Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins played fine, but it's time for some adjustments

Episode Date: May 6, 2022

It wasn't meant to be for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. Hunter is joined by Rachel Nones of The Hockey Writers to dissect the game and what went wrong for the Penguins, plus what went right for the Rangers. They first touch on the adjustments that the Rangers made and how they were able to give the Penguins a bit of a tough time defensively. Hunter then looks at what went wrong in front of the net for Louis Domingue before breaking down his performance. Was it good enough to win on most nights? What does the rest of the team need to do to make sure he's put in the best position to come away with the win? They then break down the Rangers' deadline moves and how those players, plus their depth is stepping up in this series, while for the Penguins, it's nowhere to be found. What line changes would Hunter make going into Game 3? Rachel also touches on those players that are making an impact (Yes, especially Frank Vatrano) before they get to some special teams talk. What are the Rangers doing that is frustrating the Penguins PK? What adjustments does Mike Velluci's unit need to make? 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.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.Shady RaysEXCLUSIVELY FOR OUR LISTENERS, HEAD TO SHADYRAYS.COM AND USE CODE LOCKEDON TO GET FIFTY PERCENT OFF TWO OR MORE PAIRS OF POLARIZED SUNGLASSES. 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.

Did you think it was going to be that easy, gents? No, the penguins were not going to sleep in New York Rangers, but you don't really see many sleeps come play out of time. It is a 1-1 series now the Penguins drop game 252. I'm not really that upset. I don't think any of you all should be either if you would have told me that it will be a 1-1 series with no Tristan Jari, going back to Pittsburgh where the penguins now have home ice for the rest of the series.

I would take that, and I know you all would take that as well. I have a full game recap coming up right after the drop. Rachel Knowns from the hockey writers is going to join me to discuss the game, talk about some Penguins adjustments going into game three. That, of course, I'll be held at PBG Paints Arena on Saturday. Injury updates, all of that. 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 and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on. Penguins podcast i am your host hunter hoodies remember to follow me on twitter hunter hoodies follow the shows twitter at l o r score penguins of course thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day just want to say that last episode on wednesday it's the most listen to locked on penguins episode of all time i can't thank everyone enough that either listen to this

podcast every day of the week or if this was your first episode thank you all so much i'm glad you're here for the ride and you know let's keep it going right now as i will bring on rachel unknowns from the hockey writers and this is the third time she's come on the show. And against my better judgment, I'm a very superstitious person. The Rangers have won all three times after we've referred to come on. So after this, only if the Penguins win another game, that's when she's going to come on the show. But obviously, Rachel, the Rangers get back into the series after dropping that triple overtime thriller on Tuesday, 1-1 now, best of five going back to Pittsburgh, where the Penguins, they did steal home ice. The Rangers do have an

opportunity to take home ice back by winning just one of the two games in Pittsburgh. What did you see? out of the Rangers that was different than game one. They definitely came out ready again as we did see in game one. However, this time they actually sustained that type of play throughout the whole game this time. If you watch game one, it was pretty obvious that after the second, or I guess at the beginning of the second, they just were a completely different team than the first. And they had a pretty bad history of doing that in the regular season a little bit earlier on. that was something that they kind of got out of as you went towards the end of this season,

but we saw them, you know, kind of pull that once again, which was pretty disheartening as, you know, they ended their season on a pretty high note beating the caps. But they just, they played a full 60 minutes this time. And I think the defense looked a lot better today. And then you had your forwards chipping in a lot more defensively. I was definitely a lot less scared. So I just think that the effort all around. round was a lot better. It was more solid. If you look at the numbers, you know, the giveaways were

less this time. They hit the pens way more this time. In game one, it was a little bit pretty even with the numbers in terms of hits and things like that. So there's just much more of a physical game, better defense this time from everyone. Yeah, yeah, I definitely thought the Rangers had, you know, more of a jump, especially after the first period. You know, the Penguins, they, they survived those first 10 minutes. You know, that was what they needed to do to get Louis Doming comfortable. It's one one going into the second. And then, you know, unlike game one where the Penguins really took it to the Rangers

in that second period, it was a little bit of a role reversal. Not as bad, I should say, but, you know, the Rangers, they had their legs. And they needed this game because, you know, you don't want to go down, oh, two, going back to Pittsburgh. You lose you're a third-string goaltender who had really never started a playoff game before today. You know, I just think the vibes would have been really off. to say at least, you know, from a Penguins perspective,

