Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins continue to beat the great teams!

Episode Date: March 15, 2022

The Pittsburgh Penguins became winners again on Sunday as they took down the Carolina Hurricanes. Hunter starts out the show by touching on the key points from Sunday's game and he starts with the Penguins' pretty bad third period. He speaks about how the team was able to overcome an onslaught from Carolina and how sometimes, you simply just have to win ugly. He brings up Tristan Jarry's stellar play and how he bailed the team out on numerous occasions. After that, Hunter shouts out the depth scoring for showing up yet again after Ron Hextall called them out just a few days prior. Can those players get back to where they were earlier in the season? How will the team fare against Carolina in the playoffs? He then looks at the latest Penguins trade rumors with the Canucks and if a deal makes sense. Which player does Hunter prefer? Can there be a match? Finally, Hunter previews Tuesday's matchup against Nashville as the tough schedule continues.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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensAthletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NHLNETWORK. 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.

Hey everyone, happy Monday. Of course, there's so much to get into for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Going to go over some key points from Sunday's massive win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Penguins finally got that monkey off their backs. Also, of course, trade rumors. We're just going to continue to plow through those on this episode. And of course, this entire week. If my luck has it, you know, maybe they'll make a trade while I'm recording right now. Probably not, but, you know, you never know at this point.

And, of course, we're going to preview Tuesday night's game down. in Nashville. That's all coming up 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 another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes.

Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter, L.O. underscore Penguins. Today's episode is brought to you by Bet Online. Ben Lines to cover this season with more. odds and lines of the Ebro-O-4. That has been online where the game starts. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So starting things off, let me get into some key points from that game against Carolina,

a four to two Penguins win. So they lose the season series, but again, three out of a possible six points against the hurricanes. And this was a big win for Pittsburgh. You know, they're now five and one-in-one in this massive nine-game stretch against some of the best teams in league. I'm including Columbus in that because I think they're better than a lot of people give them credit for. But, you know, if you shrink it even further a little bit, three and one in one versus Carolina twice, Tampa Bay, Vegas and Florida. That is a seven out of a possible 10 points. You take that every single time.

For those people that are saying, well, you know, the Penguins can't play against the best teams in the league or, you know, they're not really not good. Well, I think they just proved that they can play against the best teams in the league. And not only can they play with them, they can beat them. And we saw them, again, take down the hurricanes 4 to 2 on Sunday. Honestly, I saw some people, you know, a lot more negative than I thought they would be. I didn't like the third period. I guess we'll start there. And we'll just get the negative out of the way.

I thought they were really on their heels for a team that didn't play the day before and in Carolina did to get that badly out attempted and out-shocks. the score effects are just really bad. I think that's kind of unacceptable. You know, I didn't really think Tristan Jari needed to stand on his head there. But, you know, that kind of period, sometimes you're going to have periods like that

in playoff games. That's how these things go sometimes. You're not going to be bringing, you know, excuse me, your 100% best effort every single period. Hell, it's very hard to outplay a team like Carolina for 64 minutes. any good team in the league for that matter. You know, I just, you know, I know it was too nothing and maybe they were just

turtling a little bit, but it didn't really look like it at times. But, you know, Tristan was staming on his head, playing really well. Sometimes, again, you need your goalie to be your best player. And he was that. But I still would have liked to see more offensive zone pressure and much better for checking in that period. I just didn't really like how Carolina continued to get, you know, look after look after look. You know, they made it two to one a little over five minutes into the third period.

Brett Peschi makes a two to one there. And then the Penguins, they're just thrown their heels for the rest of the time. I mean, Carolina had some great chances to tie it. I'm glad the Penguins were able to, you know, play at least decent defensively at times. But, you know, it was mainly Tristan Jari was the only reason that game was two to one hitting in the final couple of minutes. I mean, if he's not on his A game, that game is tied, probably going overtime. And who knows if the penguins even win that game. He was their best player.

