Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The All-Star break couldn't have come at a better time for the Penguins...

Episode Date: February 2, 2022

It's now a 4th straight loss for the Penguins but a rest couldn't have come at a better time. Hunter starts off this episode with what went wrong for the Penguins. Kasperi Kapanen continues his poor play as Hunter breaks down that final sequence in overtime. How should've Kapanen played that better? What should happen next with him? He also touches on the poor defensive play in front of the net while also saying how the Penguins deserved a better fate with how they played. How has the power play been able to click? Hunter does a deep dive on what makes that unit go, plus how they're taking advantage of all these penalty-killing units. Other topics discussed: Was that Caps disallowed goal goaltender interference? How could Crosby have played Orlov's OT goal better? How can the team keep Bryan Rust long-term? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, it's a fourth straight loss for your Pittsburgh Penguins. They lose four to three in overtime to pick up a point. All-Star Break, I think, could not come at a better time for this team. I have a full game recap coming up for you all right after this drop. 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 to this Tuesday evening episode. of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow this show's Twitter at L.O. Understore Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen in the day.

So the Penguins, they fall four to three tonight to the Washington Capitals. That is their fourth straight loss. I know I said on Sunday I was pretty frustrated after the Kings game because, you know, I thought the Penguins could have gotten at least a point out of that. The Penguins definitely, I think, deserve two points tonight. I'll start right there.

they thoroughly dominated the capitals all game long. It's a shame that they lost that game. They outshot them 25 to 5 in the second period. They had 62% of the shot attempts at 5v 5.5. They had 60% of the scoring chances at 5v 5.5. 2.29 expected goals for, or 61.1% of the expected goals. If we go to all situations, 60% of the shot attempts for the penguins, 60% of the sworeing chances, 60% of the scoring chances,

61% of the high danger chances, 59% of the expected goals forward all situations, and 40% for Washington. You know, I've said it so many times, both on this pod and on my social media, for those that are not on there. This is the devil's sport, because stuff like this happens on a nightly basis.

You will always see teams that beat other teams that don't deserve it. And tonight you saw, you know, the penguins were outskating the capitals, virtually that entire contest, but the reason why they lost, Well, poor defensive play. Tristan Jari, again, had a little bit of an off night.

It's not the same, but you know what? He has a week off. He'll be fine. And they weren't finishing their chances at 5B5. Elias Samsonov was really good at the other end. Those are the main reasons, I think, why they lost this game. And, no, again, you know, it's a bad loss. Anyway, you cut it, you've got to find a way to get two points out of this.

I know it stings that they've lost four in a row, but they also, out of eight points, they've gotten three out of eight. So they're still gaining points along the way. Remember, there's still three points up on the capitals right now, two points behind the Rangers going into the All-Star Reagan. The Penguins next game will be in Boston right after that. So that's going to be one heck of a welcome, to say the least. The Bruins are playing really well this year.

And the Penguins have also won in Boston in what, eight or nine years. So that should be fun. We'll get to that game a lot later on in the weekend probably next week. But for this one, another thing, I do have to say it. I don't really know why Mike Sullivan decided to ice his very captain in the overtime. This is a player right now. If he's not on your nerves, I don't know what people are watching, to say the least. He is just definitely grinding my gears on a whole lot of people on social media.

I think he cost them the game in that overtime. I know Cindy Crosby is to blame a little bit. He didn't play that Orlov goal the best. You know, it happens to him, whatever. But what Capon did was pretty much a joke. So everyone that watched or that did not watch, if you're tuning in and didn't watch, you're going to break this down down for you.

Penguins have the puck a minute 30 left in overtime. Capon has the puck at the top of the point. No pressure by him. none at all. There's no one's coming towards them. For some reason, instead of retreating and taking the puck back, you know, resetting, like the penguins have been doing a lot in three on three this season, even though they've struggled quite a bit, for some reason, I don't know why.

He decides to fire it. It goes off a capital and then they're back the other way. They score 45 seconds later because they've had all that zone time and the penguins don't touch the puck again after that. And it's just like, why are you firing the puck when there was no pressure around, you. I mean, I think that weeks of a player that does not have any confidence right now. And I understand that he's been flip-flopped a lot with lines. You know, he only played eight minutes last game because Mike Olvens are going to getting a little pissed off. But, I mean,

it still speaks volumes that he can't even do the simple plays right now. Forget scoring. I mean, sure, he puts up some goals here and there, but he can't even make like the little plays right. And it's just, it boggles my mind at this point for how bad. he's playing. I'm going to say this right now as well. I don't think he needs, I don't think he can be on the team past the summer. I mean,

I potentially entertain trading him at the deadline. If they can get some immediate help, I'm not really sure how that's going to go over with Ron Hextall and see if other GMs would want him. But I think if you were to trade him at this point, you would not see a lot of fans upset about it. And, you know, last season, you know, you had some people in the fan base saying,

you know, I would beware with him, because he had a very high shooting percentage, and that was the reason why he was so good. Remember, what was it? No, 10, 12 goals, 30 points and 40 games, almost point per game production, but his underlying numbers were pretty bad. This season, you know, it's flipped a little bit.

