Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Sidney Crosby closing in on history as the Penguins take 3/4 points!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins played spoiler against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday before getting a point against the Florida Panthers on Sunday. Pat and I are going to recap both games, plus discuss another great performance from Sergei Murashaw and Wilkesbury 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, welcome back to another episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. follow me on Twitter at Hunts or Hodes. Join by my co-host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin for Wet.

Starting point is 00:00:43 And you can follow the show's Twitter at L.O. Oner's for 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. So Pat, the Penguins get a very big win on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, playing a bit of spoiler and kind of derailing Columbus' playoff hoax. Though, I will say Columbus played fairly well in that game, especially in the third period. they had a couple really big pushes in that third period.

Starting point is 00:01:07 And they're a fun team to watchmen. They really are. I think if they can get another top six forward and another top four bona fide defensemen, I think they'll be cooking with gas heading in the next season. And I think well into the future. Their young talent was very much on display in this game. I really like the play once again of Marchenko. I really like Varankov.

Starting point is 00:01:27 Werenzki was very good once again. But the Penguins, they got contributions from all four lines. The top line in particular was fantastic. Brian Russ had a nice goal. Rickele gets another goal. And by the way, did you know Rickel this season? Second in the league in five on five goals, Pat. 23, only four behind Tage Thompson for the NHL lead.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Again, he continues to have such a great year. Sidney Crosby. He was great. And this one, heck, we got goals from Nolachari and Bokoa Mama. So that's also great. And by the way, Boko Mama's celebration on that goal that he scored was fantastic. he didn't even realize that the puck went in the net at first, and then he had a celebration for the ages. But that was also quite a snipe. Like that was a really nice shot by a mama.

Starting point is 00:02:12 I also had the fight was this close to the Gordy Hal Hattrick. And I'll say this about a mama. You can tell some of the players are rallying around him in the locker room. He seems like such a great player to be around. He's always having his players backs on the ice. And while I'm not sure what the future holds for him on this team, if he's going to have a full. whole-time spot on next year's team for the full season. It's at least nice seeing him play good hockey on the fourth line. I'm not going to sit here and say he's a world beater here, people, but he's at least playing adequately on the fourth line.

Starting point is 00:02:46 I thought Blake Lazot also had a good game. I really can't think of too many players, Pat, who did not play well. And we didn't even mention Alex Nadelcovich. He was over 930 in this game. He made a couple of amazing saves in the third period, the one where he dove out. kind of a little bit of shades of the dominic has sick with the save that he made there he was huge for the penguins 936 a percentage to be exact but i like how the penguins played in this one yeah i know

Starting point is 00:03:14 when you look at some of the underlines pat you know the blue jackets had about 60% of the shot of attempts at five on five 41 scoring chances 17 high danger chances at five on five they had four expected goals to the penguins 2.4 but i still like how hard the penguins played ned made the big timely saves and when they got chances, they more than capitalized on them. So that was a really nice win over a team that is still very much in the playoff race. And one more thing. Can we not have these two teams play three times a year? Let's do four times a year just because it's a lot better.

Starting point is 00:03:48 What happened to the game I love, Pat? See, that's a deeper discussion about the way the NHL does playoff seating, scheduling. They say they want rivalries, but then they do the opposite. of what foments rivalries. They say they want to have a divisional playoff, and then the playoffs are anything but divisional. So different discussion for a different day. But I loved the Penguins game on Friday against the Blue Jackets.

Starting point is 00:04:17 They continue to confirm what we have been saying about this team this year. Are they very good? No, but they fight. They absolutely fight. They've got a lot of heart. they don't take many games off. Yeah, sure, there's a handful of games this season you can point to and say they didn't show up. But welcome to an 82 game NHL season, probably soon to be 84.

Starting point is 00:04:42 So at this point, you know you're going to have a couple nights where your team doesn't show up and doesn't play its best. But for the most part, this is just an underman team that works its butt off and plays hard every single night. and they got rewarded against the blue jackets. For Bokoamama, I'm with you on that. I don't see where he fits in in the near to future term, but you can't be upset with the way he's playing. He is a typical fourth liner. He's not a goon.

Starting point is 00:05:15 Sure, he can fight and does fight, but he's not a guy who can only do that. He plays a hard physical game. He absolutely sniped one against the blue jackets. It was a great shot, a great play. And listen, we can have at a later date over the summer when we're scraping for things to talk about, about fighting in the NHL.

