Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins season kicks off TONIGHT in Philadelphia! How they can start with a win
Episode Date: September 30, 2026The Penguins' 2026-27 season begins where the 2025-26 season ended: in Philadelphia against the Flyers! Hunter and Patrick are officially back in regular-season mode, and they are getting you set for ...the first of 84 games by taking a look at the season opener, which is tonight in Philadelphia. They go over how the Penguins' season begins with their biggest rival, what an opening-night victory would mean, and look at a daunting October schedule. (0:00) Then, they break down some of the changes for both clubs this offseason, and how it will impact tonight's matchup. (11:47) Finally, they give their keys to victory, including discipline and being prepared for a hostile environment, and they pick who will score the first goal of the season for the Penguins! (19:36) Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Aura CybersecurityStart your free trial today at https://aura.com/aware. Protect yourself now. Butcher BoxIf you're looking for an easier way to get great meals on the table, give ButcherBox a try. Go to https://ButcherBox.com/LOCKEDONNHL to get $20 off your first box, plus your choice of free ribeye, new york strip, or filet mignon in every box for a year — with free shipping always.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.KALSHIToday's episode is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, Download Kalshi and use code Locked On to get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi. Trade what’s next.FanDuelThis season, FanDuel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more. Every week, check the FanDuel app to see what’s waiting for you or visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins officially kick off the 2026, 2027 NHL season tonight in Philadelphia.
And Pat and I are going to preview that game coming up 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 to the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes.
You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.
joined by my co-host Patrick Damp.
You can follow him on most social media platforms at Send Unfor-WWet.
You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins.
And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown underscore Penguins.
And, 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 a bit later on in the show.
We're going to discuss some keys to victory for the Penguins tonight as they will kick off the 26-27 season where it ended.
last year in Philadelphia
against their biggest rival,
the Flyers.
And Pat, I'm not about you,
but I've been blasting the game by Motorhead.
You know, time to play the game.
We've made it.
We finally made it.
The 26-27 season is officially here.
It got kicked off on Tuesday.
The Panthers were able to defeat the hurricanes.
It was a big celebration for the 5 o'clock game,
but the hurricanes lose that game in overtime
with only a few seconds left.
Pretty much a boring game,
but the Panthers were able to win.
And then, you know, we're recording this as the other games are going on right now, Montreal, Toronto.
We got the Rangers game and the Bruins going on right now.
And then we also have the Oilers game coming up a little bit later.
But that, I'm just excited, man.
And what a way to kick off this season.
Wouldn't have it any other way.
Even if the Penguins had won that series, I'm just glad they're starting the season in Philadelphia.
Going to be a Hornet's Nest.
I'm stoked, man.
There is no dipping our toes in the water.
for this season. We are diving right in because penguins, flyers in Philadelphia, you said it,
the place the season ended last year. And we're going to get into Keys to Victory, as you said
later on in the show. But you know that this team with the guys who were part of it in that
playoff series last year, really want to get that lick back because we went over that. We obviously
covered that series top to bottom. And the first three games for the penguins were not great.
And then they really pushed back for two games. And regardless of something we said on the Tuesday
episode, yes, you can't make the playoffs or win the Stanley Cup in the first week or the first
month of the season. And beating the Flyers in game one of 84 isn't going to avenge the loss from
last year.
No.
But if there was ever a way to kick off the season in a positive way, it would be to get a
solid win against the Flyers because a win like that with all of the injuries that the
penguins have coming into this season, it puts a little bit of win behind your sales.
You get a win against a rival in a hostile environment.
And it just builds your confidence the way you want it to be built.
that is putting the cart so far ahead of the horse. But really, though, no better way to start
the season than going right into the belly of the beast for opening night. Right. And I think a win,
it also just gives you so much more confidence going into these other games, the home opener,
of course, against Montreal. We all know seven of their first 10 games are on the road. So
that itself is going to be a challenge. And I think that'll also help them potentially going into those
other road games showing that, hey, we can go into a hostile environment here and win this game,
and that can help us for some of the other road games that we have coming up, you know,
obviously in October, then later on in the season as well.
