Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Sidney Crosby passes Wayne Gretzky for all-time point-per-game record!

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

Sidney Crosby now sits alone atop the leaderboard for consecutive point-per-game seasons, passing Wayne Gretzky with 20! Hunter and Patrick begin the show with the good before getting into the bad. They start with Crosby's historic goal, which clinched him a 20th consecutive point-per-game season. Then, it's time for the bad. They talk about the absolutely unacceptable effort by the Penguins against the Sabres on Thursday night after getting embarrassed by the Lightning. Then, in a surprising move, the Penguins have recalled prospects Villie Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty to the big club. They dive into what this means for the long-term and the near-term. Finally, the Penguins will play a Sunday afternoon game against the Ottawa Senators, and they get you set for that matchup. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.5-Hour ENERGYHead to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized. IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to Indeed.com/LOCKEDON right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.Trade CoffeeGet 40% off your first order with Trade at drinktrade.com/lockedonnhl. Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Despite the embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, Sidney Crosby did make NHL history, and Pat and I are going to discuss that. Plus, recap this pathetic loss to the Sabers 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, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I am one of your host, Hunts or Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter. Hunt or Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin Verwet. And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this, your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to by Fandall.

Right now, new Fandul customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet win. So, people, we are going to crucify this team a little bit. how poor that effort was against the Buffalo Sabres, but we will start out this episode with a very, and I mean a very big positive. Congratulations to Cindy Crosby, 20th straight season of a point per game, passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history,

continues to be the model of consistency in the NHL, has been such a great ambassador both on and off the ice, not just for the penguins, but for the entire sport. It was awesome to seeing his family, there in town for it. His mom was there. His dad was there. It's always a big deal when Kathy Lutner Pat comes out for a game. Cindy Crosby's longtime girlfriend, that was all fantastic. The celebration on the ice was great. And by the way, I loved seeing him get it on an absolute banger of a goal.

Just a gorgeous release to get the penguins right back into the game. I know that they would go on to get blown out in this game. But I did want to start with this, my friend, just an absolutely amazing goal and an amazing moment in his career. And as I tweeted last night, he will a million percent go down as one of the five greatest players to ever play this game. And you can certainly make an argument right now that he is a top three player to ever play this game. And again, man, I know they got blown out last night. It wasn't pretty to watch. But it's been a gift to watch this player do his thing for the last 20 seasons. Just absolutely tremendous stuff. Pat, I hand the floor to you.

What else is there to say? Of course, let's start with the good before we get into the bad. But it's just the mind is just boggled at this. He's 37. He's still, that was his 80th point. 80 points at age 37. And he continues to look like one of the best players in the league. He continues to show that he may have lost, what, a half of a step.

He's not as quick. He's not as explosive, but he's still one of the best players on the planet. And he showed it again last night. And it's similar to what we have been saying about this team. And it fell apart ultimately in last night's game. But Crosby knows about this team. But he's still battling. He is still dragging them into the fight.

Just moments before he scores that goal, he gets off the ice, he slams the door to the bench and kind of sends a message to the team of this effort's unacceptable. And then he goes out and puts them right back in it. So it's incredible for him. It's incredible for us as fans. And who knows, this Sydney Crosby train could be chugging along a little bit longer than any of us could have expected. And going off that, you mentioned that he was slamming the door saying that this effort was unacceptable.

After he scored that goal and you saw how hyped the bench got, you saw how high, hyped the players on the ice god, that should have galvanized the team. That should have gotten them to wake up and be like, oh, wow, he just got us back in this game. Let's go help him out because he just made NHL history passing arguably the greatest hockey player the world has ever seen for a pretty outstanding record. You know, we all know Ovechkin is going to get the goal record probably by the end of the season.

If he doesn't get it by the end of this season, Pat, it's going to be at the very beginning of next season. but this was still a pretty big record that nobody ever thought was going to be touched and Sid was the one to break it. And that should have gotten everyone right back on board. It had the opposite effect. We have really praised this team, even in a lot of losses this season, for the fight that they show, the effort, the pride, the pushback.

