Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins are still winning, despite a drop in play!

Episode Date: January 17, 2022

The Penguins will finally conclude their long Western swing on Monday night in Las Vegas, but first, they got a gigantic win against the Sharks on Saturday. Hunter goes into his biggest takeaways from that game and it starts with how the team is able to win, despite not playing their best. He touches on how Louis Domingue basically stole that game, plus argues for him to get more starts. Could he be the answer at backup? Could the team not have to look for a trade? Sidney Crosby also woke up from a small slumber and Hunter breaks down the OT winner and how he was able to make that play. Is a breakout (goal-wise) coming from him? From there, he previews Monday night's matchup against Las Vegas and also talks about how the top 8 teams in the conference are virtually locked in.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.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.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, happy Monday. Welcome to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. You know to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Also follow the shows Twitter, L.O. R-School Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. Penguins, back in the wind, column from this weekend. They take down the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, a two to one victory in overtime. They will wrap up this long six game trip,

most of it against Western teams tonight, Monday night, 10 o'clock start time in the Sin City, of course, Las Vegas to play a very good Golden Knights team. We will have a full preview of that matchup coming up later on for today's show. But first off, we're going to do a little bit of a recap of the game against San Jose. First off, let me just get this out. of the way. The team has not played that well the last four games. I mean, I know that's very obvious to say, but I had to get it out of the way. You know, the Penguins are not at the level

that, you know, we had seen during the 10-game winning street. And you know what? That's fine. It really is. You're not going to play that well every single game of the season. You're not. You're going to have lulls. It's an 82-game season. The Capitals have lost, what, four or five, five out of their last six, you know, for the past week, week and a half. That's the kind of stuff that happens, you know, during any of two game regular season. I would not be surprised if that happens, you know, at some point here for the Penguins. There's a lot of highs. There's a lot of lows.

But overall, this team is still pretty good. That said, good teams still find a way to eke out wins when they're not playing their best hockey. Now, they definitely deserve to lose the Kings game. I know that was tied a couple minutes into the third period. and then the Kings just blew the doors open when their expected goals was through the root for that game. I mean, that entire period, I think they were expected goals for was around five or six. And, you know, they scored four goals in that period. And for the game, it was close to there as well.

The Kings definitely deserved to win that game. The Sharks won. I thought San Jose had the better of the play. I thought Pittsburgh was pushing a bit more in the third period when they weren't having to kill a penalty every five seconds. But, you know, the PK got the job done. You know, that four-minute double minor, you know, against one of the leagues does power plays, they probably score. But you know what, San Jose's power play, it's not that good.

So the Penguins are able to take advantage of that. And especially with Brock McGinn coming back, I can't say enough how great he has been for the Penguins this season. I know some people are always going to be, you know, just in love with Brandon Tanna, with what he brought the last couple of years. I get it. But I think McGinn is a more complete player than Tanev. He's cheaper.

He's a better goal score, provides more offense, and he's just as good, if not better, on the PK. I mean, that basically just describes being a more complete player. I don't know why I had to include both in there, but you know what? Maybe we're having a little bit of a case of the Mondays here. But, you know, you could definitely tell how much the Penguins missed him in the lineup. And, you know, he was great on the PK there overall. You know, my second biggest takeaway. Again, you know, Louis Deming, he came in.

He was sensational for the penguins, just making save after save, after save. I didn't like some of the juicy rebounds that he gave up. I thought, you know, he's definitely going to have to correct some of those at some point here. But overall, I was really impressed with how he played. The only goal that he gave up, he had no chance on it. was a hell of a pass from Carlson to Ballsters. You know, again, it went, what? Gloves side.