His underlying numbers are pretty decent, but he's not putting the puck in the net and has lost all of his confidence. And this is the kind of player that you get. I mean, it's just, I mean, every time, again tonight, I noticed multiple times that he comes into the zone with so much speed, stops on a dime, and then gives the puck away or tries to force a pass.

And it's just like, buddy, I mean, use your speed to your advantage there and make the right and simple play. He just has not been doing that all season. And it's constantly in the team like it did tonight against Washington. So, I mean, I don't really know what else to say. I think at this point, I've really just nailed it down with that. I'm not really going to blame Tristan for that goal. That's just a hell of a shot from Demetri O'Olov.

Kudos to him. put it in the only place where he could beat Tristan and the Capitals go home with the extra point. But I mean, the game looked like it was going to a shootout there. If Caponin hadn't done that, you know, who knows what happens. So I think that's that on that. You know, Sid had a glorious opportunity just a couple minutes before. Had a little mini breakaway.

Actually did a little bit of a deke. Forehand, backhand, just missed Samson. I've tried to tuck it in right past his pad. goes off the pipe a little bit, but also he had a nice, beautiful toe save there by Samson. I mean, he was just on one tonight with how spectacular save, out of his spectacular save. It was ridiculous with how he was playing.

I think, you know, he more than anyone willed Washington to that win. You know, again, overall, I really liked this team's performance. This was probably their best forecheck, and I would say a week. I even noted to myself, you know, and on social media when I was watching the game, the Penguins were passing, you know, Jesse Marshall's four check-bide. You know, you watch the opening five minutes. You usually know how the game is going to go, excuse me, with how the team is playing after the first five minutes.

This one, you know, it was probably in that, you know, one to five percent range that they lost, but they were forechecking with authority, and that kept up all game long. So it's unfortunate to say the least. But again, you know, at the end of the day, they got a point. and I also have to say this as well. I think the All-Star break has come in a perfect time for this team. Sure, they're 0-1-1-3 in their last four games. I get it.

It's not good. No one likes to be on a losing streak. This is the first time they've lost four in a row. In a couple of months, they've been one of the best teams in hockey. I understand. But with how much hockey they have played during that time, most of these guys need a week off, and I'm sure they're going to say that to the media during the post-game press conferences.

while I understand that losing is not fun, I see a little bit of a silver lining with, you know, they've gotten a few points. They're still top three in the Metro. They have a 16 point cushion on the Detroit Red Wings right now for that. Well, 16 point cushion from being outside of the playoff picture, I should say. And, you know, that's a lot to make up. And they have to play, what, 37 games, I think is what they have left.

So they're fine. I'm not going to really go deeper than that. You know, they need the break. They'll be rested up and then they'll be ready to go against Boston next week to say the least. So that wraps up this first segment of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Coming up to the next one, we're going to go into how the power play has just been scorching hot lately. We're going to do a deep dive on Brian Rust and why they might actually have to keep him at this point, even though it's going to be really hard for the Penguins.

I'll give you my thoughts on that. Also going to go into that weird goaltender interference call. and a whole bunch of other stuff to come out of this game, including the officiating, I think, as a whole. But first, Bet Online has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before, as football continues its march through the playoffs, right to the big game in a couple weeks.

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Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow this show's Twitter, L.O. I don't really know what else to say about the PowerPoint at this point. Here is a stat for you all, though. I saw this during the broadcast and now it's updated. The Penguins since January 1st, they are tied for the least. League lead, excuse me, with 16 power play goals with the Colorado Avalanche. That is just how good it has been since Afghani Malkin came back. And is that a coincidence? No, it is not. He's one of the best players in hockey.

The puck movement tonight and just throughout that span has been magnificent. I mean, the one day scored tonight after Tom Wilson's stupidity there by hitting Malkin resulted in that goal was just hilarious. but the puck movement on there took the kick. You know, Sid had that amazing pass to Russ. You know, Gino was threading some, you know, beautiful saucer passes. The Tang was moving it really crisply outside of the shorthand, you know, goal that they gave up.