I did not see any of that last night. It got started less than a minute into the game. I hated that play from Chris LaTang. along the boards. Just total lazy stuff. And everyone knows, man, I have been a massive Crystal Tang Sim for his entire Penguins career. I have not liked some of the things that people have said about him or his play, excuse me, on ice throughout his tenure. I've defended him from those people. I will not defend that play. That was lazy stuff. It just was not good enough in the slightest. Tristan Jari allows the first shot on net, so we're fully back in that

department. He then allows the second shot on net two. So we're even more back in that department. And honestly, Trishinjari, the tank commander, Pat, he was back in full force once again last night. His last two starts now, he's been pulled. He has a minus 5.68 goals say it above expected. He has allowed eight goals on his last 19 shots. It was nice that he went on that little bit of a mini run, but this was always going to happen. He was going to turn back into a pumpkin and the goal that we have seen for the majority of the season. Nobody should. be surprised by that in the slightest. But going back to something that I said before I discussed this jarring thing,

I will not accept efforts like that. We gave them the teeniest of passes against Tampa Bay because the Lightning are one of the best teams in the league. To me, they're a top three teams at the Eastern Conference. Games like that happens sometimes. Okay, you throw it in the trash, you get ready for the next one. I will not accept efforts like that, even in a season where you are going for a top pick. Again, we have said it on this show a lot. We are fine with them losing hard-fought games and then going to get a high

draft. I am totally good with them getting a high pick because they are going to get an impact prospect, maybe an Anton Frundel, maybe a Victor Eklund, we'll have to see. However, I will not be happy with efforts like I saw last night where there's no pushback, a lot of lazy changes, a lot of lazy plays in their own zone, there's no pride, and there's no heart. especially against one of the worst teams in the league, that's not good enough. You said it. And I said it as well.

You play Tampa Bay and they blitz you right out of the gate. You're aware of who you're playing and what and what the situation is. And I can live with a team going, you know what? We don't have it tonight. We don't have it against this team. This is a great team. We're not one of them. Let's just get the hell out of here, especially after they played pretty well.

for two weeks. They earned a night like that. There needed to be a response last night. There needed to be a bounce back. Again, even if you lose this game to Buffalo, because I joked about it at the start yesterday's show, penguins are only a handful of points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres. Granted, the penguins are coming off a 16, 17 year run of unprecedented success. And now we're paying the Piper for all of that. but they still have a lot of good players in their lineup.

They still have a lot of players who have shown us over the past few weeks that they can punch above their weight a little bit. And after you get embarrassed by Tampa Bay, you need to show up the next night and play like it. And they didn't. They just same mistakes, same lack of effort. Tristan Jari has officially turned back into a pumpkin. and there was just no pride.

I'm, again, I'm perfectly fine with this team losing games. I don't want them to lose. I'm not rooting for them to lose. But if you go out, you work hard, you give an effort, and you come up short, we all know what this roster looks like. We all know what this team is made out of. It's not a team that's going to suddenly turn into a contender. So there are nights you're going to lose to the Buffaloes of the world.

to the Chicago's of the world, to the San Jose's of the world, because it's the national hockey league. You don't get there by accident. Everybody in this league is an extremely good hockey player. But when you go out and have an effort like last night where you just get boat raced by a team that's been absolutely miserable for the majority of the season, I can't accept that. And again, I hate as someone who has a webcam that he bought on Amazon and a microphone he got from Best Buy and has never played anything more than collegiate division to club hockey. I don't like being the guy that questions heart and effort because what have I ever done? But at the end of the day, I have eyes.

I've been watching this sport and been around it my entire life. And last night was a team that just quit, a team that just gave up. And I don't care that this season has less than 10 games left. I don't care that this team knows they're not making the playoffs. A lot of these players are playing for contracts next year, whether it's here, whether it's elsewhere. Some of these players are auditioning to be part of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next three to five years.

And unless your name is Sidney Crosby or Brian Rust last night, all of you failed. All of you. It was a disgusting effort, and I can't accept it. I will throw Connor Timmins in there. I thought Timmons played a very strong game for the Penguins once again. I thought Kevin Hayes was okay as well, but outside of that, I would agree. Everyone else failed badly last night.

I did not like the efforts from basically any of the other defensemen. A lot of the forwards were just kind of coasting around. And look, people, we know the players are not stupid. They see the writing on the wall. You still need to go out there and give your 110. best effort every single shift. Don't care who you're playing, especially after you guys just got embarrassed

by one of the best teams in the league. I needed to see a response. Even if you lost to the Sabres in a hard-fought game where I saw the pushback, I saw the pride, I saw the heart, I saw the effort, I saw the process actually playing out, I would have been at least fine with that.

