Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins DOMINATE Minnesota with a massive victory!

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

The Penguins hot start to the season continued on Thursday as they beat up the Minnesota Wild 4-1! Hunter and Patrick begin the show with a massive first segment recapping the Penguins decisive victory over Minnesota. Whether it was Tristan Jarry standing tall early, Benjamin Kindel’s line dominating the Wild’s top unit, or the special teams stepping up when they needed to, it was a complete team victory. Then, the Penguins’ toughest test of the season awaits them on Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg as they’ll take on the Jets. For the Penguins, a full 60-minute effort is required, as they will face maybe the league’s most complete team. Finally, it’s Fan Take Friday, and they react to your takes about returns to playoffs, Stanley Cup dreams, and so much more!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.MonarchTake control of your finances with Monarch. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at https://monarch.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.FanDuelDownload the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 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.

The Penguins Tamed the Wild and yet another impressive victory on Thursday night, and Pat and I are going to analyze that game, plus get you in set for Penguins Jets on Saturday right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Joined by my co-host, Patrick Dip. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Cinder Verwet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can follow the show's Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins, of course. Thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Down the GameTime app, create an account and use code.

locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Pat, I don't know about you, but when I went on the NHL's app this morning, I saw the Pittsburgh Penguins in first place in the entire NHL with that 8-2 and 2 record, good for 18 points. I can't believe we are saying that going into the month of November, just an absolutely outstanding first month of the season for this hockey team. And part that was highlighted on Thursday night,

a four to one dominant victory over the Minnesota wild. Though it didn't start out that way. Penguins did not play a good first period. They were boat race for much of that period. Tristan Jari was really doing a great job, keeping them in it. But once the start of the second period happened, Pat, penguins really found their legs. They started defending a lot better. And they put Bell to ass on the wild for the final 40 minutes.

That third period was one of the best periods of hockey they have played all year. The Wild had no high danger chances. that five on five, that entire period. Textbook suffocation, it was a great effort in all three phases in that period. And I would also say the second period where the special teams were great, the five-on-five play was great, and the goaltending was also sensational, not even just for those two periods. I would say for the goaltending pat, but for the first period as well. Tristan Jari once again was great.

And it was a total team effort. Ryan Shea, who has been a complete revelation on the second pairing. he ties things up. That's his second goal of the year, now has seven points. Pat, he's already set his career high in points, and we are 12 games into the season. He's been awesome as of late. I can't say enough about how great he has been after starting out the season a bit rough, those first three games. He's been fantastic. Brian Rust. He gets a goal even though the process isn't fully there yet, but he is getting the goals on the goal sheet over the last few games. So he gets the game winner. Ben Kendall will get into him a little bit later. He makes it 3-1 and then Anthony Mantha makes it 4-1. But this was yet another win where the process was mostly there. And Pat very much wants to press the We're back department button. I'm not allowing him to yet.

But this has been an unbelievable start. I am so happy with the way they are playing. They still got more tests to go and there's a lot of season left. But this was a really nice victory. And I loved the way they played over the final 40 minutes. What is the big question surrounding the penguins right now? Everyone asks this question. Is this sustainable?

And here is the way I want to talk about last night's game against Minnesota. I'm going to disagree with you ever so slightly about the first period. I don't think the penguins were all that bad. I think the wild just played a wildly unsc-no-pun intended, wildly unsustainable style. And once they ran out a gas playing that way, the penguins took over. Now, that's not to say that the penguins were good in the first period. They were average. I didn't think they were terrible, but I didn't think they were good either.

But once we dug in and started playing hockey in the second period, the penguins completely took over. Tristan Jari deserves all the credit in the world. That was another phenomenal effort by him. Much like the team at large, I'm not. ready to hit the we're back button yet. But I will say, since he got recalled March of last year from the HL, the guy has battled his ass off. He has put up quite a few solid performances.

And he deserves credit for that because it could have been extremely easy for him to throw it in the tank because he knew it wasn't going to work out here anymore. But he has, at least for now, started to figure it out. Let's not delay the inevitable anymore. Ben Kindle's line was the best line on both teams last night. A 91% expected goal share at 5 on 5. And who did they take the bulk of their matchups against? Karil Kaprizov's line and they shut him down.

At 18, he is carrying a line. and he is being given defensive zone starts, and he's getting power play one time. I expect there to be growing pains throughout this season. I don't expect this to keep up for the entirety of the season, but he is light years ahead of where any of us could have expected him to be. I've been trying to find comps for like in past years to this. I really can't.