I'm really not super upset with the way they played, you know, numbers-wise. They had 53% of the shot attempts at 5B5, 57% of the scoring chances, 78% of the high danger chances. They generated over three expected goals and had 63% of the expected goals. Sometimes, you know, you win some and you lose some. But honestly, you know, they did, I think, as well as, I shouldn't say they did as well as they could have heard Louis Doming.

Louis de Ming, I should say, did as well as he could, given the circumstances. I mean, he's your third string goaltender for a reason. But, you know, there was, I definitely thought from a Penguins perspective there, the defense wasn't as sharp as it was. In the first game, you know, part of that I think was due to Mike Matheson having a really off game. I was probably like his worst game going back to where he was in Florida. I should say, to be honest. but the Rangers, you know, credit to them.

They got a couple good bounces. Their power play clicked. Yes, the penalties were called on the Penguins, according to actual stats. People, of course, you know, that's all I'm going to say, I think about that. But I definitely think the special teams battle is, you know, I'll get your thoughts on this.

You know, it's definitely playing a big role in the series the Penguins penalty kill is kind of reverted, you know, I shouldn't say fully back to last season's form, but it's not playing at the level that I know it can play at. You know, what have you noticed with the special teams and how that's making an effect so far? Yeah, it's definitely tough if, you know, their opponent isn't playing up to their penalty kill, you know, potential, especially when you're playing the Rangers who are pretty good on the power play, especially when you have Kreider out there.

So, I mean, he's hit 50. He's showing no signs of slowing down, and they haven't really learned their lesson of staying on top of Kreider. could say the same thing for the rangers they have yet to really shut down sidney crosbie and his linemates but you just you got to stay on chris criter so i think as long as he's out there you know it's almost a guarantee power play goal at this point if it's not crider you know it's either strome or peneran now i just think um you know i just think they're they're just that's one part of the game where they've just carried that over from the regular season they've kind of plus some other basics about keeping the game simple,

but the power play has just been the one thing that's been consistent for them. Even when they weren't doing so well, it wasn't that horrible as it's been in seasons past, but it's just, you know, when that team is that good, you have to at least step up a little bit and you can't give them chances. So when the officiating is a little bit more even like that,

you definitely can't let the Rangers get any extra advantage. Yeah, and, you know, in terms of the Penguins penalty kill, you know, just players are not getting their sticks into shooting lanes, they're not putting their body, you know, on the line. And also, I think the biggest thing, when they have the puck, they're not getting it out. And obviously, that's the biggest key to surviving, you know, a power play, especially, like, the Rangers one. And, you know, it's one, one.

You're about to kill it off. There's less than 10 seconds left. You've got to find that clear. You know, I think there was one, I think with 20 to 25 seconds left, I think it was today, Blue Grover or Brian Boyle had the puck, and they couldn't clear the puck. And, you know, these first two games, that has been a massive issue for the Penguins, and it needs to be cleaned up in a big way. You know, the Penguins, they also had the game's first two power plays tonight.

You need to take advantage of those situations. One of them, the game was one-to-one. Jake Gensel just tied it. He's been phenomenal this series. The puck movement was good, but you've got to find a way to get a puck past Shostirk in there, and then really rash up the pressure on the Rangers to go back. and respond against Louis Doming. So that's definitely, I think, going to be a big storyline as we continue to progress

in the series. I'll be curious to see what adjustments Mike Volucci makes on the PK going into game three, which of course will be at PPG Paine's Arena. Obviously, so I have more to get to for this episode of Walkman Penguins podcast. I'll get to some players who I think need to either have less minutes, you know, maybe jog around the lines. Just a couple adjustments that I think. I think the penguins should make going into game three and I'll get Rachel's thoughts on that.