Starting point is 00:05:39 But I got to give him full marks because Olivier is like the last of the true blue power forwards in the NHL. He also, not a goon. He can play the game. He can score. He can hit. And boy, can he fight. So, I'm going after him and going right to center ice and holding his own against him. I give him full marks for that because that could have been a moment where an overzealous player goes up against one of the big boys, gets his lunch fed to him, and it's ugly.

Starting point is 00:06:14 And it wasn't that. He held his own. It wasn't a great fight because they were just kind of trading jabs back and forth, weren't a lot of big punches. But that's a big test. And lastly, for Friday's game, that was exactly what the doctor ordered for Alex Nadelcovic. He had been struggling up to this point, and he was locked in on Friday. Made a, like you said, a couple Dominic Hasek-esque desperation saves, but more than that, made the saves he needed to make.

Starting point is 00:06:44 He was aggressive. He was at the front of his crease. He was making the stops he needed to make. And it was a fantastic game for him because you make 44 saves. And Nadelcovich hinted at himself where you go and look at the analytics. Columbus didn't have a ton of grade A chances. They were just firing the puck from everywhere. But when you're a goalie who's struggling,

Starting point is 00:07:09 feeling the puck early, making some routine saves, that can help you get out of your funk. And it really showed on Friday for Nadelcovich. It is funny. It says the blue jacket's only had three high danger chances at five on five in the third period. They had eight in the second period. even though if only they had more than three at five on five in that third because the blue jackets were peppering the penguins for the majority of that period

Starting point is 00:07:31 and the Delcovic was making quite a few great saves. You said it though. He had been really struggling since the Four Nations face off break. He's basically lost his net because Tristan Jari wants to keep playing like Prime LeBron James, more on him in just a second when we get to the game against Florida. But he needed that start and he's more than earned a start. Potentially this week, maybe they give him the net in Buffalo, for example. I think they'll go back to Jari once again for the game in Tampa this week.

Starting point is 00:07:56 But then in the game in Buffalo to end the three-game trip, Pat, I couldn't see the Penguins going to Ned in that game. But there's another play that also really stood out to me. And it was the first goal that really set the tone in this game. Great keep of the blue line by Ryan Graves, of all people. I actually thought he played fairly well in that game, by the way. He's able to keep it, get the puck over to the right side of the point. And then, again, again, Malkin crashes the net for a garbage goal.

Starting point is 00:08:21 And, like, I just love. everything about that goal. Ryan Graves actually using his long reach to keep the puck in the zone. Again, thought he played very well, getting the puck to the net, and then Fgeny Malkin going right to the dirty areas in getting a greasy goal. And speaking of Gino, that's really where I want to take this. He's on top of this game right now. His skating is top notch. He's seeing the ice so well. He's playing well in his own zone. Heck, even in the overtime against the Pampers, for example, that he was on his butt for it felt like 10 to 15 seconds.

Starting point is 00:08:53 And he's like, nope, I'm not giving up on the play. He easily could have given up on that play. Pameters would have had like a two on one in that scenario. He's like, nope, I'm not doing that. I'm going to pin the puck to me. If it was for a little bit longer, they could have potentially called a penalty there. But, you know, sometimes the refs miss that stuff. But I absolutely love Gino's game right now.

Starting point is 00:09:14 He's been great these last streams, but especially great since the Four Nations face off break. Every time he has one of those extended breaks, he has his, his legs and it's awesome to watch. Yeah, he's been fantastic. It's, it's nice to see because going into the Four Nations face off, it kind of looked like if Gennie Malkin was running out of gas. He was running out of steam. You weren't seeing a lot of typical Gino moments. And then he gets that week and a half, two weeks off. And he has been an absolute man possessed. He was also a bit banged up, by the way, but continue. True. But prior to the injury,

Starting point is 00:09:52 reason prior to the break. You weren't seeing a ton of great Malkin moments that you're used to. And we expect that. He's getting older. He's getting up there for, you know, a pro athlete. But at the end of the day, you see him now. And this is looking like a pretty solid version of Evgeny Malkin. And the goal he scores against Columbus, I think that's something you can see in the evolution of his game over the next however many years he wants to play, whether it's one more, two more, three more, however many. Yeah, he's not going to be able to pick the puck up at his own goal line and rumble all the way down the ice,

Starting point is 00:10:31 dance through four or five guys and deek the goalie out of his pads. But he's still huge and extremely strong. So if he wants to get a little bit greasy, play a little bit in front of the net, could extend his shelf life a little bit. So we will see, but encouraging signs from Evgeny Malk in the last couple of weeks. 100%. And unless you have anything else to add about that game against Columbus, again, I do not think anyone on the Penguins played poorly in this game, at least to me. But I think that I'll do it for this first segment of today's show.