I almost forgot that he is, he catches with his right hand, not his left. So gloves side with his right hand, but there was really no chance he was going to make that save. Just a beautiful pass, beautiful shot as well. But, you know, he gave them strong goal-tending in the backup position that, you know, the penguins have not gotten this season. And don't get wrong, I was a little surprised that they were starting to make. in that game. But towards the end, I'm glad that they did because they need to start giving Tristan Jari

more rest as the season goes on. You know, Josh Leo, he put this in his column the other day of the athletic. Jari has played one of the top three most games as a starting goaltender this season. He needs more rest. I've said this on the podcast. I'll say it again. Remember what happened with Kerry Price last year. And no, I'm not comparing the two. Obviously, Kerry Price has a lot of success for his career. But he didn't play as much in the regular season. I know he wasn't that good. But when he was rested for the playoffs,

when the games really matter what happened, he stepped his game up, played like the best goaltender on the planet that we saw from 2015 to 2017, took Montreal to the final. I think that's where Mike Sullivan is going here with Tristan Jari a little bit. You know,

he wants him to be a little more rested going into the playoffs because as it right now, the East is basically locked up. I'm going to get into that a little bit later on in this episode as well. But just a really solid performance. And I want to see what else he can do. Now, do I think that he is the long-term answer for this backup position?

Probably not. You know, I think they're still going to have to go out and move an asset or two to get a backup goaltender. But I think right now he is a better option than, you know, Casey and Smith just because DeSmith has been really bad this year. And he proved that in the start. you know, let's see what he can do. There's going to be a back-to-back later this week with Columbus and Ottawa.

Not really sure which one he'll start. If I had to guess, it's probably the one against Ottawa. I think they would want to save Jari for a metropolitan game. Even though the jackets are not that good this season. So I'm curious to see just, you know, where the conundrum goes with that. But overall, very impressed with him. He made a lot of 10-bell saves when the penguins badly needed them, especially, you know, in the high danger areas.

I mean, he was a rock for them. I'm sorry, I'm just sending a text here while I record this. So just real quickly, it's just for my girlfriend is just sent out text. Now, this is the perfect podcast radio that you all are hoping for. But anyways, the lone goal that the Penguins were prior to overtime, Chris Latang. I mean, I don't know just, I honestly am running out of things to say about him this year. just that burst of speed that you saw on that goal. It's just, it was remarkable.

Okay, I am done with sending this text. So, all right, whatever. All right, we're done with that. I'll probably just edit that out and then we'll be done with that. Okay, anyways, just, you know, the burst of speed that we saw from him there. I mean, it was just ridiculous. I mean, he just blew past the defender, does his patentant forehand, backhand move. He does that all the time.

in shootouts. I'm not surprised he used it there. Aiden Hill had no chance on that the ping was able to tie the game. This is the best hockey I've seen Chris Lange play since 2016. He stays owning the San Jose Sharks. That's something we all love to see. We all know he played his best hockey of his career in the Stanley Cup final in 2016. And honestly, that entire playoff run. But right now, his play is rivaling what we saw back then.

I'm running out of things to say at this point. said that he's top 10 in average game score. I've said that he's basically a point per game player. I've said that his defensive work continues to be outstanding. He is now, I believe, in terms of franchise all-time points, he just cracked the top five. I'm trying to actually go find that tweet. If I recall correctly, he had a pretty big milestone. Yeah, all-time point leaders. Chris LaTang now broke a tie with Ron Francis. He has the sixth most points. in franchise history, 22 behind Rick Kehoe.

So he'll break that easily. He probably will do that this season, though is he going to catch Yager at 1,079? No, is he going to catch Malkin, Crosby, or Lemieux? No, but that he will be top five for probably at least the next decade unless they have another superstar comes in here and just, you know, kicks ass and takes names or something like that. But just a marvelous game from him.

And, you know, the overtime winner, just that's been coming, I think, from Sid for a really long time. I know he's been, you know, working his way back. I think he's played a much better hockey these last couple of weeks. Ever since he came back from COVID, what was it? And, you know, late November, almost early December. He's been top five in points during that span. But, you know, he hasn't been scoring as much. That's, I think, been the big knock on him from a lot of, you know, people on social media, message boards.