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Remember follow me on Twitter and Hunter Hodes. Follow the shows Twitter at L. L.O.NORSco of Penguins. Of course, I'm joined by Rachel Noon's of the Hockey Writers. Rachel, I wanted to get your thoughts on, you know, Doming's performance because it's hard enough to, you know, you're down, your two starting goal tenders. You're playing basically a guy who's been in the HL all year. And, you know, in my opinion, I thought he really gave them a shot. the first period only gave up one goal and honestly that was a bad bounce i think sid it hit off

his stick and then went off mathes and skate and if it didn't go off mathes and skate it was about to go wide i'm pretty sure um but in my opinion he gave them a shot made some really timely saves i just thought you know that the net front coverage which has been an issue against this team and honestly against other teams um it just it reared its ugly head again which it did not in game one so just wanted to hear what you thought about louis's performance going into game three because it sounds sounds like he's probably going to start that game too. Yeah, I definitely agree. He definitely gave them a shot.

You know, the pens had 41 shots and the Rangers had 40, so it was pretty even. And when you're throwing 40 shots at Louis Deming and he's stopping, you know, most of those, that's a pretty good sign, especially when you have a team that put too much emphasis on passing the game prior. And they know heading into this game that they have to shoot at the net a lot more. So I remember Bertrano had a few good shots himself too, and, you know, Louis stopped all to his foot one. So especially for a guy who's pretty much going to score on the penguins, that's pretty good. Yes. Frank Bertrano, it is Jordan Eberley like at this point. You know, anytime these two teams play, even if he maybe doesn't score every game, just take a prop bet, it's very easy to usually score it.

Yeah, I mean, I would say he's probably, he probably has at least like two, three more in him, probably the first home game for penguins. He's probably going to score again. But yeah, I mean, he definitely gave them a chance when, you know, I was surprised that the shot count was actually that high for the Rangers. But, you know, a lot of the shots this time, too, from the Rangers that actually went in, they weren't really up close goals either. So they were a little bit further out, which, you know, when you have a guy like Crider who's tipping in or deflecting a lot of his goals and obviously that's how a lot of the goals came for the Rangers but you have Adam Fox who's shooting from the blue line like game one you know and things like that and they're not coming from up close too that's kind of different for the Rangers too so that I thought was interesting

that kind of tells me that they're reading him pretty well at this point it's not like they saw him a ton in game one they only had like 17 shots on him last time so it kind of figured him out and it looks like shooting from a little bit further back is going to work for them. So, you know, it's good to see that they kind of got away. I mean, it wasn't a blowout or anything, five goals. That's definitely the rebound that you want to see from the Rangers. So, yeah, I thought he played pretty well. Yeah, and again, you know, I really thought he was dug up.

This was the second straight start where, you know, he got screwed by, again, deflections right in front of the net. You know, there was, you know, two of them, again, the last one was against the flyers just with about a couple of games left of the regular season where he gave up three goals outside of the empty netter two of them players are standing right in front of them with really there's no defense there's no one boxing them out getting it out of getting the sticks out of the deflection zone and that reared its ugly head again tonight for the penguins so if they can really clean that up going into game three i would like their chances better they just they got to get

back to defending like they were in game one you know and again i didn't really have too many problems with how they defended tonight. I think their performance was mainly okay. You got to split out in the first two games. That's fine. Still, the net front coverage needs to be a lot better going into game three. And another thing that needs to be a lot better, especially from a penguin's perspective.

I'll get your thoughts on the Rangers here. You know, the Rangers, their depth scoring is actually showing up. Andrew Copp has out a couple goals. Frank Petrono. The Penguins, though, it's been four guys, for their highest paid players, of course. Sidney Crosby putting on a show two games in row. Jake Gensel silencing his haters from last year,

who apparently think that he's too soft to play in the playoffs, which is just ridiculous because there's only three players, there's only two other players since the 2017 playoffs who have more playoff goals than him, and it's Braden Point in Alex Lvetchkin, so that theory can, you know, get out of here. Brian Rust, and it's of Gennie Malkin. That's not good enough, you know.