So I just really think it would build confidence.
I think it definitely did when they won the shutout game against the Rangers on opening night last year.
I think it can be the same here where with those injuries, if you find a way to win by really
any means necessary, it builds you confidence, especially as you'll get some injured guys back.
and as you go on the road a lot, because, again,
there's going to be a lot of road games in October.
Not only where there'll be a lot of road games,
I mean, keeping the theme alive that there is no dipping your toe into the pole this season.
October is not going to be an easy month for these penguins.
Your home opener is against the Montreal Canadians,
who Eastern Conference finalists last year,
a very good team with a lot of locked up young talent that is only going to get better,
and grow together.
Winnipeg, yeah, they're not looking too hot right now,
but they still have a solid roster, even without Hellebuck,
and it's an old pal in Stuart Skinner coming to town.
Then you play the Capitals, who we've talked about the Caps all summer.
They're looking like one of the better teams in the East,
Columbus, who, yeah, they may be your little brother,
but you know they take a chunk out of you.
And then looking at the rest of the way out,
you're playing teams like Dallas, Colorado, Vegas, Utah, Florida, Nashville.
It's this season, again, some heavy hitters in there.
I'll keep the theme alive is that, yeah, you can't win the Stanley Cup or make the playoffs in the first month,
but you can lose it and you can miss out in the first month if you don't start at least moderately okay.
And for the Penguins this year, yeah, there's two extra games.
and you and I like this roster, even with all the question marks,
but they are not going to have any time to slow down.
They are going to have to hit the ground running,
or it's going to be an uphill battle for the rest of the season.
Right.
I think if you can kind of, I wouldn't say treadwater,
but I think if you can be right around 500,
if not a little bit above 500,
until some of these important pieces come back,
like a Ben Kindle, like a Brian Russ,
once Andre Kuzmanko comes back from Russia,
and you can really have that full third line going.
Because right now the third line is kind of like a makeshift third line.
That's not going to be the third line forever,
probably not throughout the entire month,
because again, all three of those players are going to come back to the Penguins.
If you can just be, again, a little above 500, if not 500 in general,
I think they should be fine,
especially for that big stretch they have coming up in October,
where you said that, Pat, it's just heavy hitter after heavy hitter in those games.
So that's important for me.
You know, I think also for this game, going up against a Flyers team,
you know how they play defensively.
They are very patient with the way they play.
They were really frustrating the Penguins in that series last year.
I want to see the Penguins not really get super, like, uncomfortable in this one.
You know how the Flyers are going to play.
Okay, well, be patient.
Let the chances come to you.
You're going to have to obviously find a way to beat Dan Vladar
because he was very good against them in that series.
He had a little bit of an injury scare in the preseason,
but he is good to go for this game,
so they will be seeing Dan Bladar in this one.
But, you know, not to get too far ahead with like a keys to victory,
because we're going to have plenty more later on the show.
But again, I think they just, they can't get frustrated,
especially like they were in the first half of that series.
In the second half of the series,
they were outplaying the Flyers.
But by then, Pat, it was really just too little too late
because you dig yourself a hole like that.
There was a reason why only a,
a select few teams have ever come out of a three-o deficit in a playoff series.
So I think a big thing for me is let the game come to you,
especially having a good road period and just don't get frustrated by the things they're
going to do.
I have plenty of keys to victory for the preview later on in the show,
but I'll burn one right now.
And it's building off of what you just said.
And it's patience.
Yeah.
We know the way this franchise, not just this iteration of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Pittsburgh Penguins in their existence,
pretty much since Mario Lemieux joined the team in the 80s,
has been to play an up-tempo, push the pace,
offensive-minded style of hockey.
That is pretty much without fail been the identity of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And teams like Philadelphia,
especially this iteration of the Philadelphia Flyers,
are going to want to slow the game down.
They're going to want to make it a defensive slog.
They're going to want to make it a rock fight, so to speak.
And when you play in games like that,
it requires patience because you're not going to get a lot of looks.
You're not going to get a lot of flow.
There's probably going to be a lot of stops and starts.
It'll be a bit of a slog.