I didn't see any of it last night. I saw a team last night that fully quit after how bad that game was. Sanpah Bay. And I will not accept that. I want to see better efforts while still getting, hopefully, a really good pick in this draft. That's what I want to see, man. I think that's really sums up that game as a whole and kind of sums up most of the season in general, if I'm being completely honest. But that would do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we got a little bit of some surprising news on Friday morning as the Pittsburgh Penguins have

recalled prospects. Covenant and Rucker McGority from Wilkesbury. Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on those two call-ups and discuss Harrison Brunich officially being reassigned to Wilkesbury coming up here in the second segment. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Fandle. March Madness is here, and Fandle is giving you the chance to get in on the action like never before. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. That's $200 extra bucks to use on everything from buzzer beaters to Cinderella store. and even who's cutting down the nets.

I've got my eye on a few teams this year. I have Florida going all the way. They've looked really good for the last couple of months, and they've looked great in the NCAA tournament so far. Outside of that game against Yukon, that scared the hell out of me. But they're still my pick to go all the way. I have them playing Alabama in the national championship game. Bama looked awesome last night.

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And when you win, you get paid innocently. There is no waiting around. So visit Fandual.com to get in on college hoops action all tournament long. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes,

joined by my co-host, Patrick Am. So, Pat, when I texted you the news that the Penguins put out this morning, you and I kind of had the same reaction. We were like, wait, What? This is unexpected. And it really was because we expected the penguins to keep Magrory and Coyvinen down there in Wilkesbury, just keep them cooking, have them playing meaningful games. We didn't really expect them to get any playing time in the NHL down the treacher just because this season has been such a train wreck for the penguins. But Caldubis and Jason Spencer were like, nope, we're going to have them come up here for at least a few games. And then obviously people, they are going to send them back down for the HL playoffs to keep forming that bond and potentially going.

on a really deep Calder Cup run here. And I'll start with this. I think these two call-ups are very well earned. Rucker McGority has been fantastic as of late. Eight goals, 18 points in his last 19 games, Ville Coivin in this year. 55 points, 21 of those are goals in 62 games, tied for sixth overall in AHA scoring this year,

first among rookies. They have been sensational for Wilkesbury this year. However, I was still a little bit surprised because to me, I just really didn't want them playing on this train wreck of a team for a few games. But I do get the vision a little bit. I understand what Kyle Dubis and Jason Spetsa are trying to do here. They're looking at it like this, Pat, at least to me. Hey, guys, you got us. You helped get us into the playoffs and the HL.

Congratulations. You guys have been fantastic. We are going to reward you with a team. taste of NHL action to end the season, a few games. And then we're going to send you guys back down and let you guys keep cooking. And hopefully you guys can help Wilkesbury go on a deep Calder Cup run and potentially lift the Calder Cup at the end of the season. That's the vision I think Caldubis and Jason Spets to have.

And I get it. I really do. I know we've had our takes about how we want both these players to just keep cooking in Wilkesbury. But I can't say I'm not excited to watch them. play, man. I know that these games are meaningless for the penguins this year outside of getting a draft pick, but

I am excited to see what these two kids can do. For Khoevenin, I'm just so stoked considering how good he has been for McGority. This will be his second stint in the league. Had a small taste at the beginning of the NHL season, wasn't ready,

went back down to Wilkesbury, has really cooked since then. I am ecstatic to see what they can do. I am too, and I think that's kind of where I have landed. I mean, I don't want this to be an extended stay. Two to three games, max, let these guys get a little bit of a taste. McGority got it at the start of the year. Covenin's had it. And you just have to see what you got. And I think you're right. I think Spetsa and Dubus kind of went, hey, you know what? You guys have been loyal soldiers. You've done really well in Wilkes-Barre. The team has

clinched a playoff spot. So as a reward for your efforts, we're going to give you some with the big club. It's not going to be long. It's not going to be for the rest of the season because we want you two to be down in Wilkes-Bair for the Calder Cup playoffs. And we want you to be drivers who help bring that club a championship down there. I also think on the other end of it, after the last two games, it's a little bit of a kick in the ass for the rest of the NHL roster. Just to remind a lot of these guys that, because we look at this roster, there's going to be a lot of these players who are still under contract and back with the team next year, it's a little bit of a message to some of those guys that there's some young, talented, hungry players in the system

who very much could take your job. So you better figure it out or they're going to start coming. And they are going to start gunning for your job. And when they do, they're going to take it. So I think it's a little bit of a mixture of both. The one thing, though, that I would be a little bit worried about right now when it comes to calling them up is right now the penguins, the baby penguins, excuse me, are not out of the woods yet. They have clinched a playoff spot. They will be in the quarter cup playoffs no matter what. But because of the tiebreaker of regulation wins, they would have to play. the Springfield Thunderbirds in the best of three opening round.