Starting point is 00:11:03 Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to recap this game against Florida, what we liked, what we didn't like, and then to end the show, we got to talk about Sergey Muroshov having another insane start for Wilkesbury against Hershey and discuss Harrison Brunich. Wilkesbury looks like they're getting a pretty big addition for the Calder Cup playoffs. later on this year. But before we get to those things, we got to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is wonderful pistachios. Are you looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious, crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios is one of the

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Starting point is 00:13:29 I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodies. Join by my co-s, Patrick Damned. So Pat, penguins get a point, but they do not get the second point as they fall once again in a shootout. Three certainties in life, my friend. Death, taxes, and the Pittsburgh Penguins losing in shootouts because they are so freaking bad at them. I don't want to spend too much time on that because we've already ranted

Starting point is 00:13:51 enough throughout the season about them with shootouts. You can obviously tell when you watch these attempts that they have that they don't give a crap about the shootout. Like they haven't given a crap about it all year. The attempts are boring, lazy, terrible, whatever you want to call it. I think I'm just going to end my talk about it there, path, because there's really not much else to say about the shootout. They don't care about it.

Starting point is 00:14:15 And neither should we. NHL players are over it. I'm sorry. You're not changing my mind on that. I've set up before. I'll continue to say it until we get eight to 10 minutes over times. They're just done with it. They don't want to do them anymore.

Starting point is 00:14:28 You can see even the Florida Panthers last night. It wasn't like guys were going in and doing crazy attempts. They were just trying to get through it. And when it happened and Barkov gets the winner, everyone was just like, all right, fine, we're done. Yeah, call tonight. I mean, they've only converted two of their last 14 shootout attempts per the legendary Bob Gove.

Starting point is 00:14:47 Yes, that is terrible. But once again, people, they do not care about the skills competition part of this game once it gets to a shootout. I thought the Penguins played pretty good in three on three overtime. I mean, they've been really good in three on three for most of the season. They had a couple of really good quality chances. I still wish in that overtime, Pat, that Sid just shot it on the two-on-one. I understand what he's doing there trying to get it till a tang.

Starting point is 00:15:08 But buddy, you have such a great shot. Let it rip. Man, like, come on. I need you to let that one rip. And speaking of Sid, you had two more points last night. Two points away now. from breaking his and Wayne Gretzky's point per game record that they're currently tied with. Two more points.

Starting point is 00:15:25 It'll be his 20th straight season of a point per game setting an NHL record. I think he's going to do it this week, my friend, and he was very on top of this game. I mean, that pass that he had to Brian Rust in the offensive zone, the sauce on it, and then the finish from Rust. That was sexy. It really was. Like everything about that was so.

Starting point is 00:15:49 Beautiful. And you look at some of the numbers for Sid this year, you know, Danny Shire who's actually first to post it on Twitter. Shout out to him. He is tied with Leon Drysidal right now for the NHL lead in five on five points with 51 at 37 years old. Isn't that crazy to think about, man? It's, it's, we finished the last segment talking about how good of Gennie Malkin has looked for the past couple weeks. And we have to continue to marvel at how good. great Sidney Crosby is at 37. Is he the best in the world anymore? Probably not. But is he one of the top five or ten players in the NHL still? Absolutely. Hell yeah. And the funniest thing to me about it, I don't even know if I would say funny. I would say probably the more impressive thing to me about it

Starting point is 00:16:41 is that you look at his resume. You look at what he has done in the NHL. And he's 37. He, has won three Stanley Cups. He's been to a fourth Stanley Cup final. He's won multiple MVPs. He's one scoring titles. Olympic Bowl, World Cup of Hockey, Four Nations face off. He's done everything you can do in this game. And yet, to quote Colby Armstrong, he continues to play and train like there's a league above the NHL that he needs to make. And we know, Sid knows, this roster knows, that they're not going anywhere this year. Yeah. And he is playing like this is a team that's two wins from winning a Stanley Cup.