And again, sometimes you got to win ugly. I mean, every team has to do it once in a while. And I'm glad the penguins were able to. It's a big win. It shows that they can beat Carolina because I think had they lost this game, you know, I'm curious to see, you know, what they will be thinking about this, going into the playoffs, they'd be a team that, you know, got swept in the season series. I know that doesn't really mean much come playoff time for some people.

You know, it resets, zero, zero. It's like you haven't really played them. You know, remember, penguins won all three meetings against Boston 2013. What happened after that? They got swept. So it's nothing, it's not like that big of a deal, but still, you know, I wonder at times, you know, would there be like a psychological advantage, you know, for Carolinas because they beat them three times in a row? and the penguins, you know, honestly, they didn't really lead that many times in those three games.

That said, outside of that period, I thought the penguins played pretty well. That first period, I thought Carolina dictated the first 10 minutes, but Pittsburgh really pushed back in those final 10 minutes. That was a really nice showing there. They were forechecking a lot better. Defensively, you know, they started out a little rough in that first period, but they didn't really give up a lot. in the next half and then the Penguins are able to make it one to nothing.

Thanks to Brian Boyle. And what a story he's been this year. I can't say enough positive things about Brian Boyle. He's been that good. And, you know, in a perfect world, he's probably your 13 forward on come playoff time. I know the deadline is still seven days away. We're going to have to see what Ron Hextall does. You're going to have to see how the overall health of the team is.

know Jason Zupor's already back skating. He's been putting up some really good sessions lately. He's not skating with the team, but he's skating with some of the other, the strength and conditioning people. But, you know, it's still great that the Penguins, you know, they have Boyle just in their pocket, honestly, you know, if they need it.

And he's exceeded all my expectations this year. I think he's exceeded everyone's expectations this year for the fan base. So I can't be more thrilled with him. Great finish pass, anti-Ranta. Also, what a pass by Teddy Bluger. To feed that right under the stick. I believe it was Slavin, who was covering him. I mean, that's just, that's a beautiful passing play.

And, you know, it's plays like that that really stand out to me. I know he does a lot of the little stuff so well. He's great on the PK. It was pretty good against Carolina's power play on Sunday. but man, is he good with those nice little soft passes right to the high danger zone? You know, again, where Boyle's able to finish it. It's just, you know, you can't replace that in the bottom six. So he's such a fun player to watch.

And I'm really glad that he is back healthy. I'm sure he's going to ditch that full face screen, full face shield, excuse me, pretty soon. And then, you know, the Penguins, you know, they were able to make it 2-0. Denton Hinen gets his 13th of the year. his career high is 16. You know, the Penguins continuing to get some depth scoring. That is huge. Remember, Ron Hextall called his team out late last week saying,

you know what, I'm not getting enough scoring from the bottom guys. And the first 30 to 35 games, I was loving it. Lately, it's not been happening. He was basically challenging the bottom of his lineup to come in and produce. And they have done exactly that. These last two games, you know, you look at the goal scores from the game. against Vegas to the game now against Carolina. Think about it.

Mike Matheson scored. Hell, Zach Aston-Reese finally comes out of the woodworks. I know it's an empty-net goal, but, you know, who knows what that does for his conference. Jeff Carter scores, Evan Rod Wigis scores, Dan Hinen scores. He's been a bit cold. You know, again, Brian Boyle, as I just said, you know, it's players like these that they got to step up down the stretch. And I know at times, you're paying a lot of these players.

to play the bottom six and there are going to be stretches where they don't score, you know, for 15 to 16 games because usually these guys score what, 10 to 15 a game. But that said, you know, their play still needs to be a bit better at times. And I think this has been a really big step in the direction,

you know, for the depth of this team because all those players were so good for the first half of the season. And I know they went cold. But to see them, you know, finally step up and especially against Carolina, because for the first time in quite a while, the penguin's top line was pretty bad.

Sidney Crosby looked way off in that game. It's a mulligan. He's going to be fine. Brian Rust was, okay, Jake Gensel was all right, but usually that line is carrying the penguins, right? But not in that game. It was the depth scoring that finally came back as it did against Vegas.