And if you're the penguins, your goal, your objective is don't let that frustrate you.
Don't because in the first three games, at least the first two games, definitely, of the
playoff series, the flyers clogged up the neutral zone.
They forced the penguins into mistakes.
They made the penguins play a slow kind of sloppy game.
And instead of adjusting to where the penguins would just put the puck behind the Flyers D, go to work, shoot from everywhere.
The Penguins tried to come through the neutral zone with possession.
They tried to come through with flow.
They tried to make cross-ice passes.
And the Flyers shut that all down.
And I understand you don't want to play a boring game.
You want to play a fast-paced game.
You want to have back and forth wide open action.
But when the opposition is playing that discipline and playing that style of hockey,
you've got to swallow your pride for a bit.
And if you want to get the two points, you have to play a style that you might not like.
But at the end of the day, if you walk out with the two points,
nobody's going to care that you played a boring game.
They're just going to care that you got the victory.
Especially against your biggest rival.
It doesn't matter how you would.
in it, it just matters that you win the game.
But that's a good way to park the conversation because, again, we have plenty more
keys to victory to come later on in the show.
That'll do it for this first segment.
Coming up in the second segment, we're going to discuss the changes that both teams made,
especially a former penguin pat going to the flyers.
And he'll be in the lineup, Trader, by the way, had to say it.
But we'll discuss that and a lot more coming up right after this.
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All right, we're back here on the Wednesday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast.
I'm one of your host, Hunters, Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Dam and Pat.
Let's look at the Flyers lines for this game.
These were their lines in practice on Tuesday.
I assume this is what we're going to get on Wednesday.
Tippett with Zegris and Martone on the top line.
Forrester with Dvorak and Kineckney on the second line.
Bump with Kitzkentz and Mietchkov on the third line.
Then Grunstrom with Kuturier.
And yes, former Pittsburgh Penguin, Noel Achari.
Yes, he is on the fourth line with Grunstrom and Sean Kuturier,
and he will be in the lineup for this game.
Noel Chari, come on, man.
you made up arguably the best fourth line in hockey and you got to go to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Shame on you for six weeks. That's why I say right there, Pat. But hey, he got a good contract.
I'll give him that. He's just carrying on the tradition, man. There has been a laundry list of players
who have been right deep in the heart of the Penguins Flyers rivalry that have traded either
the orange and black for the black and gold or the black and gold for the orange and black. And
if you're the penguins and you're going into this game,
you got to hope that you get the Nolachari that the penguins got
the first two years of his tenure with the penguins,
where he was kind of ineffective,
didn't do a whole lot because last year,
Nolachari was a wagon of sorts for the penguins.
He was one of the better fourth liners.
He was effective pretty much every time he came over the boards.
And if the flyers get that Nolichari,
They're getting a pretty effective player because you know it.
Our listeners know it.
I was a Nolachari guy from the time they got him.
I liked his level of play everywhere he was prior to that.
And there was no doubt that his first two years as a penguin were highly disappointing.
The last year we got the Nolachari we were supposed to get when they first acquired him.
You look at this lineup and the thing is for the Flyers.
And I don't say this from a position of being a hater.
I say it just from looking at their lineup.
And I think Flyers, fans, and analysts will agree with this.
They don't have their game breaker yet.
It might be Porter Martone.
We'll see how he develops.
We'll see what he turns into.
But the guy was a menace as soon as he turned pro last year.
He was a big part of their stretch run and part of the playoffs.
They're hoping that Matt Fe Meechkov finally takes a step.
And you look at the roster.
And it's a lot of very good young players.
but they don't have that guy yet.
They tried this summer with the offer sheet that unfortunately or fortunately
depending upon who you root for did not work out.
But this is a good young Flyers team that when and if they find that key piece
is going to be a big problem in the Eastern Conference.
Yeah.
I think the fact that they went after someone like Leo Carlson kind of tells you, Pat,
that they know they don't have like that.
big game breaking piece yet and they did what they could to try and get Carlson they got him to
sign the offer sheet really big AAV they were prepared to give away those picks because they felt
that no one they were going to select with those picks was going to be as good as Leo Carlson
but the ducks you know they went out there and said it we are going to match any offer sheet
that we get so the ducks kind of had no choice there like if you go out there with a statement
like that and then don't match it,
you kind of just look like an idiot,
and your GM also looks like someone
who can just be, you know,
taken to the woodshed by any other GM in the league.