Starting point is 00:17:27 It's incredible to watch. And if I can give myself a pat on the back, it's exactly what I have been ranting and writing about when it comes to the whole, oh, the penguins just need to tank thing. Sidney Crosby at 37 after doing everything he has done is still playing this way. He's still playing this hard. He's still giving it his all and continuing to be one of the best players in the league.

Starting point is 00:17:54 If you're the penguins and you want this youth movement to really succeed, I would rather have Sid right now doing this, teaching these young guys that there is a standard in this town that has to be met. Otherwise, you don't belong here. And it would be easy for Kyle Dubas to just burn the forest and throw everybody out and hit the reset button. and I know it's tantalizing, but just looking at the way

Starting point is 00:18:21 Sid is playing, the way he played last night, the way he's been playing for this entire season, I want that culture to continue. I want the players who come in, whether it's draft picks, whether it's young players acquired via trade, players you sign in the off season, I want them to come here and know

Starting point is 00:18:38 that the guy who leads this team, the guy who makes this engine move, 87, Sidney Crosby, will not tolerate you, coming in in just doing what's doing the bare minimum. You have to be willing to work. You have to be willing to push towards winning. And looking at his game last night, he very well may have been the best player on the

Starting point is 00:19:01 ice. Brian Russell take the headlines for the two goals. But Sidney Crosby, man, a force to be reckoned with. He was creating offense every time he was on the ice, like especially in overtime. Heck, even late in the third period where the penguins were getting flat out dominated. I mean, the penguins, I felt like, first period, tremendous. They fully crushed the panders in that period. Second period, a little bit closer to even,

Starting point is 00:19:24 but I still like the penguins effort a little bit more in that second. Third period, though, it was kind of like the Carolina courses for Florida. They were firing everything, including the kitchen sink at the net. I mean, Pat, if you look at the attempts for that period, 30 to four for the Panthers, by the way, they were attempting literally everything. Ten scoring chances for two at five on five. they had all four high danger chances. But I will say they didn't have less than one expected to go, what, five on five

Starting point is 00:19:50 and that third period to the penguins? For as many attempts that they gave up, they were still keeping the Panthers pretty well to the outside, even though Tris and Jari, when he was being tested, he was at least making most of the saves. The one from Lundel, though, I mean, that's just a disgusting pass from Lusner-Rin. I mean, the no-look pass right there completely fooled everyone on the ice, including Jari, and he really had no shot. Yeah, his movement was a little bit wonky there, but still, really nice play there by the Panthers

Starting point is 00:20:21 to tie the game late in the third period. And speaking of Jari once again, fantastic. I mean, what more can you ask for from him in this game? He was making timely save after timely save. I'd give him the start this week in Tampa Bay. Just very great stuff from Jari. Again, I retweeted my meme, man.

Starting point is 00:20:38 It is literally like watching Prime LeBron or Prime Jordan out there. When the stakes are low, he plays his best. But you mentioned something about, you know, Crosby and tanking all that. And I wanted to bring this up because I saw this on Twitter last night, you know, Rob Rossi, a friend of the show, he covers the team for the athletic. We've had him on here multiple times. He put out an interesting tweet last night that I wanted to discuss with you, Pat. He says, the long-term damage of this hot street by the Penguins could set that franchise back for a lot longer than anyone realizes.

Starting point is 00:21:06 Winning their way out of potential top-fight pick was terrible. Falling out of top 10 would render this season a disaster. They need impact prospects. And while I don't disagree with Rob that they need impact prospects, they do people. I 100% agree with that. But if you look at the standings, even before they went on this little five and one in one run, they probably weren't going to get a top four pick in the draft unless they got a lot of pure lottery luck. Five was probably the best they could do.

Starting point is 00:21:35 But even then, you still probably needed a little bit of luck. Six to seven, you're in that range. They're probably going to pick this year in that 6 to 10 to 11-ish range. And that's totally fine with me, man. Like, I think you can't tell professional athletes to flat out lose games. He tweets that after. Like, obviously, coaches and players are not going to actively tank games. And while I agree on that, like, I don't think this is going to set the franchise back for, you know, three to four years.