That has to continue if the penguins are going to go, excuse me, on a Stanley Cup run. So really nice to see that back again. First, second game in a row. Cindy Crosby's empty net goal, though, was just spectacular. Basically a 200-foot empty-nutter. I don't even know how you aim from down there. That's just, that's crazy.

And of course, you know, Zach Aston-Rees, he is able to get back on the score sheet. Only his second goal of the Ayr. No, it's an empty-net goal, but, you know, maybe this does wonders for his confidence. I'm trying to think of anything. else that I missed for this game. You know, again, Tristan Jari was spectacular.

This was probably one of his best starts of the year. Was making save after save after save. You know, and again, as I said a few minutes ago, you need your goalie to have games like that at times, especially in the playoffs. Because the Penguins, they're not going to have their best efforts at times in the playoffs. But if their goalie is able to make some key saves

and keep them in it and they are still able to win ugly, a win is a win at the end of the day. So really nice performance from him. I'm going to get to a little more on the game coming up here in the next segment. Obviously, we have a lot more to talk about for this episode as well, including some more trade rumors with Vancouver, Pittsburgh, preview for the game against Nashville. But before I get to that, our next partner has a product that I have been using a lot for the last week. So I started taking athletic greens last week.

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Again, that is athletic greens.com slash NHL Network to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. So remember a while ago when that Art Museum Mattress Factory asked me to do some promos? Well, I have great news for you all. 22 of you bought tickets through that link, which was way more than they anticipated. Thank you for showing up and proving the hockey fans are more complex than a lot of art people give us credit for. Your response is why they wanted to come back and make a big investment in bridging that

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I'm going to be reading and replying to some select comments here on the show. Just saying, I warn them that you're going to be honest, but hey, you know, just be cool about it. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You know to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. Hensquardnersquare Penguins. So a couple other thoughts from the game against Carolina on Sunday. Kersbury Kappen comes back into the lineup.

Actually had a couple of good scoring chances. You know, it's baby steps. You know, very nice. Came in on a 2-1, decided not to pass it as he's done so many times, and actually had a nice wrist shot on Ranta, better save. Another time he comes into the zone, right boards again, fires a nice slapper that he probably scores last year, but this time it's saved again.

But, you know, it's a process. It's a process. You know, I'm glad that he was actually having much more of a shoot-first mentality, at least. So to see that, it makes me a little bit happy. I know it's probably not going to be much in the long run. But, you know, I think it was at least, a little bit of a step in the right direction.

Obviously, Marcus Pedersen was scratched. Definitely a little surprised, but, you know, I think Sullivan wants to see how Mark Friedman dies with a bigger sample size because he has been pretty good. I don't have a problem with it, but it does create an interesting situation with the Penguins Blue Line here, which I guess leads me into, you know, some of the trade rumors. You know, the Penguins and Canucks, it sounds like they've been talking a whole lot lately. and per Elliott Friedman on the Jeff Merrick Show, 32 Thoughts podcast, and, you know, Hockey Night in Canada this weekend,

it sounds like old friend Jimmy Rutherford and Patrick Alvin, they've been asking about John Marino. They would like to acquire for him. I'm sure the penguins would level forward in return, you know, Besser, Garland, heck even J.T. Miller, somehow that's probably not going to happen. But, you know, but Friedman did say it doesn't sound like the penguins are interested in trading Marino because they think. highly of him.

And, you know, I would have to agree at this juncture. I think that's a move that you maybe explore over the summer once Chris LaTang is signed. I am not a fan of trading John Mariner right now because say you do and say Chris LaTang walks, what are we doing? In all seriousness, what are we doing here? What is the plan for those top two right-handed defensive slots? I mean, is Chabarillo going to go up there and play top pairing minutes? Nope.