They would not get the pass into the divisional semifinals right now. Now, granted, very good team. Charlotte has come on pretty hot as of late. So they're going to be locked in this battle the rest of the way. I still would like this team's chances against Springfield or whomever they would have to take on in the best of three. But at the end of the day, I would like them to better their chances to go on a long run by passing right into the divisional semi-final that best of five quote unquote first round rather than the best of three play in round. But at the end of the day, as much as we want this group in

Wilkes-Bair to grow together and we want them to win together, you do eventually have to reward good play because you brought up some of the numbers. Koivinen been an absolute monster in Wilkes-Bair first on the team, sixth in the H.L. 55 points, 21 goals. That's a record for Wilkeshire and a HL, Wilkeshire rookie, excuse me. And for the last month, there's been nobody better on the baby penguins than Rutger McGrady with 18, or, yeah, 18 points. So on one hand, you want to keep these guys together. You want them to win, but you also want to make sure that they understand, not just the two of them, but the rest of the organization, that solid play will be rewarded.

That's the thing, right? Because as surprised as we both were and as much as we want them to keep cooking in Wilkesbury and playing meaningful games and keep forming that really strong bond together, I totally get the process here of rewarding these two players for A, getting Wilkesbury into the Calder Cup playoffs, and B, for the really strong play, especially as of late. They have been such great play drivers for Wilkesbury throughout the season. They have been a ton of fun to watch. And I am super excited to see what they can do. Starting this Sunday against the Ottawa Senators at home, we're going to preview that game coming up in the final segment. My biggest thing, though, now that they're up, Pat, please, Mike Sullivan, do not bury them on the fourth line. Like, for example,

I look at this lineup right now. You're not touching the first line. But one of those dies, in my opinion, should be on the second line. Last night, second line, Pat was Connor Dewar, Kevin Hayes, and Philip Thomas. you know. I am totally good with Thomasino, obviously being on the second line. We all know of Ganyi Malkin is a bit a bit banged up right now. He's missed two games a row. He is still practicing with the team. We'll have to see if he's ready to go for Sunday's game against Ottawa. But one of these two call-ups should be on the second line.

Wednesday comes around. Either Kevin Hayes gets pumped down or Connor Dewar gets bumped down. There's really no excuses for me in that regard. And then the third line as well. You know, Copan was playing on the third line last night with Blake was on Noel O'all Achiari. I know they went 11-7 because Boko and Mama is also a little bit banged up. But in my opinion, one of those guys should be on the third line. One of them should be on the second line.

If you want to do both in the top six, I would at least get it. Though I also want to see Philip Tomasino in the top six because I want to see more out of him down the stretch here. But at the very least, both have to be in the top nine. You cannot bury these two guys on the fourth line. That's ridiculous if you ask me. Yeah, see what you got. And again, I think that would. further what I believe they're trying to do,

which is send a message to some of the NHL regulars that there are players ready and waiting to take your spot. And if you're Dubus and Sullivan, throw them right in. And we said it. They're not going to be here the rest of the year. They're going to have to go back to Wokes Bear and get ready for the run and get ready for the playoffs, which of course we will follow as long as it goes.

And you want to send that message. you want to reward these guys and just see what you got. And there's no reason to keep them here the rest of the season. But at the very least, if you can give your fans, give the roster and give the players themselves, a little bit of a taste, it's only for the better. 100%. Just a couple more things to discuss before we get to our final segment in preview Sunday's game against the Ottawa Senators. I will say for people looking for things to watch with Coyvinen's game and McGority's game.

For McGrady, watch how greasy of a player he is, especially late. lately, he's been doing a great job of going to the net and getting a lot of greasy goals. I think his playmaking has also been really good, especially on the power play for Wilkesbury. I don't think he's going to get a lot of power play time in Pittsburgh, obviously with the top unit, but he's on a really nice job right around the net front. Look for that in his second stint in the NHL. Also, his skating, I think it's also been a lot better throughout the year. It looks great.