Like what he is doing right now for someone who was picked outside of the top five, he's driving his own line, and he's playing like one of their best forwards. This isn't just something that you see, you know, every year, every other year, every five years. This is so rare that it's like, holy crap, because he continues to get better and better in every single game. It really doesn't even matter who his linemates are. he's carrying his own line in the NHL at 18, going from junior hockey to no, from no professional experience to now playing in the NHL.

And he just absolutely shut down one of the best game breakers in the NHL last night. I know Caprisoff opened the scoring. Outside of that, I hardly noticed him in this game. And also that was more of a byproduct of a perfect pass that led to Capri Sov's goal. Otherwise, he didn't really do too much. to test him to how good Kindle's line was against him. And there's another play that really stood out to me in this one was when Jari sends the puck

to Kindle, he knifes around one guy out of his own zone, knifes around another when he gets to center ice, and then creates a beautiful zone entry, gets it to Tommy Novak, creates a scoring chance. It's little plays like that where, again, he's only 18, but he's knifing around these NHL veterans, like it's nothing. It really is crazy. And I know I was one of the people who was really high on him at the draft during the live

stream. I even told people like, this is still a very good pick at the time. I just did not expect this at all. The fact that he is playing like one of their best players, the fact that he continues to get better every game. He got his third goal of the year on Thursday right in front of the net, right place, right time. He's getting those power play minutes with the big guns.

I'm loving it, man. He's been outstanding for this team. And to keep, we're not going to have the entire discussion right now about whether or not this level of play is sustainable. But there is something brewing beneath the surface that has happened quite a couple times this season, that if we're going to talk about this team having a sustainable run and sustained success, it's this. Last night, time on ice for of getting me. Malkin, 14 minutes, 47 seconds. Sidney Crosby, 13 minutes, 35 seconds.

Now, some of that as a product of the Penguins did not get a lot of special teams time, specifically power play time, but it's also a fact that they were able to roll all four lines consistently throughout the entire game. If this team wants to have any shot at returning to the postseason, which I know I am putting the cart so far ahead of the horse right now. because we haven't even made it to Thanksgiving. But if they are able to roll four lines, keep Crosby, Malkin, even Latang and Carlson,

keep their minutes not limited, but at the very least, they are not riding them for 20, 25, 30 minutes a night and to keep them fresher and they're still finding success, that could be a very underrated way for this team to continue to be success. I agree with you on that. I know they've been playing Carlson a little bit more as of late,

but if they can still tone down his minutes a little bit more as with Latang, and I think Latang Pat has actually been fairly decent over the last week to 10 days, that can only, to me, mean good things, hopefully going forward. Again, Ryan Shea on the second pair has really stabilized Latang also over the last seven and 10 days. He's been great in that role. After a little bit of a rough start, I criticized him on the show. he has shut me up ever since then and I love it.

I love that he is playing like this. This is the best hockey I have ever seen Ryan Shea play. And it's coming at a great time because the penguins are playing some really good hockey. They are now 5 and 1 in 1 already on the road. We're going to preview the game against Winnipeg in the second segment and how much of a big test that is despite some bad underlying numbers that the Jets have, at least a couple of them, even though this is still going to be a tough test. But, you know, the penguins in their wins, they are controlling play for the most part.

But are they perfect? No, I still want to see more consistent 60 minute efforts. Like the first period to me was not very good. And even in some of their other wins, they haven't played a full 60. But they're still controlling the overwhelming majority of the game, which is I also think important. It's just getting those full 60 minute efforts where I'm like, okay, that's part of what is missing a little bit. But again, it's things to work on. No team in the NHL is perfect.

The biggest thing I can say in their favor right now in regards to what you're talking about is that they are playing complimentary hockey. Yes. When one line or one unit or one area is struggling a little bit, another area of the team or another aspect of the team picks them up. When they struggle like they did in the first period last night, Tristan Jari was there to bail them out. After Tristan Jari bailed them out for 20 minutes,

the rest of the team bailed them out for 40. On a night where their PK might not be very good, their power play picks them up. On a night where they're really good at five on five, they don't have to worry too much about their special teams unit. The fact that on a night where they're not maybe getting the best from certain aspects of the team, they're getting help from other aspects of the team.