You know, takes IC on, you know, radios and all, radio stuff and all that. But when he is making the plays that we saw in the overtime winner to Jake Gensel, you know that the scoring slump is only going to continue for so much longer. You know, it's going to break here, I think, sooner rather than later. He absolutely dismantled Brent Burns on that play, takes the puck, goes far, left. Burns doesn't even have a chance skating-wise on Sid and he's able to put it to the front of the net. Jake boxes out his man has a tap-in goal. The Penguins go home with two points or they go to Vegas at least. And there you have it. You know, again, this is probably a game if the Penguins had no

business winning because their level of play has Dippy's last four games. I know Mike Sullivan has not liked the performance in most of these games. He said as such, especially after the Kings game. I know this is a very hard and long road trip, but you know, you got to win some of these games even when you're not playing your best. And that is exactly what the penguins did, you know, in this game. So I'm really excited about it. You know, finish off this road trip tonight in Vegas. We're going to have a full preview of that matchup coming up here in the second segment. But, you know, that's just huge. You know, they needed those two points. I wanted at least one point none of that, even though the penguins were not playing that well. But, you know, I was, of course,

I'm very happy with the two. We'll see if they can get two more tonight. Before we get into our preview for the game against Vegas, it is a new year, so that means New Year's resolutions. If yours is about getting fit or eating healthier, make sure you include Bilt Bar in your plan. Bill Bar is the protein bar that tastes like a candy bar, maybe even better than a candy bar as well. Bill Bar makes it easier to stick to your resolution because it tastes so good. You'll want eat it. Unlike other protein bars, which can be chalky or waxy or tice, like a chemical spill. You want to eat healthy, but it just gets so boring. By like week three, you might be thinking this is just not worth it.

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I am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow those shows Twitter at L.O. and score penguins. So big game tonight, as I've said for the millionth time on this episode, six-game road trip ends against the Vegas Golden Knights. I always love these games just because I think Vegas is a really good team. Jack Eichol is not back yet, but I mean, he's probably, I would say, I think, a few weeks away

at this point, it's just going to make him that much more scarier. You know, Vegas is a contender, and rightfully so. Overall, team-wise, they have 52% of the expected goals this season, 54% of the actual goals, 52% of the shot attempts at 5-e-5. They have a plus 14 goal differential. These are also the best marks in the league. 2.9.1 actual goals for per 60, 2.4-8 goals against per 60. Their expected goals is 2.7 per 60, so their actual goals, they're outperforming,

and they're expected goals against, you know, it's actually right on cue with 2.48. Overall, what lines that we're looking at for tonight? Dad andaw with Chandler-Stevenson and Mark Stone, I will always say I love watching Mark Stone play. I don't care. I don't think this is a hot take. I think he's a top 10 player league wide. I would love for people to come up with 10 players that are better than Mark Stone. His two-way work, especially in the defensive zone, is second to none.

He's an elite playmaker in the offensive zone. He's in a hell of a goal score as well. The Penguins need to have their eyes on him at all times. I think the Knights got him for a steal when he got traded from Ottawa. Basically, whatever they gave up right now, I don't really think is being used in Ottawa. That's for sure. They got him for pennies on the dollar. And he is a superstar in this league, and rightfully.

So, Chandler season, he's been pretty good. Daddanov, you know, they got it during the all season. You know, they still have that, you know, misfits line, as they call it. You know, Riley Smith with William Carlson and Jonathan Marchesoe. Of course, they got March or so. I mean, Riley Smith from the Panthers in the expansion draft. And then, you know, William Carlson as well, all three players are having really good seasons, too. Bottom six wise, they have Nicholas Raw with Matthias Yanmarked down there.

A old friend, Nolan Patrick of the Philadelphia Flyers is down there. Carrier is down there too. Defensively, I mean, when you can trot out Alex Petrangelo and Shea Theodore on the same freaking pairing, I mean, good Lord. No, no, sorry. When you can trot out those two players on two different pairings, apologize for that, you are doing something right. I mean, those are two of the best defensemen in the league.

Personally, I think Shea Theodore is better. I think he has the better numbers, especially analytically wise. He's better offensively. But Transalo is still really good. He's playing on a high level. But, you know, Vegas is going for it. You know, they have an owner that is willing to spend a lot of money. He wants to win in some of the franchise's first few years.

I respect it. You know, I know some people around the league don't like how they do business just because, you know, they make all these trades and they make dumb these. players after a year or two, just on other players. But you know what? That's just the reality of sports, you know, as a whole, you know, they're in it to win it. They will stop at nothing to win it. And they have a really good shot at doing it this year.

