prom wasn't at like a hotel ballroom. It wasn't in the gym at the school. It was on the Gateway Clipper fleet. So I was on the rivers when, when Evgeny Malkin scored that goal. Luckily, my favorite teacher in high school, shout out Andy Maranzel. I don't know if you listen to the show or not, but he was tracking the game with a portable radio while on the boat. And he said, I don't know what Evgeny Malkin just did, but I have never heard Mike Lang make that sound in my entire life. So it must have been awesome.

Starting point is 00:23:02 So after prom, we go to our friend's house, and what do I do? I go to the living room. I grab the remote and I'm like, please tell me your family's cable has NHL network. They do. I turn it on. They show the highlight and I just stood there in front of the TV. Sorry to those of you listening because this is not going to be audio. It's going to be visual.

Starting point is 00:23:24 I just stood in front of the TV remote in hand just going. It was that awesome. So again, so deserved for these two. And last thing, everybody listening this upcoming season, we're going to be frustrated. We're going to be annoyed. We're going to hate that they're not one of the best teams in the league. But just take a moment when you get a chance and appreciate these two.

Starting point is 00:23:52 100%. You cannot have said it any better. And with that, that will do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. We're going to discuss how the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are going because some of these series are getting pretty and I mean pretty good. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all a letter final sponsor and that is Fandle. The NBA playoffs are in full swing and every night delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game winning shot or a breakout player, there's never been a better time to get in on the action. Fandul makes it easy to stay in the game before tip off and live with player props, performance shreds,

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Starting point is 00:24:52 All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. Join by my co-host, Patrick Damp, Pat, I'm going to throw all these eggs at your house right now. I told you when you made the prediction you were going to be wrong. And here I am. I was right.

Starting point is 00:25:08 I don't know why you disrespected the Oilers to that degree, but they have taken that and they have shoved that right back in your face because they have been by far the better team in these two games. And I know I picked Vegas to win it in seven. But I still felt like Edmonton was going to give them one heck of a fight. I just like Vegas's depth a bit more. and I still didn't trust Cal Picker. Game one, the Oilers were all over them.

Starting point is 00:25:32 Game two, I do think Vegas, when you look at that game as a whole, I would say the Golden Knights were better, but I still think the Oilers deserve to be up 2-0 in this series right now. Yes, I think the Knights got a little bit shafted by the officiating it over time. They should have called that penalty after they killed off the five-minute measure. That was a blatant miss call. should have been a two-minute power play for Vegas. But Edmonton right now, going into game two,

Starting point is 00:26:01 they were plus four in the playoffs at five on five without Connor and Leon on the ice. They're getting the depth scoring, which is a big change compared to the last couple years. That keeps up and their big guns keep going like this. They might win this whole thing. And I know I wasn't thinking much of them going into the playoffs because they weren't playing that well.

Starting point is 00:26:20 But the way they're going right now, and if they can keep getting at least okay goaltending, They can do this. They might be able to win it this year. I feel like Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad when it comes to the Oilers because I don't disagree totally with everything that you're saying. But like eventually you're never going to see me complain about high octane all gas, no breaks hockey because it's the most fun hockey there is to be played. But not enough teams play it. So you kind of play with fire with that.

Starting point is 00:26:54 It may never come back to burn the oilers, but I look at this team and I'm like, you know what? This is who you are. Double, triple, quadruple down on it. And if it works, it works. If it doesn't go out guns blazing. And it looks like that's what the oilers are going to do. So until it stops working, good on them. Like I figured Vegas would be the team that made them kind of have to adapt from that.

Starting point is 00:27:22 and through two games, hasn't happened yet. So good on Edmonton. Still not far from over. I liked how Jack Ego played in games, too. He was by far the best play. Well, best boy on the ice for Vegas, I should say,

Starting point is 00:27:35 until he got absolutely dusted by McDavid. I even tweeted about it. He was doing great on McDavid until he was caught flat footed, and his skates got tangled, and Connor McDavid's like, you know what? See ya. I'm going to turn you into a pylon.

Starting point is 00:27:47 And he went right around him. And then once you have him and Leon on a two-on-one, that's game over. 10 out 10 times and you saw why. Those are the two of the five best players on the planet. And again, they keep doing this and they keep getting contributions from players like Connor Brown. Heck, even Evander Kane has actually not looked bad since coming back from his season long

Starting point is 00:28:05 injury. Matias Janmark, aka the janitor, is actually not playing that bad. Brett Kulak is playing pretty decent for Edmondson. Again, a lot of these depth guys are really stepping up for them. That keeps up. They're going to go pretty far here. As for the other series in the West, Miko Ranssen and once again continues to show the avalanche why they should not have traded him.