Is Mark Frebin up there going to go play top pairing minutes? Nope. I don't think they are. They're going to have to either go out and make a couple trades, mess on a couple free agents, you know, and maybe, you know, John Kleenberg, of course, is going to be out there. I know the stars are basically keeping him right now as a rental. But, you know, it doesn't make, I guess, a lot of sense for the penguins

to go out in trade marina right now. I think personally it would make more sense to go out and maybe trade Pedersen over Marino. And I know how good Pedersen is at, you know, his own entry denials and all of his defensive work. It's all very good. You know, his underlying numbers are, you know, they're great, to say the least. But I still think that's a position of strength that the penguins can deal from. And again, Per Freedman, the Canucks actually have Pedersen circled as another target for the penguin. So I don't know if there is a deal we made there.

Freedman kind of pooh-poohed that on a lot of other, you know, just all of the shows that he appeared on. So, you know, we'll have to see where this next week takes us. You know, maybe talks can get rekindled or something like that. But as of right now, it doesn't look likely to happen. Again, my top target from Vancouver would be Connor Garland. Five times five, better underlying numbers. I think he's a better finisher than Besser. I think he's a better playmaker than him.

He's better defensively. You can honestly play him on any line, either wing, to be honest. Besser has that massive qualifying offer. And outside of, you know, sometimes scoring, I mean, he doesn't really bring a lot to the table. You know, I would still welcome him as an addition here, but I would prefer to go after someone like Garland.

That's just that that's my opinion, though. I don't really know if Vancouver wants to give them up. I mean, Vegas has been really bad lately. The Canucks are right there in the playoff chase. So we are going to have to see what happens there with that, you know, for over this next week, to say the least. I think that basically wraps up all the trade rumors that I've been hearing on the Penguins. There's really just been, it's been pretty quiet. You know, obviously Ron Hextall keeps a very low profile.

He doesn't, he's not going to say much. but again, I still feel like it's proven for him to go out and get another winger. This team has proven that they can play with the top teams only. They're five and one and one in their last seven, three and one and one in their last five. I know they have two more coming up. Three more games total until the deadline, Nashville, St. Louis, and Arizona. But I still think Ron has to go out and at least do something, in my opinion. I don't really think I have anything else to touch on from the Carolina game.

Just a great win, and the Penguins are still still. second place right now in the Metropolitan Division, and it would be one hell of a series if those two teams go at it. But coming up in the next segment, we're going to preview the game on Tuesday against Nashville, and would you believe me if I told you that Matt Dushan has 31 goals this year? Nope. It's, I am dead serious.

I saw, I was reading, I was honestly scrolling Twitter today, and I saw Adam Gretz wrote the article for, I believe it was pro hockey talk on NBC. And I was just like, what? Yeah, he has 31 goals, 59 points in 55 games. And this is a player that was not really that good last year. He only had 13 points in 34 games the year before that. 13 goals, 42 points. This is the first time he scored 30 since 2015, 16, when he was with Colorado.

But that's all coming up in the next segment when I do a full preview. It's that time of year again as college basketball's tournament is finally upon us. March Madness is here from all the latest odds, contests, and player props. Betonline.com.com. That's the number one source for all of your sports betting needs and info. Betonline remains the best ball for all of your sports scores podcasts and news the season. And it's not just basketball. Betonline is your continued source for all of your sports betting information needs,

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use promo code Lock 15 and get 15% off your order. That's promo code Locked 15% off at Built.com. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoadies. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at Eleanor Nsport Penguins. So big matchup on Tuesday night, 8 p.m. start down,

in Nashville, Tennessee that this would be the Penguins' first time playing the Predators this year. I'm sure UC Soros is going to get the start. He has been absolutely ridiculous this year. Has 21.7 goals saved above expected off of a 923 save percentage, 2.44 goals against average.

His goal saved above expected is third in the league. Behind Sturkin, invader Anderson. Tristan Jari is still top 10, 14 goals A above expected off of a 922 save percentage. So it all starts there. he was honestly going to be Pecoranese successor going back to 2017. That's how long he's been with the organization.

I think he's been there even longer than that too. But he's here in a real way. He's one of the best goaltenders in hockey. I don't think enough people are talking about him as a potential Bezna Trophy candidate. He's one of the biggest reasons why Nashville is in a playoff spot right now. But, you know, a big reason why, you know, Nashville is in a playoff spot is because of their high-end talent this year actually playing like, you know, they're getting, what's the word I'm looking for? You know, they're being paid like elite players, but they weren't playing like it last year. This year, they actually are playing like it and living up to the money that they make.