I'll get to that in just a sec. But, I mean, this is probably some of the best movement we have seen on the power play in quite a while. You know, their struggles from the early going, they are not there anymore. And, you know, the penguins, they're making teams pay on the main advantage. night in and night out. I mean, basically almost, you know, almost all of their goals tonight were scored on the main advantage.

That's the crazy thing about it. You know, they're five-on-five struggles. I've definitely been well-documented, though I would also chalk that up to them just getting more unlucky because their shooting percentage has kind of cratered. They're getting the chances at 5E-5. They're just not putting them in the back of the bed.

And, you know, that's the ebbs and flows of the native two-game season. I am sure he is going to regress. as the season goes on. Anyways, back to my power point discussion. You know, and this unit is becoming, I think, a big problem for the rest of the league. The talent that they can put out there, you know, they're not trying to be like the Harlem Globe Trotters, you know, by making all these, you know, amazing plays. They're sticking to the basics. They're passing the puck well.

They're getting to the high danger areas and they're converting in those areas. You know, the capitals had no chance on their PKK tonight. The penguins were just magnificent in that regard. You know, Brian Russ, you know, he had two goals, thought he was going to have. had the H-T numerous times, but, you know, Samsona was a, it was a brick wall. And then Evgeny Malkin, he was able to notch his fifth goal of night. Just a really nice pass, I thought, there from Gensel to Gino, who put it, who put it, excuse me, short side pass, Vitech, Anarchekh, before he got hurt.

And I'll get to that in just a second as well. But, you know, just I'm loving what the power play is doing right now. You know, they're not having any problems as well with the zone entries. That was, I think, a big problem. during the early portions of the season. You know, they were doing that drop pass, which wasn't really working. And, you know, sure, they still do it now,

but they've been able to gain the zone just much more, I guess, convincingly is the word that I'm looking for. And they've been able to set up shop right when they get in, and they're not just dumping the puck in and praying that they're going to get there before one of the other opposition skaters get there and then just clear the puck. You know, they're actually getting in, setting up, getting to the areas where they are aligned,

at and then they're just moving the puck around flawlessly, shooting the puck a lot more than they were early on in the season, getting those high danger areas, and then they're just finishing it. So I'm loving what the man of me I'm just doing right now. Other areas tonight, the goaltending interference call was probably the weirdest call I've ever seen.

Jed of Penguin's Twitter, Jeddade of Die, you know, shout out to him if you don't follow him on Penguin's Twitter. He sent me this article from Down Goes Brown from the Athletic to basically explaining what goal to interference and just, I mean, just like a deep dive into, you know, why the calls are made with these certain ones. I read through that article from him, and I still have no idea how that one was called back.

I really don't think Nick Dowd did anything there. I mean, sure, maybe he made a little bit of contact, but I don't think it really, you know, it didn't allow Jari to play his position. I still think he did. I mean, it was just a really weird call. I think in general. If that happened to the Penguins,

surely you all know I would be livid about that, and I'm sure the entire fan base would be livid about that as well. So that was weird. I thought the officiating all night was kind of crappy, to be honest. They were just missing calls left and right. I mean, there was one where Crosby got mowed down in front of the net. No call. I think it was Brian Jr. and Carl Haggwin.

He gives him a massive whack, and then he hooks him. There's no call there. Jake Gensel is being called for some really soft penalties, the same as being, you know, with Washington, with Garnett Hathaway and all that. It was just a really weird game for the officials. I just don't think they knew what they were doing. They were kind of just, you know, making calls for the sake of making calls.

And I'm not a fan of that kind of officiating. You know, they were just, you know, if one team got penalized for something small, they were always looking to even it up with something even smaller. And it's just like, okay, if we're going to call penalties, let's call it right, you know. I mean, I don't need to see guys going to the box for barely even doing anything. And thank goodness I was not listening to the Washington feed because apparently they were harping on that, you know,

goaltender interference on call for basically the last 30 minutes of the broadcast. Look, I get it. You know, goaltending interference, no one knows what it is in NHL. The fact of the matter is this happens on a weekly basis at this point. A team gets screwed by a goaltender interference call, you know, actually, I mean, it even happened with the Rangers a few days ago where it looked like they scored a goal. But I believe it was Ryan Strom that pushed Cam Talbot's pad with about a couple seconds remaining. And they deemed they said no goal because that was goalt to interference.

Rangers fans were acting like they all just got sent to the gulag or something like that. I mean, they were just mad on line about it. And that was clear golden interference. But I get it. You know, these kind of calls happen. It stinks what it does. But you know what? It's over with.