For Ville Khoeven, for me, it's one thing, his vision. He has such great vision on the ice, and he uses it to such an elite level for Wilkesbury, especially again on the power play too. There's been plays that he has made on the power play over these last few weeks where it's just men against boys for him. And I'm really excited to see what he can do in this lineup. So those are just a couple things to watch for for both players. And then finally, Pat, it is official. Harrison Brunick has officially joined the Wilkesbury Scranton Penguins.

for the stretch run and the Calder Cup playoffs. And just like I'm ecstatic for McGority and Covenant to get a little bit of a taste here, really stoked for Bruneick to get a taste of NHL hockey. He was this close to making the NHL team right out of training camp in the preseason. And even though his junior team was not very good this year, he still had a fairly good year himself. So I'm really hyped to see what he can do. I am as well.

And I've seen some people kind of. who-poo, everything that's happened with Brunick leading up to this point. But if you take a look at the team he was on in the WHL and Camloops, it was a bad team, and he got hurt. And when you're the big fish in the small pond, you're going to try to make a lot of things happen that you probably can't make happen. And you're going to try to play above your abilities and it's going to negatively impact your game.

That's going to change when he gets to Wilkes-Bare. When he gets to Wilkes Bear, he is going to really have to earn ice time. He is really going to have to play within himself and his limitations, which I think will be better for him because he'll understand, hey, I'm not on a team full of scrubs. These are at this point now with where the baby penguins are, a lot of players who are knocking on the door of the NHL. So you are not going to have the rope to make mistakes like that. You're not going to have the runway to try to do more than you can. He's going to have to play within the system and play within his limitations. And I think when that happens, you will see something that looks a lot more like we did at the end of training camp in the preseason than you probably saw in the WHL.

100%. And with that, that will do it for the second segment of today's episode coming up in the final segment for the third and last time this year. It'll be Penguins versus Senators at PBG Paints. arena on Sunday for kind of an early evening late matinee game, if you, whatever you want to call it. And Pat and I are going to preview that game against Ottawa to end the show. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about our final sponsor. And that is five hour energy.

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Grab a 5-hour energy shot at your local grocery or convenience store. They're everywhere. Stock up today and stay energized. All right, we're back here on this episode of the last. on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join by my co-host, Patrick Dam. So Pat, Penguin Sanders, for the third and final time this season, 5 o'clock start time on Sunday at PBG Paints Arena, going to be, I think, a really good crowd for this game,

not only because of McGority's second stint in the league, the debut for Coivinen, but also Sydney Crosby's getting honored for the 20th straight season of a point per game passing Wayne Gretzky. It's going to be one hell of an ovation. It's going to be, I think, a great crowd. at this game. Honestly, the matinee or late matinee games on weekends always produce great crowds in this city. So I think this is going to be a really fun crowd in Pittsburgh. But as for the senators, they are playing some really good hockey right now. They've won seven of the last 10 games.

They are in the first wild card spot with a 38, 28, 28, and 5 record. They are seven points up on the islanders who are one point behind the Canadians for that second wild card spot. As of right now, and I know this is the Ottawa Senators, but as of right now, Pat, I think they're finally going to break this curse and get back to the playoffs. That was their big expectations for this year. I think if they were to miss the playoffs,

they would make a lot of very rash, but expected changes, but I don't think that's going to happen this year. It would have to take at this point a pretty big collapse for them to miss. Linus Allmark has been fantastic. They're getting contributions from everyone in their lineup. Obviously, you all know,

it starts with, with Brady Kachok. He continues to be fantastic. 29 goals, 55 points in 69 games this year. Tim Sutsla has been such a great playmaker for them. He's at right out of point per game this year. 21 goals, 71 points in 71 games. Drake Bathurston has also been great. 20 goals, 58 points in 71 games.

The senators, again, continue to remind me of, you know, a mini version of the Florida Panthers. They have a lot of rats. They play greasy. They are not afraid to mix it up. and the Penguins are going to have to be ready for that in this game on Sunday. You may not win this game, and I would take the Senators to win this game if I were a betting person, but I still need to see a much better pushback.

I need to see the pride, and I really need to see the effort in this one, because you just got absolutely worked by one of the worst teams in the league. And yes, people, I know. The Penguins are also one of the worst teams in the league. But Buffalo has been just flat out pathetic for the last decade at this point. you can't have a performance like that, bring it home, and then just lay another egg in front of your fans, especially when you are honoring Sidney Crosby for getting a record, and you have two really good impact prospects coming up for another game this season.