They also have Zach Whitecloud on their defensive corps, McNabb as well. And then goaltending-wise, it looks like they're going to be starting Robin Leonard tonight. Of course, as Mark Andre Thurie is not there anymore, he's now with the Chicago Blackcox. And, you know, maybe he'll be traded, you know, before the trade deadline. Penguins injury notes. So Brian Rust looks pretty probable to return tonight from COVID. That's huge. We also have Jason Zucker.

It looks like he's a game time decision. I would expect him back as well. He's been practicing with the team for close to a week now. It looks like Casperor Borkwist and Redeems O'Hourna are not on the active roster anymore. Poor Seth Rorba. So those two players will be coming out of the lineup. Zucker and Russ will be coming back in. And, you know, with Malkin playing now, it's getting really close to a fully healthy lineup peeps.

Only two left, Aston Reese and Denton Hinen. And those two players will be coming out of COVID protocol any day now, I believe. The only other player that's in COVID protocol is Casey DeSmith. He's the backup goaltender. But in terms of healthy forwards, two more until this lineup is rocking and rolling. and then this team, knock on wood, will be fully healthy, defensive corpse, forwards, and goaltending, especially when Desmith comes back. And then we can hopefully see what the penguins look like when this team is fully healthy.

They've just about got there. The injuries are basically done. It's all up to, you know, a COVID outbreak and stuff. It looks like they've slowed the spread from the second one. Knock on wood again. I'm not doing that on my dresser right now. let's see what happens, but this is the closest they have been to a fully healthy lineup this year. It is crazy that they've won 12 of their last 15 games.

But this is still going to be a tough game tonight. Vegas plays a very fast, high-tempo game. They use a lot of speed. Their four check is ferocious. Their defensive work is also really good. Again, this is one of the best analytical teams in the league. They have been that, you know, even after they fired Garard Galant, and I still think that was kind of a weird move. you know they brought peter de bourne and he's still gotten a good chunk um

out of you know the golden nights they honestly should have went to the final actually but you know you lost the freaking montreal canadians you probably don't deserve to go to the final i thought that was a layup series for vegas i thought they were for sure going to return to the final you know carry price and the haves it other ideas but this is still really good team and once they get jack ike on there good luck everybody i mean i think the only team in the West that could potentially beat them with that healthy lineup and Patcher Ready. Remember, Patcher Reddy's not in there either right now.

When those two come back, the only other team I think that can beat Vegas is Colorado. I mean, they have the best quintet in the league with, you know, with Landis Cog, McKinnon, and Ransan, and they can also put out McCar and one of Gerard or Devontaves. It doesn't really matter. They're both ridiculously good. And that's the best quintet in hockey, at least in my opinion.

So I'm excited for this one. Remember, 10 o'clock start. That will be the last 10 o'clock start. I believe for the rest of the season, if my memory serves me right. I know they have to play out in the desert against the coyotes, but I don't think that's going to be a 10 o'clock start. I'll check the schedule real quick to see if I can find it. But yeah, let me just do that here real quickly.

I believe that is the very last late night start. Yeah, the time they play in Arizona is a 5 o'clock start. That'll be March 19th. So after tonight, there are no more 10 o'clock games for the rest of the year. So you need to get your coffee up. Go do that. But excited for this one. Coming up in the next segment, we're going to go into just the division as a whole

and why making up even more ground on the top three teams, I think is going to be really challenging for the penguins down the stretch here. But before we do that, bet on line, I'd like to wish you a happy new betting years. We continue our march to the playoffs and beyond. bet online remains the number one spot for all the best sports wagering action for 2022. It's a new year and that means a new updated desktop and mobile website to snap today and receive 50% off welcome bonus on your first deposit. Just use the promo code

locked on to get started. Ben online is the fastest, easiest way to bet on all of your favorite sports. That is Ben online where the game starts. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes on the screen if you're watching on YouTube, follow the shows Twitter, L.O. underscore Penguins. So if we look at the standings right now, and I talked about,

I touched on this on my social media last week in case some of you all did not see this, look at the top eight teams if you look up the standings, you know, on your phone, your laptop, iPad, whatever. All of the eight teams right now are fully comfortably in a playoff position. The closest team to the Boston Bruins, they have 46 points, are the Detroit Red Wings at 41, and the Bruins have five games in hand on them. The Red Wings have played 40 games this year. The Penguins have played 37, the Bruins play 35. Pittsburgh is eight points up on them.