And I just, I'm with you. I want to see a complete 60 minute effort where from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer, they are the better team throughout. We've seen it a couple of times, but we need to see it a little more often. But if they can continue to have these efforts where, all right, you know what, the skaters didn't have the best 20 minutes, but Jari or Shilovs was there to pick them up. The defense is struggling a little bit tonight, but don't worry, the forwards are going to shoot the lights out. that is the kind of things that good teams do. They are able to pick one another up on nights where certain units aren't working.

And that has been a really, really underrated aspect of the penguins through these first 12 games. I do agree with that. And you mentioned special teams as well. I thought both special teams units were outstanding last night. The penguins made very quick work of the Minnesota Wilds awful penalty kill. They scored within seconds of getting that power play. and then the penalty kill, Pat, against the top-ranked power play in the NHL was 100%. The Wild felt like barely had any scoring chances watching that back, watching it live.

Penguin's penalty kill was aggressive. They got into shooting lanes. They did a good job disrupting everything the Wild were trying to do on their power play. So the special teams were great. I thought they defended a lot better the final two periods. Tristan Jari was there to make some big saves. And the forecheck also really got. going once the second period started.

So just all in all, a great team win. And Pat, we're 13 minutes in. I haven't even discussed how awful Garrett Rank is as an official. You knew that this was coming. And I'll make this quick because people that have listened to the show for a long time know how I feel about NHL official Garrett Rank. But if you are new, Garrett Rank is the single worst official in the NHL. It has been like this for some time.

I hate when he refs Penguin Games because he doesn't know what he's doing. That goalie interference call last night was a joke. That is not goalie interference to me. I'm not sure what they're seeing there. And the penalties that he called on the Penguins were also so ticky tacky. I just, I do not like this ref. He is the Angel Hernandez of NHL officials. He is a joke.

There you go. Yeah. The goalie interference call was terrible. the video review did not paint itself in glory either because I don't see how you can make that call. And then it's quickly followed up by Brian Rust getting two minutes for body checking. So it was bad. I don't really have much else to add. But the Penguins overcame it and good for them.

Yeah, they won the game. That's my little 30 second rant on Garrett Rank and why he still stinks as an NHL rep. But that'll do it for this first segment. I know he went a little long, but we had a lot to discuss about this game. But coming up in the second segment, the Penguins are about to face their toughest tests yet so far. Saturday in Winnipeg against the high flying jets. Pat and I are going to preview that game and give some keys to victory right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor,

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I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. that's my good friend in Coes, Pat Damp and Pat, I think this is the best team the Penguins will have faced so far on Saturday. The high-flying Winnipeg Jets who are off to an 8 and 3-0 start. They are first in the Central Division. They have been awesome, even though a couple of their underlying metrics are not very good. So far, if you look at a couple of their 5E-5 metrics,

they're expected goal share, 43.6% on MoneyPuck, but their actual goal share is 52%. So the actual goals for rate is way overperforming their expected goals rate. And the Rashad attempts for 42.7%. Those are just a couple of their metrics, Pat, but they're definitely overperforming some of them. And a big part of that has been the play of Mark Schifley. Nine goals, 18 points in 11 games.

He has been fantastic on the top line for the Jets. Kyle Connor, we all know how dangerous he is. Six goals, 15 points in 11 games. He's the left winger on the top line. You have Gabe Valardi, who was third on the team in points, four goals, 11 points and 11 games on their second line. You have Namestikov. Jonathan Taves, welcome back to the NHL. He's their second line center.

You have Alex Ayafalo on the second line. You know, Nina Ryder is a great third line option. They have Brad Lambert on their fourth line defensively. Josh Morrissey, I think, is one of the most underappreciated defenseman in the NHL. I don't think he gets enough flowers from the national media because he is great in all three zones. Dylan DeMello is his partner. You have Neil Pionk on the second pair. And then, of course, in goal. At least during the regular season, the playoffs are a different story. Conor Hellebuck is one of the best goaltenders on the planet. 921, say percentage to start the year, 2.34 goals against average. Pat, again, I know some of their metrics are not very good. But so far this season, they are overperforming them. This is a juggernaut right now. and Winnipeg has a great home ice advantage. It is very hard to win up there.

They are deep. They are fast. They defend very well usually. They got a world-class goalie during the regular season. This is going to be a really tough one for the penguins. And I like these type of test because we're going to see how they stack up against a team that is this good. What is my fair hunter, hoodies, the most important? thing to have in hockey.