It reminds me of how the Penguins played, you know, during the late Ray Shiro years, where their bottom six guys like Joe Vitale and Craig Adams and all these other, you know, players, they were just not producing him. Right now there's too many passengers with Caput and not producing, even though I thought he had a really good game won. Brock McGinn's not producing. Danton Hinen's gone a little bit cold.

Edward Rodriguez is good play in the final game of the regular season. That has not translated over. Jeff Carter kind of looks like a corpse on the ice at times. It's definitely a massive issue right now for the Penguins, but from a Rangers perspective, you know, just what are your thoughts on? your deadline acquisitions and overall, you know, those bottom six players chipping in and also, you know, your defenseman outside of Adam Fox. Definitely.

So, you know, if you go back to game one, and it's tough to compare this game to game one since it did have that triple O T in. And, you know, you had the goal that was recalled. So it's hard to reference that game. But, you know, if you go back to it, you have Philippaedal who scored and then it was recalled. But you have Capo Capo who made a great past to even make that attempt happen. So if you start there, that kind of starts with the depth. More importantly, it's the kids' depth, too. So it's the younger guys who don't have any of this playoff experience.

And then, you know, you fast forward to today's game. You have, you know, Cop like you mentioned. And you do have the defense pitching in. Braden Schneider had his first postseason point today. And you have Candre Miller, who's going. getting assists on things like that too. I can't say enough good things about Frank Petrono, even when he's not playing Pittsburgh. Same thing with Andrew Cop. They've just been great additions. And I know a lot of people were kind of griping that all of this depth was just really

unnecessary, but I'm not really understanding that argument because we got all of these players for essentially pennies. And in circumstances like this, when you have defense been mind lingering out and you need to kind of switch around the lines and things like that. And then you have defenseman Justin Brunnen, who he looked fine, wasn't a problem. But you do need guys like, you know, Andrew Copp and Ryan Reeves and, you know, he wasn't a deadline pickup. But you just need that flexibility because players are going to get hurt like Berkeley drove. So you just need to be able to have that flexibility. That's a good thing that Dallant, you know, always strives for. And he's been a coach in the playoff. So he kind of knows how that works.

So, yeah, I mean, I just, I can't say it enough that the pickups have been absolutely essential. GM jury did a really good job with that. So it just, it continues to pay off. I mean, even in the rest of the regular season, and, you know, it's just really nice to see that carryover into the postseason as well. Yeah, and, you know, obviously the one penguin's deadline pickup is not available right now, Ricard Raquel. I believe he has a concussion. Mike Sullivan hasn't really confirmed it, but they're being very, I guess, quiet with their injuries. I mean, and that's very typical for any playoff team, I think, at this point.

You know, one last thing, Rachel, before we get to a commercial break, if the Penguins, they pushed hard in those first six to seven minutes of the third, a couple of times. It looked like they were going to tie the game. Shasturkin had one hell of a save on the beginning Malkin. I think if Chino elevates that, probably a goal, but still, like, the way he was able to slide across and get his pad down for that was really nice. Sidney Crosby, same thing, a beautiful pass from Jake right to his stick.

It doesn't elevate it as much. but still gets more wood on it than Gino, another ridiculous save. And that was able to fuel the Rangers to get a couple of insurance goals. The fourth one was definitely a bit lucky because it went off Mike Mathis and skated and right in just a harmless play right to the front of the net. But you know what? That's not what happens sometimes in the NHL. Obviously, his play has been a big talking point in the series,

as it was always going to be. I'm not really going to get into the whole Jeff Carter thing. It was a dumb play, but also, you know, I don't really think he needed to. stay down for five minutes and act like he died. So that's just, that's my take on it. It's not going to really, you know, everyone's probably going to forget about it, I think, going in the game three.

Maybe a piece of him did die. Maybe he didn't as a whole, but a piece of Schisturkin, we lost in that moment. So he could take all the time. He did say he is okay after the game. And I was like, oh, thank God. You know, I would hope that you're okay after going down like that. That's for sure. But getting back, oh, it was a little bit of a story.

overall play, Rachel, you know, just what, what have you seen just from his game and all that? That just had him play it like this because, you know, it's just, you know, there were definitely, I think not a lot of questions, but some questions, you know, could this play carry over to the playoffs? Because sometimes new goalies in the playoffs, they get overwhelmed, you know, Sergey Babrovsky, for example, he's been great in regular seasons, really bad in the playoffs. I didn't think Shisterakim is going to be like that bad. But, you know, you never know at times.