Starting point is 00:22:07 There are four players in this draft who I think have a legit shot to play. next season. Misa, Schaefer, Martone, and Higgins. I think all four, this is just me, I think all four could play next season. Everyone after that is going to need at least another year, whether that's Fondell, whether that's Eckland, whether that's Roger McQueen, whether it's whoever else you want to put on there people. You know, Benjamin Kindle, for example, you know, Jake O'Brien. And my point is, there's not going to be that much of a drop-off from someone like a Fondell in Eklund to an O'Brien. Because I like O'Brien quite a bit.

Starting point is 00:22:43 I think you'd instantly become one of the Penguins' best prospects in the system, and I think you can get him around that 9 to 10 range. So that's where I kind of disagree with Rob on that. Like, yes, do they need impact prospects? Absolutely. But once again, you know, and as he tweeted after, you can't tell players to lose games. And as we talk about Pat, you don't want losing to become accepted.

Starting point is 00:23:04 It's why I am totally fine with the core being here for some of these down years because they're going to teach some of these young guys what it takes to win in the NHL. Once losing infection organization, it's like a disease. It takes a long time to get rid of. So I don't think this is going to set them back three to four to five years,

Starting point is 00:23:23 especially in a year where the draft is not nearly as deep as next year's draft is. So just wanted to have a little bit of conversation about that tweet. Again, no ill will to Rob. You know, again, really good follow. We've had them on the show multiple times, but just wanted to discuss it a little bit more in depth. to close out this segment.

Starting point is 00:23:39 Yeah, Rob's great, but he missed the mark on this one because you already brought up the draft. Unless they were picking top four, which was extremely unlikely, even before they've gone on this little run here, you weren't going to get an impact player this draft or even this summer. What I will push back on him with is this. if we were still in a world where the cap was flat, I would agree.

Starting point is 00:24:09 It would be time for Dubus and Sullivan to do what Jesse Marshall said to us last week, where you start moving pieces on the chess board to where you're not telling players to tank, but you're putting a roster out there that will tank. The difference now is you're going to have a rapidly increasing salary cap over the next three years. The penguins have 30 draft picks over the next. next three years, and you have both a ton of cap space and all of those assets to where you can parlay some of that into impact players or young already established NHLers, because you're not going to use all 30 of those picks. I highly doubt they're going to use all 30. We're probably

Starting point is 00:24:56 going to see some of the second, third, and fourth round picks moved depending upon what happens with the New York Rangers pick that they own right now, they might even move that as well to get somebody. Also, just to clear up some confusion, we actually got more clarity on that pick over the weekend, Pat, because it feels like this has been a total mind confusion for all of us. The Rangers actually have almost until the draft to let the penguins know if it's top 13,

Starting point is 00:25:22 if they're keeping it or if they're sending the 2026 first round pick. Just want to clarify everything because I know there's been a lot of confusion about it, but, you know, Calduba said it during the presser, and then Puckpedia confirmed it over the weekend. So just want to put that in here because I know you and I and so many other Penguins people have been very confused about this a little bit because we've heard 500 different things about that pick. For sure.

Starting point is 00:25:45 And like I was saying, though, this isn't going to set them back. If we were in a flat cap world where they didn't have a ton of draft capital. And yeah, this is going to be a big lift for Kyle Dubus and the Penguins to get this team back to playoff contention because a couple wrong moves here and there, whether it's draft picks, trades, signings, you name it, that is what could set them back, not what their draft position is going to be this summer. So at the end of the day, this really kind of is something that I will say the opposite of what Rob is saying. I think this helps their little mini rebuild, retool on the fly because you're continuing to keep a standard in the organization

Starting point is 00:26:29 that you're not here to foment a rebuild. You're not here to help this team lose. You have to be here and be ready to win. It also connects with what we were saying and what we're going to talk a little bit about in the final segment. Wilkes Bear is starting to build a culture. They're starting to build a group of players

Starting point is 00:26:49 who are going to go to the Calder Cup playoffs and hopefully go on a run and learn to win together and learn to play meaningful hockey together. that way when they come up to Pittsburgh, not only have they experienced that, but they're going to be under the wing of Sidney Crosby, who is going to hold them to a high standard. So I get where Rob is coming from,

Starting point is 00:27:10 but I think he missed the mark on this one. Agreed. I think it was a little too far, considering again, when you look at this year's drafters, again, to me, four players who I think could play as early as next season, everyone else is at least a year away.