Get over. You won the game. Even if they lost, I'm sure they would still be talking about it as well. You know, what are you going to do? Are you going to harp on the officiating until the end of time? I just don't see where that's good for anyone at least. But, you know, again, I will say definitely not good officiating in this game from both sides tonight. The penalty kill, I definitely think that that unit tonight was not at its best.

The one where they scored the, I probably going on the capitals. have not had a good power play this year, despite, you know, they have a lot of talent. But, you know, they were playing way too passive, I saw. I don't know if other people noticed that on the goal that Dometri Orlov's score, you know, when you rushed to the net, was only with about a couple seconds remaining on the powerplay. But before that, about 20 to 25 seconds before, the Penguins were playing so far back in front the net. And it was just like, wait, this is not a five on three.

Put some more pressure up there. I think Brian Boyle, because he's usually in that wedge plus one spot, right? where he's causing all that havoc and then the other three penguin skaters are kind of making a triangle in front of Trish and Jari to make sure that the other players don't get to those high danger areas and they force the capitals or whatever team

to take shots from medium to low danger areas. But the capitals were getting a lot of really great A looks on that man advantage. And honestly, the second one as well where it was like, I don't know what's going on here. It was almost like it was looking like last year's PK unit. And they were lucky that the capitals did not score two power play goals tonight to say the least. Just did not like that at all.

They were also missing quite a bit of clears. John Marino again, just, you know, actually, I'm going to save some John Marino talk for the third segment because at this point, it's just getting old and tiring. But, you know, I thought the team overall was just a little lazy getting to loose pucks on the man disadvantaged. So they'll have that to clean up, I think, a little bit going to. into and coming out of the all-star break. But that will wrap up the second segment of the Locked on Penguins podcast for Tuesday. Coming up in the last segment, we're going to go into John Rowino.

Just, you know, what's been going on there with more struggles. And of course, we're going to have a little bit of a discussion on Brian Rust as well. But before we do that, you can save time and money when using Rock Auto. Why should you choose to spend 30%, 50% or even 100% more for the same parts from a chain store or car dealership? Rock Auto is a family business serving do-it-yourselfers for over 20 years. The prices are reliable for every customer. You can go explore their easy-to-use website today to find the solutions to your auto part needs. Remember, go to rockado.com right now and see all the parts available for your car truck.

And you can write locked on in their how do you hear about us box so they know we sent you. Amazing selection. Right below prices, all the parts of call wherever need. Visit rock auto.com. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show is Twitter, LO, underscore Penguins.

So, you know, John Marino again, just really not good in front of the net again. And, I mean, this is a problem that's continuing to get worse. I also think that the All-Star break will do a lot of good for him because this is probably the worst. I've seen John Marino play for as long as he's been in the NHRA. And I know that's not long. It's only a few seasons. but you know, you can't get any lower at this point. You know, on the Orlov goal, he's not playing his man there at all.

I know, you know, the Capitol's got that first chance, but, you know, Marino is not even trying to stop him from coming in and getting on the rebound. He's just sitting there and it's like, buddy, you got to play better defense there. You know, in the offensive zone, he has a great A chance it looks like, has the puck on his stick, flat out fans on it. It's just like, man, I mean, I know you're probably trying to, and your best off the day. I respect that.

But it's just, it's not happening for you right now, man. And it's really upsetting because, you know, Marcus Pedersen, his partner has been really freaking good this year. And, you know, Marino is not taking advantage of that. You know, I know he usually plays his best hockey next to Pedersen. And that was true last year when the underlying number supported that. But this year, you know, it's just, it's been anything but a good season from Reno on both ends of the rink.

I hate when he comes into the zone and kind of just stops and, you know, flings it wherever and then it's just basically a turnover. We need to see more out of him at this point. I don't know if that means deploying him better, you know, putting him in a better, I don't know. I don't know how you're going to put him in a better position to see, you know, more defensive zone draws. I don't know at this point.

But, you know, the coaching staff needs to figure it out and figure out quick because, you know, he signed for, he signed for, what, another five million years at almost $4.5 million per. That contract could look dicey pretty freaking. soon. So I definitely want him to be figured out there. Brian Rust, I mean, you know, another two goals tonight. This is ridiculous what we have been seeing from him this season, well over a point per game. At this point, I think the penguins are going to have to figure out a way to keep him. But, you know, the thing, what I've been saying is, how are you going

to accomplish that? I understand Kisbury-Captain is probably not going back next season, at least, you know, in my opinion, he should not be. That's some money right there. You already signed Jeff Carter. What's going to happen with Evan Rodriguez? Do you let him walk? You see where I'm going now? What about Jason Zucker? That's $5.5 million on your cap.