Starting point is 00:28:27 He had another hat trick in game one that the stars go up one nothing. That series is going to be a bar and burner. I think it's still going to go the distance. Winnipeg, I liked how Helibuck played, and that one I'm really not going to blame him too much for that. But I think this is going to be another series where it's just two heavyweights punching back and forth. As for the East, Toronto man, this is the most confident I've ever seen the Maple Leafs in the playoffs. they're playing free, they're playing loose, they don't look nervous. That's also the biggest thing for me.

Starting point is 00:28:56 A lot of these years, Pat, they look nervous. They're overthinking things. They're gripping their sticks a little bit too hard. It hasn't been the case this year. This looks like a veteran team coached by a veteran coach who knows what it takes to go the distance. We obviously saw what he did with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. And he has them playing mistake-free hockey. They've been great in all three zones.

Starting point is 00:29:20 even without Anthony Stollars, they're starting goaltender. Joseph Wall has given them two good starts against the Panthers. But hey, this is still far from over. Panthers, they live for these situations. They were down three, one couple years ago. I'm back to win that series. This is still far, and I mean far from over. But I am very impressed with what Toronto is doing right now.

Starting point is 00:29:40 Their core four has been great. And some of these debt players are stepping up to. William friggin' kneelander, man. That dude is a gamer. I know that the demons are not exercised until Toronto makes it into the third round. Once you make it, and I know Toronto fans don't want to hear this, you make it to the conference final. I understand everybody says the goal is the Stanley Cup, but you fight your way into the conference final. And if you don't win, yeah, it's disappointing.

Starting point is 00:30:11 Yeah, it sucks. But that's a successful season because it is tremendously hard to get out of the first two rounds. but I know the focus in Toronto has always been on the core four and how they they don't live up to expectations. And when you do look back at the failings of the Maple Leafs of the last few years, you shouldn't put William Nealander's name in that. He's the one of that group who shows up no matter what. And he has been so good in this series.

Starting point is 00:30:42 And you're right about that team, man. They used to get rattled. one thing goes wrong, they melt down. They have taken some big punches metaphorically and literally from the, from the Panthers, and they've just spit the blood out and gone, all right, we're still here.

Starting point is 00:31:04 What do you got? And it's impressive to watch. I will say, I feel bad saying this because I know it's coming from a penguins podcast, but you've got three series that are just all. gas, no breaks, and then you've got Carolina Washington. And the problem is, when I watch that series. It is.

Starting point is 00:31:27 And I'll say this. The problem with that series isn't that it's a bad series. It's that, and I know start throwing your eggs now, I know Alex Ovechkin's in that series, but he's not Alex Ovechkin of 10 years ago. There's no real true big time game breakers in that. series. It's two very good, very solid teams playing very good, very solid hockey. You look at the other three series stars up and down the lineup and elite talent up and down the lineup. Carolina Washington, it's two very deep, very solid, very good teams just playing sound hockey. You compare it

Starting point is 00:32:09 to the other three and it's like, okay, well, you know what we'll see what happens. Doesn't mean those teams can't go the distance but man a lot more fun hockey being played in the other three series i mean going from watching carolina washington to edmonton vegas last night it's like two different sports if i'm being honest carolina's issue still they got to get the quality over the quantity yeah it's great you can fire 40 to 50 shots to the net but you got to get the high danger chances and they have really struggled in that department they have scored three goals in two games in this series. Credit to Washington, they're defending really well. They're blocking a lot of shots. But sooner or later, Carolina needs to do a better job of getting to those prime scoring areas

Starting point is 00:32:53 around the net. Yeah, it's great. You can cycle your tail off. You can send it back to the point. You can fire it there a bunch of times. Look for all the deflections. But you still need to find more creative ways to get offense. I do think they have an advantage now that the series shifts to Raleigh where they play very well at home usually during the playoffs, at least in the first two rounds. But they still need to figure out a way to generate more offense. It's been their Achilles heel and the playoffs under Brindamore. So I want to see how that series finishes up as well.

Starting point is 00:33:26 But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of a locked on penguins podcast. Second round of the playoffs going really well right now. We'll have to see how it continues going into next week. And with that, we'll also have plenty of more penguins. content for you all next week too. So for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunser Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. And we'll be back with another brand new show on Monday.

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