I need to see so much more from basically everyone in a penguin sweater. Outside of Crosby, Timmons was very good last game. Brian Russ was very good. Kevin Hayes, I thought was okay. But outside of that, at least for this last game, Pat, I need to see so much more. I know I just gave a little bit of stats, but what I'm looking for is a response.

That's really it. You kind of beat me to what I was going to say. I could sit here and run down the stats of the Ottawa senators, how good they've been in the month of March, how this team is turning a corner and all that. It doesn't matter. It doesn't. The only thing that matters for us,

us and for the penguins is themselves. You have been embarrassed on consecutive nights, well, consecutive games, and you've looked like a dead carcass of a team. And you are about to, like you said, go home where you're going to honor arguably the greatest player to ever put on a penguin sweater for achieving something that was once thought to be impossible. And you're, like you said, it's a matinee game in Pittsburgh. at 5 o'clock. Fans show up for that game regardless of what happens. Even when this team is dog terrible,

fans show up for these afternoon weekend games because they're just a fun feel. And again, we could sit here and talk X's and O's. We could talk strategy. We could talk about matchups. It doesn't matter. The penguins have to control the controllables. They have to go out, control their own effort,

control their own battle level, and control their own energy level. If it's a similar effort to what we've seen the last two games, they're going to get run out of their own building because this is a good Ottawa Senators team. They're not among the best in the league, but this is a young, hungry, talented team with a bright, bright future.

And this is a team that is trying to build momentum, stack some wins and go into the playoffs on a high note. You have an opportunity once again to get in a team like, that's way. And whether or not you do is not contingent upon anything they do. It's contingent upon what you do. And if the penguins throw out another crap effort, it is going to be a long afternoon on Fifth Avenue. Yep. And the penguins have also lost six games in a row against Ottawa and seven or the last day. They have not beaten the Sanders pat since January 20th of 203. their last game against them came January 11th of this year.

They got blown out five nothing. That was another one of their worst performances of the season, especially at a time where the penguins were trying to play their way back into the race at that point. But they just got their doors blown right off. And Ottawa was just kind of laughing at them. It was a weird game because there was a lot of skirmishes, post-wistle stuff. But they're playing into the senator's hands when you do that kind of stuff because they're like many rats.

And Penguins, they got absolutely destroyed in that game. And earlier this year, the Penguins played in Ottawa. They lost that game three, two, and overtime. So sooner or later, you'd figure this streak would have to end their lineup, though. They have Fabian Zetterland with Tim Stutzlaw and Claude Drew on the top line. David Perron with Dylan Cousins and Drake Baberson on their second line. Brady Kachuk was Shane Pinto on the third line. It's a really strong top nine.

Like, they did a really nice job. I think of the deadline of really addressing their forward depth. they can finally run four lines at you. I felt like for a little bit of a time, the senators were a bit too top-heavy for my liking, but this is a team that can now run four lines at you. Linus Allmark is having another very good season, and then defensively, they got Sanderson on the top pair.

He was great during the Four Nations. Tomas Shabbat is on the second pair. This is a team that I don't know how far they can go in the playoffs, but they won't be an easy pushover in the playoffs. Whoever they play, you know, for example, Pat, whether it's, you know, Toronto, Florida, Tampa, whoever, potentially, you know, wins first in the Atlantic, that's going to be a really tough series because I think they're going to really beat that team up whoever they play in the first round.

But, yeah, I think other than that, that will do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Remember next week, I'll be in a different location. Pat's still going to be in his office. Locked on Penguins for me goes international from Monday through Friday because, well, I'm going to the Dominican Republic. on Monday. Well, we're recording the Monday episode on Sunday, so I'll be here to my office for that.

But Tuesday through Friday, I will be, well, in my hotel room on the beach. We'll have to see where I decided to record the episode. But hey, I got to thank my girlfriend for that. I'm going to the Dominican Republic. She got top three for Diamond Club for work. Very appreciative of that. So I get to just taggle on. But don't worry, people. Locked on Penguins goes on. I'm bringing my laptop. Bringing my mic. We'll have daily episodes Monday through Friday next week as we continue down the stretch here at the end of the 24-25 season. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunts or Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. We'll be back with another episode for you all on Monday.