So just walk me through what you've seen from him because, you know, he made a couple of dazzling saves tonight when the penguins probably should have tied to game a couple times early on in the third. Yeah, I mean, you have to keep in mind, too, there was a little bit like a four-day break between the postseason starting in the regular season. And he didn't play those last, I think, two games for the regular season. So it's been, I'm not making excuses. And, you know, I think he still looked good in game one. But he's a little bit out of rhythm with things like that.

So, you know, obviously you don't want to put your starting goaltender, out in those last two games, especially when you're playing the capitals, you know, your business goal tender, no less. So, you know, obviously the right call there. But I think you just had to get back into it. Obviously, his first game against the Penguins, you know, it didn't go the way that the Rangers wanted to. It went scoreless into the last period. So, you know, I don't know if that brought back any memories like that or at this point, you know, the mental mistakes and the mental game is going to be. going to be huge here. So I don't know if it was something like that. Obviously, he doesn't have

that playoff experience to draw off of. It doesn't have much experience at all. I mean, this is like his third season. So yeah, I just think, you know, it was a matter of nerves maybe. You know, they all said, you know, similar things with the guys who made their debuts that maybe after like the first 10 minutes you start to like settle in and things like that. Obviously, the time frame's different for every player in every position. But to me, it just looked a little. little bit nervous, you know, probably as nervous as we'll ever see him in that first game, but he just really seemed to settle down this game. Obviously, he knew what he was getting into, and probably just felt better prepared going into this game, to be honest. So, yeah, like you

mentioned, he had a couple of great saves that's, you know, nothing new to Ranger fans. So I think he's really just, you know, leaning in on whatever little experience that he has prior. Yeah, no, I agree with that, you know, for sure. Still have a little more to get to for this episode. I'll talk a little bit about, you know, game three and potentially what to expect as the series will shift to Pittsburgh. And Rachel, it sounds like she will be there for that game. So that's going to be definitely interesting to see her in front of all those probably 17,000, 18,000 gold jerseys because they usually hand those out for the playoffs. I'm sure they're going to do that again.

But before we get to our final segment, betelonline.net is your number one source for all of your betting stats and sports info. You can find all the latest sports developments, league reviews and news, including this year's basketball, playoffs, major league baseball, and this weekend's Run to the Roses at the Kentucky Derby. Yes, that is coming back. Bet online is your continue source for all of your sports wager information from live betting to playoffs, e-sports, and more. You can head to the website today or use your phone to learn more about the trends in action. There's been online where the game starts. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoddes.

We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, follow the show's Twitter at L.O. We're going to score Penguins. So from a Penguins perspective, you know, I'm curious to see what Mike Sullivan does with the Lions going into game three. I mean, who knows who's going to come back? I would assume Jason Zucker is going to be ready. He took warm up tonight. I think personally, if they're down one-nothing in the series, he plays. But I think Sally was kind of just like, hey, you know, take a couple of days, rest.

you're probably ready to go, but, you know, if we win tonight, it's basically a bonus. We have at least a split. Going back to Pittsburgh, where we now have home ice, I would expect to see him back. But, you know, in terms of, you know, anyone else, I don't think we're Carverick Hell's going to be back, in my opinion. But, you know, in terms of some shuffling that I would like to see, I think it's finally time we see Teddy Bluger take Jeff Carter's minutes. Carter, I know he had almost 20 goals this year, but he has just been really bad for the last

six to eight weeks. I know he had the incident, of course, involving Chasturkin, but even outside of that, you know, he's for some reason still the first skater over on the six on five attack, which is just ridiculous. He really is not bringing anything to the table right now, both offensively and defensively. His lines getting caved in on a nightly basis.