Boston is five points up on them. Behind Detroit, Columbus at 36 games. They are 11 points out of a playoff spot behind Boston, 14 points behind Pittsburgh. And then Philadelphia is right behind them at 33. They have played 37 games. So in terms of the Metropolitan Division, If we're just looking at division standings, the penguins had a 14-point cushion between fourth and fifth. I mean, it is crazy how the top eight teams are basically locked into the playoffs,

and it's basically the same teams last year except for the Rangers are in, and the Islanders are probably not going to get in. And here's the funny thing. Right now, the Penguins are five points out of first in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers are at 54, the Penguins are 49. Carolina is at 52, Washington is at 51. The Penguins have two games in hand. on both the Rangers and the Capitals.

That said, as I said earlier, the Penguins have won 12 of their last 15 games. During that span, they have hardly even gained any ground on the top teams in the division. I mean, sure, there are two points behind Washington, but in terms of the Rangers, there's still five points behind them. That just goes to show how tough it is

to make up ground during a season. So if there's other teams out there They're saying like well you know we're seven points out There's still a chance you know I've seen some others fans say you know The season's not over yet I mean people they have I know they have games in hand and everyone But right now they are 18 points out of a playoff spot You're not gonna make up that ground with 50 games to go

I mean I will be more than willing to be wrong But it is so tough and only four months time To make up so much ground Even if you're like I said six or seven points heck maybe even five points out, you are up a creek at this point. Especially in the Red Wings case, they have definitely exceeded expectations this year, but they're now five points back of the Bruins, and the Bruins have five games in hand on that.

I mean, that's virtually impossible to make up unless the Bruins go on a massive losing streak, or God forbid they have a COVID outbreak. And the same for the Penguins, that is. So I really just wanted to get into that and just show everyone that the Penguins virtually have a playoff spot locked up right now. It's all about who are they going to play in the playoffs. Can they get a top three in Metro? Can they try and get home ice?

They're three points out of that with Carolina right now. Carolina, though, has games in hand. The biggest thing that's going to make the difference with the Penguins is those individual games. And the funny thing is their schedule is loaded with division games in the back half. They have not played the hurricanes this year. They have not played the Rangers this year. They still play Washington two more times.

You know, they still play Philadelphia a couple more times. They still play New Jersey a couple more times. Have they still play the Islanders? Three more times. They have yet to play the Bruins this season. You know, they're getting a lot of these Western teams out of the way. So the points are going to matter a lot more towards a playoff seed in the second half of the season, you know, just because they haven't played a lot of these teams yet.

But if the Penguins can win those head-to-head matchups, they will have a really good chance of getting potentially home ice in a Stanley Cup playoffs. So I wanted to just touch on that a little bit. I haven't gone into that a lot of the podcast recently, but it is pretty crazy to think about that, you know, the East is basically locked up at this point. The only thing we need to figure out is who will play who in the playoffs. Obviously, there's still four months to go.

Anything is possible. I just think it's unlikely as of right now. But that'll do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. coming up for Tuesday show, we will have a full game recap of the game against Vegas, and then for the rest of the league, we'll have some recaps of the two games, especially on Thursday and Friday.

Probably have a preview for those two games on Wednesday, and then Thursday, full game recap after Friday. Same thing as well. So thank you all so much for listening. Remember, go follow Chris Carter for Lockdown Stewart. They just finished up their season this past weekend. He's going to have a ton of off-season content over there. And, of course, go follow Ethan with Lockedon.

pirates to get your baseball talking. They both do tremendous jobs for this network. And you know, when, you know, you listen to one Pittsburgh podcast, you have to listen to everyone, right? But thank you all so much for listening. I'll be back tomorrow with a full game recap, and I'll talk to you all then.