A really, really good goalie. Yes, some of the Jets' underlying metrics don't look very good, but it is masked by Connor Hellebuck. And like you said, we can talk about his big game failures. We can talk about him in the Stanley Cup playoffs. We're not in that right now. We're not at the four nation face off anymore. The playoffs are months away.

the Olympics are still a couple months away. Don't worry about what Connor Hellebuck does in big games, in big moments right now, because it doesn't matter. In the regular season, there is not a better goaltender on this planet, in my opinion, than Connor Hellebuck. And you look at even his advanced metrics. After winning the Vesna last year, he's outperforming the metrics he had last season when he won the Vesna. So this is going to be the immovable object meets the unstoppable force because the penguins have the highest shooting percentage in the NHL as a team right now.

And they're going up against the best performing goaltender in the league. So eventually in this game something is going to have to give. The penguins, they are going to, like we talked about in the first segment, this is the game where they are going to have to take a full. 60 minute, 65 even minute effort and never take their foot off the gas because you give the Winnipeg Jets even the slightest of openings, they are going to make you pay for it. Especially with the way Shifley and Connor are going right now. That duo is lighting up the NHL to start this season. That's going to be a really fun matchup to see what Dammeuse does against that high flying

top line that the Jets have. You mentioned it for Hellebuck, Pat. When you look at some of the underlying metrics for him, he is first in the league right now. 9.6 goals saved above expected. That's a little bit better than Thatcher Demko, who is at 9.5. And just for reference, Trisendjari, he is seventh in the NHL and goals set above expected with 6.4. And then Archer Shilov's 11th at 5.3. The Penguins as a team, Pat, have the second highest team percentage in the league to start the season at 921.

The two teams that are tied for first, the Rangers 922, and you guessed it, the Winnipeg Jets at 922. So for both goalies in this matchup, regardless of who plays for the Penguins, this is going to be an unstoppable force versus an immovable object. If I had to guess, I think it's going to be Archer Sheelovs that goes because Dan Muse really likes this goalie rotation, and I can't blame him. It's keeping both goalies fresh, and they continue to really match each other with the starts that they have. very much a nice platoon, a 1A, 1B situation. And with Hellebuck, it's the same key I kind of have for Shosturkin in a way. You got to get bodies in front of them. If he's able to see all these chances, he is going to gobble them up like it's nothing.

You got to get traffic. You got to get him moving. That's one of the biggest keys to victory. And also, the Jets have one of the top power plays in the league right now in the season. Pat, they have the eighth best power play right now in the NHL at 27.8%. So another big test for the penalty kill coming off doing what they did against Minnesota. So those are just a couple of keys to victory for me. The biggest one for me going into tomorrow afternoon's game, because it is a three o'clock game,

just so everybody is aware. This isn't a night game. So make sure you're ready around three for Penguins Jets. But a big key to me is discipline for two reasons. One, they have a top 10 power play. So even as, even as the Penguins PK has continued to improve over the past couple of games, You don't want to play with fire on that one. They played with fire a little bit against the wild,

and they did a very good job killing those penalties, but you don't want to open that door too wide when you're playing a team like the Jets. The other reason is, as they have for pretty much their entire existence, the Jets may not play traditional big boy physical hockey, but they are still a physical grinding team at their course. so you know that you are going to take some lumps against the Jets. You're going to get hit by their defensemen. Their forwards are going to forecheck hard and try to get a pound of flesh in the corners.

So you know that that's the kind of game that you're coming up against. You can't get frustrated with it. You make the play, take the hit, keep it moving, don't retaliate. But we have seen with this team so far this year, they have played a mostly disciplined game. that is going to be paramount against Winnipeg tomorrow afternoon. I agree. And you look at these next few games that Penguins have coming up even after this, Pat.

They finish the road trip in Toronto against the Leafs team that is still struggling to generate offense. You come home to play Washington, then you go to New Jersey. This is a pretty big four-game stretch here where you're playing some mostly bona fide playoff team slash contenders. The Leaves haven't been as good to start the year, but always playing in Toronto is a blast. it's still usually tough to win there. But the Jets, we all know how good they are. The devils have been beating everyone up to start the season. And Washington is also off to a good start.

So, you know, these next four games, and I'll include Toronto in there. These are going to be some big tests for this team. But that'll do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. It's Friday. Yenzo, that means it's time to react to some of your takes or questions for Fan Take Friday. That's coming up right after this.