Roman Yossi has been unreal. 66 points in 57 games. He's going to be a Norris trophy finalist. Heck, you know, he may even win it potentially this year. He's one of the three best defensemen in the league. As I already said, Matthew Shane has 30 goals. Philip Forsberg is over a point per game. He also has 30 goals.

Johansson's almost on a point per game, 44 points in 56. Mikhail Granlin's played really well. You know, Colton Sizzins is right there. You know, but it's mainly those first four guys that I mentioned that have been so good this year for Nashville. And that's just that's really had them, you know, they were in the top three in the central. Now they're down in a wild card spot. They're in a bit of a dog fight to get into the playoffs. But, you know, that's been the main reason why Nashville has been so good. Their top line of Foresburg, Johansen, and Dushain has been

one of the best top lines of hockey. Mikhail Granlin is on the second line with Tolvinen, one of their young players who's, I'm looking at his numbers right here. You know, he has, he's only, he's He's played in almost all their games, but has 17 points in 56 games. He's struggling a little bit, but, you know, he's still really young, I think, at this point. Colton Sizzins anchors the third line. I'm pretty sure they, I forgot they totally have Nick Cousins. But, you know, Tanner, Gene Nott, 18 goals, 33 points in 59 games. He is on the third line.

Defensively, Roman Yose, obviously Manning the top pairing. The TS-Eckholm is still there. I believe these guys have their defense. I almost forgot Ben Harper was in the league. Matt Benning, I almost forgot, was in the league. You know, they're not that deep on D. It's mainly just Yose and Eckholm and then just kind of a bunch of meh. But again, you know, they've been carried by their high-end talent this year.

I think, you know, John Hines has done a pretty decent job with them. Because last year, they made the playoffs, but, you know, it didn't really look like they deserved to be there because a lot of their high-end talent was just thinking of the joint. but this year, you know, they actually look like a bona fide playoff team and, you know, it's all due to their stars actually living up to the money that they are making. Obviously, the vibe check is going to be crucial for the Penguins. They play much better on the road this season compared to home. You know, I know the Penguins have won two straight games.

At PGG Payton's Arena, they went two and one on this three-game home stand. Now they have three games on the road before the deadline. Obviously, one of the biggest keys as well, stopping the next. Nashville's high-end talent. Curious to see what Mike Sullivan does with that top line for the Predators, I'm not really sure what line he's going to match them against. Maybe it's the Blue Green Line because they can honestly go out there against anyone, but I also wouldn't be surprised if the Crosby line goes out against them to take that

top line away. And then the Penguins can also just play their matchups because honestly, you know, Nashville's bottom six is, it's okay, but I would still take Pittsburgh. and I think their second line is also, I mean, it's not bad. And Grandin's not bad. Tolbin is still young. Cooninin is a decent player, but, you know, the Penguins' depth, I think, you know, shines over the Predators right here.

So that's an 8 p.m. start. Going to be a fun game, I'm sure the Penguins will play Nashville back in Pittsburgh. I believe it is back in April, if I am not, if I'm not, I'm just going to double-check the schedule here real quick. No, I do not have the entire schedule memorand. I'm not going to do that here. The Penguins will play the Predators. Yeah, April 10th, 4 p.m. start.

That's a Sunday. So about a month's different. So it's pretty weird. You know, we're getting to the part of the schedule where usually the Penguins have played almost every team in the league, but, you know, not Nashville. Heck, they haven't even played Colorado yet. And they're not going to play Colorado, I think, until April.

They will not play the Avalanche until April 2nd, and then they'll play them again in the next week. So we have those games. forward to as well. But that'll do it for this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I really appreciate all of you listening to this one. I'll be back on Tuesday for a full game recap episode for the Penguins Predators. And then remember Thursday they're in St. Louis, Saturday, they are in the desert in Arizona. So thank you all so much for listening to this one. And I will be back with you all on Tuesday.