Teddy, he hasn't been doing a lot offensively, but, you know, I think if he were to get better linemates and better minutes, I think that could start to change. And I definitely think he is in need to score. a goal or set up a goal in the playoffs because, you know, he's, he's too good of a player to keep being this quiet, to say at least, you know, what are you really looking forward to here for game three, Rachel, as, you know, the series shifts. So with Berkeley Goodrow out and, you know, at this point, he is week to week, I'm just

interested to see kind of how the lines are going to continue to move. I don't suspect that Glant would keep the same exact lines, though, obviously you did see a good result here. I thought Dredden Hunt, you know, he came in and I thought he had a nice game, but just with all the injuries and hopefully there aren't any other ones that are going to occur, although you can definitely expect, you know, more physicality from this series going forward. I'm just curious to see how the lines and the D pairs are going to look. I know it's not really an ideal time right now to kind of experiment with those kinds of things and with the defense looking a lot like their normal selves this game.

You know, you don't really want to split up those pairs, but I think that the defense this season's just been, it gelled so fast and so well that you kind of do have that freedom if you really did want to move certain pairs around. Again, I don't think it's the best time. But you've just had guys that have stepped up, Keandre Miller, you know, there's another level of his game that we've seen this season.

and having Patrick Nemeth and Justin Braun, that gives you more flexibility as well. So I'm just curious to see kind of how the lines go. I think Adam Fox, he kind of ended the regular season in a slump, and it's kind of nice to see him revert back to himself. I mean, you just watch him on the power play, and it's looking like Pittsburgh's trying to clear, and he just says, nope, he gets the puck, and he just gives him unlimited chances. I mean, it's crazy.

Just it's so nice to see him play like himself again. And it just seemed like after his injury, when he came back, he just wasn't playing the same. So I think the rest just helped him. And this is the perfect time for him to step up. So I'm really curious to see who else steps up. I think Artemi Panarin's having a really rough time defensively. You know, obviously he's still that offensive. Him going up against the Sid line has been no bueno to say,

especially after what Sid did him tonight. That was like, I was like, whoa. Yeah, and even in the regular season, he's looked really shaky defensively. There was like this one really bad overtime move that he pulled that, I think led to the other team winning the game in overtime, which is just not good. It's, it's just been a recurring theme so much. If it were one or two times, you'd be like, okay, whatever, you know, it's still, or Tammy Panarin. But it's just, I've seen a lot.

I've seen a lot of the same thing happening. And it's just, I don't know at what point, you know, that's going to not be the case anymore. But yeah, just looking at defense, like game one was the first time I've actually been like very not confident in the defense. So I'm just looking, they jumped in and they did a lot better this game. So I'm just looking forward to them, like, getting back to, you know, the best that they can be. Yeah. I totally hear you on that. you know from a painless perspective defensively i'm curious to see if brian dumlin is not able to go and

i had no idea he was hurt even coming into this game he took the morning skate seemed fine and then all of a sudden he's on ice for warm-up mike matheson took a spot on the top pairing i don't think him and latang work well together um but the thing is if duma was out you know who are you going to put up there i mean is marcus peterson going to take those minutes probably not because him and john marino um are playing great together you know shout out to john marino um these last two games there's probably the two best games of his career. I know I ragged on him a lot during this season because his offensive game wasn't there

and defensively he wasn't nearly as good as it used to be. But this has been probably the finest hockey. I think I've seen him play. He's controlling the scoring chances in his own zone. He's on the ice for far more scoring chances for ripping the puck a lot more to the net. I mean, that's hopefully the key to him really unlocking his offensive potential. I don't think he's going to go up on the top pairing.

Is Mark Freben going to do that? Probably not. Choward Riedel, probably not. They don't really have that good of an option, but I still don't think that, you know, that pairing works the other. So I think the Penguins, they got to hope that Brian Dumond's injury is not super serious,

to say the least. And obviously, goal-tending-wise, they got to pray at this point that one of the two can come back. I just, you know, I even say going into the series, even with, you know, just Smith healthy, I took the Rangers in seven games. If it's Deming for the rest of the series, you know, it could go a little shorter than that.