Starting point is 00:27:24 And even though I love Eklund quite a bit, I like Fondell a lot as well. I think Echlin is better, by the way. But again, that's just one man's opinion. I don't think there's that much of a drop off when you look at those two players. And then someone else, like a Jacob Ryan, who I still think is one of the top prospects in the draft. And I think you can get him around that 9 to 10, 11 rage if the Penguins get one of those picks, for example. I think that will be a really good pick if they can get him in the 2025 NHL draft.

Starting point is 00:27:51 A couple other things about this game before we head to our final segment, discuss Murashov and Harrison Brunick. again, Brian Rust, he was once again fantastic. I thought, Evgeny Malkin, of course, I love when he uncorks that clapper on the powerplay, man. Just give me more Gino bombs. I love saying it on the show. I'll say it again. Give me more Gino bombs on the powerplay.

Starting point is 00:28:13 And speaking of the power play, that movement on both power plays, that meant something to me, sir. It really did, especially on that second power play. They were zipping that puck around with authority, getting a lot of high quality chances, ends with the beginning Malkins goal. That meant something to me, man.

Starting point is 00:28:29 I love the movement on the power play last thing. That was the power play that we have seen for most of the season. Not like we've seen in the last couple weeks where movement is not there. The zone entries are kind of mid. You're just dumping the puck in with some of these hope plays and all that. Nope. You saw none of that on display on the power play on this one. That unit was spectacular once again.

Starting point is 00:28:51 But do you have anything else to add from this game? No, that should be good. I mean, I like the power play. I like the effort. And at the end of the day, it was a not very good team playing an extremely good team. And the Panthers woke up in the third. And I can't really, I can't critique. This was more a case of the Florida Panthers remembering who they are than the penguins not playing well.

Starting point is 00:29:14 It was just the third period, the Florida Panthers woke up. And overall, I can't fault the penguins on this one. They worked their butts off. They played a hard game. And sometimes when you play a team like Florida, doesn't go your way. 100%. Again, the Panthers,

Starting point is 00:29:28 they were pretty upset by the way that game against Washington on Saturday went and they were very unhappy with the way they played for the first 40 minutes. So they're like, okay,

Starting point is 00:29:36 yeah, time to wake up or playing a team that's not going to make the playoffs. We need to do something about it and get the two points because they're trying to win the Atlantic Division this year and get the home ice

Starting point is 00:29:44 for at least the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs. So they woke up, they got the win in the shootout. Again, we already had our little 30 second rant about it. We don't need to say anything about it again.

Starting point is 00:29:54 but that will do it for the second segment coming up to end the show. Sergei Murashov just keeps winning in Wilkesbury. Pat and I can discuss that plus discuss Harrison Brunick looks like is heading to Wilkesbury pretty soon coming up here in the final segment. But before we do that, we got to tell you all about our final sponsor, and that is Monarch Money. Have you ever checked your bank account and wonder where did all your money go between dining out, online shopping and entertainment?

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Starting point is 00:31:14 So, Sergey Murshov is becoming quite the story once again in Wilkesbury. He was awesome in his start against Hershey over the weekend. and he has played his tail off against Hershey all year. You know, he's tend to know, obviously, in Wilkesbury this year, but Mershov has played the Hershey Bears four times. And if you guys know anything about the H.L, you all know. Hershey is one of the top teams in the HAL. Wilkesbury is probably going to see them at some point during the Calder Cup playoffs.

Starting point is 00:31:42 And by the way, that's going to be a fantastic series with how both teams have played this year. And in those games, Sergey Mershov has a 918 say percentage and one shot. out against the Hershey Bears. He's, again, also 10 and O in Wilkesbury this year. I know they have a lot of strong goal-tending depth in the system right now in Wilkesbury. Philip Larson, for example, has also had a great year. We always have Yowal Blumquist down there too. But if you're asking me right now, who should start game one of the Calder Cup playoffs? It has to be Sergey Murashav. You have to throw him to the wolves. You have to see how he does in those high-stakes games. He is giving Wilkesbury a great effort night after night.

Starting point is 00:32:23 I was watching part of that game alongside the March Madness games this weekend. And his side-to-side movement is insane. And he continues to remind me so much of UC Soros. They play a similar style. They're both undersized, but they're both so calm. They're so poised in net. Their movement is so great. Everything about them, it's so close when you,

Starting point is 00:32:49 watch Mershov compared to Saros. And again, people, I'm not saying he's going to be like Soros when he gets to the NHL because Soros is a top five goaltender in the league when healthy. I'm just saying that he plays like him. Like they have similar styles. And I loved his effort in that game against Hershey. Yeah, I know the game went to overtime. Hershey got one late in the third period.