Are you going to find a taker that will eat at least half of his salary? That might be easier said than done because some teams may look at him and they may see the talent, but they could say, oh, is he not going to produce like he hasn't in Pittsburgh this season? Or, you know, in person's the last season where the puck was just not going in the next. I think it would probably be a little bit easier to trade him, you know, in comparison to like someone like Jack Johnson, because, you know, his value, I think, was even lower than Jason's. But I do think some teams are going to be scared just, you know,

because of the contract situation. And right, we so he makes $5 million for another year. You know, he's been in another lineup this year. Last year he wasn't scoring a lot. You know, that trade is definitely looking like a bus when at the time, you know, it was looking pretty good just because with how, excuse me, with how great he was playing in Minnesota. That's probably where you get your cap room.

If you can have another team, excuse me, take most of Zucker's contract, you get cappelin off the books, and then whatever happens with Rodriguez happens, you probably will be able to sign Rust for, you know, see, it's tough.

You know, I was probably going to say probably, but will he sign five times six? I don't know. I think at this point, it might have to be five times seven. And are the penguins, comfortable giving him that kind of term and that AAB.

And to the fans that are listening to this podcast, are you comfortable by giving a 30-year-old player who plays a very physical game? And I know produces very much, but he's on the wrong side of 30 at this point. Are you comfortable giving him, you know, almost Chris Lattang money at this point with what Lattang is making right now? That's my biggest question.

And, you know, it's going to be a very challenging situation, I think for Ron Hextall because I don't know what you do here. I mean, obviously I think, excuse me, Chris LaTang and Evgeny Malkin take precedence and rightfully so they're two of the best players to ever play for your franchise. But Brian Ross, with how great that he has been ever since coming up from Wooksbury, you know, six years ago, I think he definitely needs to be kept.

It's just can the penguins make it work money-wise? I'm still a bit skeptical of all myself. That said, I would love for him to stay. I think they hopefully can figure out a way to do it. It's a matter of how creative Ron Hextel and Brian Burke will get in that department. So those are my thoughts with the Brian Russ situation. I will say Chris LaTangwise, who I am the show here. I've been noticing this a little bit more throughout the last week or two.

He needs to stop with these dumb cross-sized passes when an opposing penalty killer is right at the blue line. They're going to intercept that every time. And that's exactly what Nick Dow did. He gets a breakaway scores on Tristan Jari. That's not a pass you can make there. You got to either dump it in or just keep the puck. You know, attempt to make him move, dump it in. You can't go cross-iceback guy.

I know he's a very high-risk player. That's who he always has been. He's going to make a lot of money on his next contract, whether it's here, hopefully, or for another team. But, you know, those errors definitely do add up. I'm sure Penguins Chronicles on social media is going to chronicle that because for some reason he has a vendetta against Kristen Tang. But otherwise, I thought he paid a problem.

played a pretty flawless game. And overall, just, you know, the Penguins got on Lucky tonight. That's how she blows. It's an 8-2 game season. There's going to be a lot of ebbs and flows. Yes, this team is going to win games moving forward. They're not going to go on.

I don't think of... Knock on wood. I'll knock on wood to make sure this does not happen. God forbid they would go on a 13-year losing trick like the Philadelphia Flyers or something like that. But they were able to get three out of eight points. It's still big. They're keeping pace with some of the other teams.

It's just a matter of getting back into the wind column. and being consistent because I really thought the team played a very sound game tonight. It was just that the mistakes that they made like the Kings game ended up in the back of their net and they also were not finishing their chances. And, you know, the other goaltender and Elias and Samsonoff stood on his head. But that would do it for this episode of Lockdown Penguins podcast. I have a couple of, you know, big surprises for, you know, later this week. Well, at least one big one of special guests joining the show on Thursday.

Despite no more games this week, you know, the grind does not stop. know, we had 15,000 downloads last month in January. That's the most all time for this show. Can't thank all of you enough for continually downloading this podcast. And listen to me blabber about this team for, you know, 25 to 30 minutes every weekday. You know, it warms my heart that everyone, it warms my heart that, you know, a good chunk of people just love hearing what I have to say. And you, the listeners, I'm talking you all right now, you are the reason why I continually do this each and every day. So thank you all so much for listening to this one.

I'll be back on Wednesday with another episode for the show. I'll talk to you all then.