Again, I was never really that high on the Penguins' chances of winning the series. Yes, they've gone up a little bit after these last two games just because I've really liked the way they played for the most part, but this is going to be a battle. I said going into this, you know, none of these results should really surprise anyone, but, you know, the Penguins have shown up, I think, a lot more than some other people expected them to,

and, you know, it's a best of five now, and it's going to be a lot of fun, I think, down the stretch here. I think I basically, I think we've covered everything from the game tonight, at least. You know, I'm not really going to get into a whole spiel about, you know, Madison Square Guard and with the officiating and why they were sounding like the Bell Center. You know, there's people couldn't run wild with conspiracy theories all they want. I'm here to tell people that NHEL refs just suck at their jobs. That's at the end of the day.

You know, people can whine and complain that, you know, this team gets all the calls or it's rigged and all that. these people have no evidence to back their claims up, and it's just wrong. I'll say that. And so people can provide me with statistical evidence that the A League rigs games in favor of the Penguins. And it's just I don't even really want to fully get into it. But it was just a really embarrassing display every time someone went down. Just people were booing like it was just the Bell Center. But I had to throw out there a little bit just because it was just insane.

But, you know, Rachel, excited to have this series shift. I'm excited for you to be at the game so you can experience. I believe this will be your first playoff playoff game at PPG. It's not known an arena like loud, but PPG, it can get up there to say the least. Do you have any other final thoughts before we wrap up this episode? Yeah, I just want to say Rangers in five, actually. You know, I would like them to win at home at least. You know, likely I think it's going to go to a six, but I don't want them to win in Pittsburgh.

So I do want them to be home for that. But yeah, it's just going to be, it's going to be a long series. It's going to be a pretty physical one. You know, I'm just curious, let's say that the Rangers do advance from this point on. Obviously, they don't have anywhere near the experience of the Pittsburgh Penguins. So I'm curious how this first round is going to take a toll on them. If they advance, you know, I'm just curious. what their game plan is going to be for the next series.

It's looking like, you know, Carolina's going to come out on top. Yes, it's going to be Carolina. Well, I don't know. But, you know, anything could happen. That's, you know, this is my first playoff series, but I've already learned like anything can happen at this point. So, yeah, I mean, I just, you know, I'm just excited to see how it goes. I kind of wanted to end already, but try to make the most of it.

Yeah, no, it's going to be a great game. PPG is going to be electric, as always. You know, I know in the early years it wasn't that loud, but, you know, at 2016 onward, it has been, you know, I think they're going to be extra loud this time just because, you know, this could be it for the Penguin's core. And, you know, to your Rangers and Five statement, hopefully that's a bunch of cap, as the kids like to say at least.

So that will do it, though, for this episode. Rachel, I appreciate you coming on. I'm sure you're probably going to come on at some other point in the series. I have to. I have to if I have to hit the five mark, you know, to be on pace with that. So I have to. Yes. We will iron out the details very soon.

This time I'll make sure it's after our penguins win so we can get this literal superstitious crap out of here to say the least. But Rachel, in case, no one has listened to you on the show before. Tell them where they can follow you on Twitter and where they can read your work. So I cover the Rangers for the hockey writers, and I'm on Twitter, probably way too much, but the handle for that is just Rachel NHO. There you have it. Rachel Knowns of the hockey writers joining the show yet again, and yes, very likely she will be on the show again at some point in this series.

So Friday, another episode going into a preview for Game 3, touching on a lot more for what the Penguins need to do to win that game, injury updates, all that. Nope, this is going to be a great. serious people you know if the people that thought it was going to be easy for any team uh it's not you know this is it's it's big for the penguins to get that's play you know if they didn't win that game on uh tuesday and i'd be they'd be up a creek right now to say the least but it's one one game three on saturday seven o'clock in pittsburg um if anyone's going to the game um outside of rachel

who of course will be up in the rangers i hope everyone makes a lot of noise um at pbg no booing no booing yeah yeah i don't i don't need to hear i don't need pbg to sound like madison square garden where a bunch of mouth breathers are just mad that there's no calls so um that's that that's my closing statement for the show today thank um you know thank you all so much for listening and i'll be back with another episode on friday