Starting point is 00:33:10 But he was awesome in that one. And you have to start him in the Colorado Cup playoffs because this is such a fun story. right now. He's giving them well above average goaltending every time he goes out there. And you know what? He also has the record now, Pat, among Penguins' rookie goaltenders in Wilkesbury. He's been fantastic. And I think the way you look at this is not that Philip Larson or Yoel Blumquist suddenly aren't worth giving the time to. It's just, it's been such a meteoric rise for Murashav. And also the one thing we got to mention, the baby penguins, one point away from clinching their spot in the Calder Cup playoffs. And they are still right now chasing down Hershey for the top spot in the Atlantic.

Starting point is 00:33:59 They are five points out. And we'll see if they're able to catch them because both teams have 11 games left to go. But this is a baby penguins team that is finding a stride going into the Calder Cup playoffs. And yeah, it was an overtime win over Hershey, but if I'm Hershey right now, I'm hearing footsteps. I'm hearing a team coming up behind me because they're playing really well. They've got a bunch of goalies who can play extremely well. And a lot of the players we've had our eyes on this season in Wilkes Bear are really coming through. So this is a very positive development for the organization that these two,

Starting point is 00:34:45 that this team, these players are starting to figure it out at the professional level. And before we go today, they might be getting a pretty good prospect coming to Wilkes-Bair. According to Matt Venzel of the Post-Gazette, Harrison Brunick said the plan is now that his W-HL season has come to an end, he's going to Wilkes-Bair. And he'll be there for the stretch run and hopefully the playoffs. And from what we saw from that kid in training camp in the preseason, it might be a pretty big get for the baby penguins. There's an open spot available on the back end as well.

Starting point is 00:35:24 So I'm really excited to see him get reps to Wilkesbury down the stretch here and into the playoffs. I hope he gets reps, especially in the playoffs. I know he was a bit banged up during his junior season this year, but he's fully healthy now. He had a great camp, had a great preseason, was literally this close to making the Penguins' opening night roster. his skating is so fluid, his vision on the ice, his second to nine.

Starting point is 00:35:48 I think he can really cook in Wilkesbury here. Yeah, I know it's going to be a pretty big step-up, Pat, playing against, you know, HL players compared to junior league players, but I think he's ready for this. And I'm going to be really stoked to see how he looks once he gets to Wilkesbury and once he starts playing in some meaningful games here. That's always such a fun time of the year, man, because, you know, last year, Wilkesbury got, you know, Coyven and Ponamero for the stretch run.

Starting point is 00:36:15 And yeah, I know they made the playoffs and they were bounced out a little bit early. But still, it's always a great time of year where you can get some of those other players playing in junior leagues whose seasons ended a bit early because they didn't make the playoffs. Brunick is obviously one of them. And again, open spot there. I'm excited, man. Do you have anything else to add? No, all good here. I got my dog whining in the background.

Starting point is 00:36:37 So I think that means it's time for the show to come. to Annette. So about what you're saying is that Penny needs to go out right now. My dogs haven't come in here yet. I think they're kind of just napping with my girlfriend while she works. So at least Teddy's not whining in the mic and Thron is not just fighting the pillows back here and all that stuff. And also did just want to end the show with this. I mentioned the record a little bit a couple minutes ago. Mershaw, he holds the Wilkesbury Penguins franchise record for the longest winning streak in a rookie season with Ted, by the way, breaking that tie with Matt Murray. Pretty good.

Starting point is 00:37:10 I would say. So I'm continuing going to be excited to watch him with Wilkesprey throughout the season. And again, really hope he gets that start in game one of the Calder Cup playoffs. Penguins this week, they'll play Tuesday against Tampa and Thursday against Buffalo. So we'll preview that game for you all on Tuesday. Recap it on Wednesday. Preview the game against Buffalo on Thursday. Recap that for you all on Friday and then get you all set for Sunday as the game against the

Starting point is 00:37:34 senators. And then next week, lock on Penguins goes international, at least for me. I'm going the Dominican Republic with my. my girlfriend from Monday through Friday, but don't worry people. There's no days off in this business. I'm taking my laptop. I'm taking my mic. We're going to still cover this team. I'm not going to leave Pat on an island for a whole week of episodes. But that will do it for today's episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. Thank you also much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Tuesday.

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