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110 votes, and you asked Penguins hold the best record in the NHL. So is this for real? 63% of the people say this is a good team, while the other 37% say it is just a hot start. I kind of lean in the middle where I think as of right now, they are going to be better than literally any of us expected, but I am still not fully ready to say that this is a good slash a playoff team. I got to see it for a few more weeks. I said Thanksgiving, if we get to that point and this team is still chugging along, I will probably push that button of hello, we're back department.

I'd like to file a claim. But got to see it for the next few weeks. I don't want to say that we're back now, Pat, and then they lose like seven games in row, and then people just throw eggs at my face. I just, I don't want to say it yet. I'm just trying to be patient. Yeah, memes aside, that is where I am as well.

There's a lot of fundamentals in their game that I really like, but we can't also discount that a lot of things are going right for the penguins early on. They're getting really good conversion on their chances. they're shooting percentages through the roof. The goal tending has also been very good. And we just know the ups and flows of an NHL season. There is going to come a slump. There is going to come a time where the puck stopped going in.

And there's going to come a time where whether it's regression by Jari and Shilovs or if it's just bad luck that the pucks will start going in a little more frequently than we like. But on the whole, I like the overall fundamental game this Penguins team is playing. it's just a matter of how much all of it continues to last. I think at the end of the day, I go back to what one of my bold predictions for the season was that we did right before the beginning, when I said that this team is going to be right in the mix

until maybe the last couple weeks of the season. As of right now, you're looking pretty good with that one. And hell Pat, maybe they do make the playoffs if they're able to keep this up for the next several months. but, you know, with one of your comments in mind, another someone on YouTube says, I'm not quite ready to say they're for real yet. I think we need at least five out of eight points from the next four games for me to not wait until the end of the month, which I actually do think is fair.

But at eight point game point streak is one of the hottest starts. I recall the big three ever had it. Yeah, I mean, Gino and Sid and company have been red hot to open the year. They've just been phenomenal, both on the top line and on the second line. But I agree with you about, you know, that five to eight points. I really want to see how they can potentially get some results against some of these other teams that have really started out hot. Like Washington, like Winnipeg this weekend, like New Jersey especially because they're just lighting up teams. Jack Hughes, I think is one of the top contenders for the Hart Trophy right now with the way that he is playing that.

So I do like that comment and I do think it's valid. Yeah. And I got to give a shout out to Dom Lecision and Sean Gentilly at the Athletic for their weekly power rankings this week. putting the penguins at 10. And the superlative for this week was Halloween costumes, because it is Halloween. Happy Halloween, everybody.

And their superlative for the penguins was Sydney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin's costumes are themselves from 2009. And they write, Crosby has 15 points in 12, Malkin has 17. The penguins woke up on Friday with the most points in the league. Their coach's first name is Dan. Looks a lot like,

2009, doesn't it? 100%. And he's bald. So there you go. That's another W right there. This one is a little bit different, but this one comes from Mitchell. Brunick and Pickering need to be a pairing, no more Dumba, or Clifton. Well, if you looked at the practice notes for Friday, the Penguins practice in St. Paul before flying to Winnipeg.

A, Justin Brzo was not practicing. Might just be a maintenance day. We'll have to see. But Harrison Brunick was on the third pair with Owen Pickering. Matt Dumbah was skating. Connor Clifton. So Pat, if we go off that, there is a decent chance that Harrison Brunick gets back into the lineup on Saturday against the Jets and plays Owen Pickering, which I have been waiting for. I like them a lot during training camp. I like them a lot during the preseason. It felt like they

were having actual chemistry together as a pair. Now the next step in the process, getting those guys NHL minutes together on the same pair. And what better way to do it against the high flying jets? So if Brunick plays, this will be his eighth game, meaning one more game of the nine game trial before they'll have to make a decision. But that's what looks like right now. So if you guys want to see Brunick back in, that's the way it's trending. And Ben Kindle was also skating on the third line again with Willie Coiff and Tommy Novak. I mean, I agree in principle with the defensive pairing. The other thing that I also want to make clear is we do still have to be patient because we are talking about a 19 year old defenseman here.

And that is right behind goaltending for the most fragile developmental track because you put them in a bad situation or they struggle and you don't give them a rope to get out of it. It can really set them back. So I do think there still does need to be a little bit of patience with Harrison Brunick. We obviously want to see him in the lineup every game all the time because we're excited about the shiny new toy and the potential of. of Harrison Brunich in the future. But I'm always, especially with defensemen and goaltending, going to err on the side of caution, just because I want them to ramp up into becoming consistent NHLers

rather than throwing them out to the wolves, figure it out in either crushing their confidence or crushing their developmental track. So I do think we should see that pairing more often, but we don't want to leave it out. too long to where it hurts honestly both of them because we got to remember pickering is still relatively young very good i think he's going to be a good a solid NHL defenseman for years to come but we do still have to remember that both of them in one way or another are still developing right

and i actually thought pickering was pretty good once again in Minnesota on Thursday i think that's two fairly solid games from him in a row so keep writing that momentum keep playing him and as for brunick I'm glad that it hopefully looks like he's going to get back in because I know he had that one bad game. He's been scratched since I want him to get that redemption just because it was by far as worst game that he played before coming out of the lineup. I want to see him redeem himself when he comes back in. And it looks like hopefully that that's going to happen.

A couple more here before we run out of time. But again, thank you guys so much for sending in all of these comments. This one comes from Ryan. Not so much a hot take, but I feel like I've always seen the potential with Ryan And Shay, even when he got hate, I personally liked the way Shay played. It can see he had potential to be a solid defenseman for them. I think with Shea, I've always felt like he's a seven or eight guy or even potentially a number six.

I didn't see him playing like this for the most part to open the year where he has been a mostly solid top four defenseman. I mean, this is, again, this is the best hockey I have seen him play during his NHL career. He has stabilized the second pairing next to Chris LaTang. He's making all the right reads. he's bringing offense to the table. I never saw this coming at all, but I'm very happy about it. Not one bit.

I mean, I was with you. I looked at him as maybe highest of high ceiling second pair, but I saw him mostly as sixth, maybe seventh defenseman. But if he continues to shatter expectations and play this well, maybe you have found the quote unquote puppy to put. next to the old dog to give him a couple more years when it comes to Chris LaTang. So I'm impressed by his game and let's just hope he keeps it up. 100%.

And Pat, we got to end with this one because this one is awesome. This one comes from Andrew. Penguins are going to win the president's trophy and face the capitals for one last battle between Sid and Ovi. I will say this. If the penguins do make the playoffs, as do the capitals, I would want to see one last series between those two teams as like a final a little send-off for Ovi if this is his final year.

It's been a while since we've gotten these two teams to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs. If they both get in, it would be awesome seeing it one more time. But Andrew doesn't stop there, Pat. He says the Penguins will win the cup and Crosby wins the heart and the cons might pay. This is what we're here for, fan take Friday. I think the first part of your statement is more realistic if both teams get in the playoffs. But hey, they were on the table here. they somehow win the Stanley Cup make us all look even more crazy?

Why not? Well, there's a bit of a flaw in that hot take. And it's no disrespect to the commenter. It's no disrespect to our captain number 87. The way he's been playing this year, the heart trophy's going to go to Eric Carlson, because he has been playing his ass off as the penguin's top defenseman. But on a serious note, I will say,

everybody has made their dumb, annoying. Oh, they got to trade Crosby for the betterment of the sport. He owes it to hockey to go play for a winner. You're going to look me in the eye and tell me you don't want to see one more Crosby versus Ovechkin, Penguins Capitals playoff series because let's be completely honest here. If there's one thing Sidney Crosby will go to his grave and never admit, the past couple years, he has absolutely been side-eyeing Alex Ovechkin in the Capitals for their resurgence.

And he doesn't like it. And if he can play that team one more time in the postseason, he might beat them single-handedly just because that's how petty of an athlete that he is. And going off that, you know he's still probably like seething that they lost to OV in the Caps in 2018 is like, I want a little bit of pay. payback even though it's been at this rate seven years since then. So, hey, you never know. But it's been a dream start beyond what any of us ever thought. Now let's see what they do in the month of November. These next few weeks, a lot of tests coming, especially starts on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets.

So we're going to find out, I think, pretty soon, if this is real or not. But that'll do it for the Friday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you guys on Monday, recapping this game against the Jets and getting you all set for Penguins' Leaves as the Penguins finish up their four-game road trip on Monday. So for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you guys so much for tuning in.

We appreciate it. We'll be back on Monday. Also, hope you all have a very safe and happy Halloween. Eat a lot of candy.