Like, you have to for that instance,
but I also felt like it made sense
for the ducks to match it because there was
really no one else out there via trade
or in free agency
that was going to match the O'Carsson's skill set.
So they tried with that.
They didn't do it. Otherwise, though, Pat,
they bring back most of the same team
from last season. They didn't make too many.
other changes like their forward group, for example, is pretty much unchanged from last year
defensively outside of Simone Benoit.
They're basically the same as well.
They do have Dan Ladar starting, which of course is huge because he was very good last season.
They do have Joseph Wall from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They could be able to get him via trade.
That was a pretty big trade, honestly, during the offseason.
It didn't get a lot of like, you know, big time love, but it was, you know, one of the bigger
moves that we saw in general.
they have him to back up Dan Bladar this season.
So when you have that, the Penguins,
they obviously made more changes,
bought in some more forwards,
bought in some defensemen.
They interchange some of those pieces.
They have Sergei Murosov up, of course.
Now, Artis She-Laws is coming back.
But, you know, the Flyers basically getting a lot of the same players
you just saw in the playoffs.
So honestly, you know what you're going to expect
from basically everyone here.
You do.
And I like the move of them getting Joseph Wall
because it is a bet that,
Dan Vladar is going to be the Vlodar he was last year. And there is not a lot of history that
shows he can repeat last year's performance. And that's not me saying pencil in that he's going to
regress because we've seen that happen plenty of times with every kind of player, defenseman,
forward, goaltender. They kind of putts around for a couple years, are inconsistent. Then they find
their stride and become who you expect them to be. But it is still an unknown. So getting a
like Joseph Wall to back him up is a nice little safety net for them.
But looking at this group as a whole, I'll say this.
If you're a penguin's forward defenseman, skater, keep your head up.
This is going to be a physical team.
They are going to play physical.
They're going to throw hits.
They're going to forecheck hard.
So have the ice packs and the heat packs ready for after the game.
Because going into this one tonight, you know, you know, you know,
along with the fact that this is a physical team, you know how that atmosphere is.
One early hit, a couple hits early, that crowd's going to get into it.
So that's only going to feed the Flyers fire going into this game.
So expect physicality out of Philadelphia tonight.
Yeah, you know, God forbid they score first.
It's going to be even 10 times louder in that case.
But yeah, man, we're stoked.
That's a look at the Flyers lineup.
And that's also going to wrap up the second segment.
Coming up in the final segment, we're going to discuss the Penguins' projected lineup for this game,
who we think starts the goal, and of course, give our keys to victory to go 1 and 0 to start the season.
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All right, we're back here on the Wednesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.
I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodeys, joined by my co-Pattredaamp and Pat.
Practice lines from Tuesday, this is what I'm expecting to see because I do think Blake
Lazotte is going to play in this game.
If not, one of Rucker McGority or David Gustafson will slot in for him.
but Penguins lines
Nick Robertson with Coney Crosby
and Ricard Raquel on the top line
Chinakov Novak Malkin running it back for a second
straight year. Absolutely love to see it.
Philip Hollander with Hendrix LaPierre
and Villiers Coivinen. Conor
with Blake Lazotte and Elmer Soderblom
and then defensively, Declan
Declan with Eric Carlson, Trevor Van Reimsdike
and Chris LaTang and Sam Gerard
and Caden Corsack. So
that is what I'm expecting to see
in this game. Again, assuming Blake
LaZotte plays, but everything I saw
But practice on Tuesday makes me believe that he is going to get activated and that he will play,
which is going to be huge, not just for the fourth line, but for the penalty kill.
Powerplay units, top Power Play unit was Carlson, Crosby, Chinakov, Raquelin, Nobac,
and Power Play, too, was Letang, Gerard, Malkin, LaPier, and Philly Coivinen.
It's interesting, Pat, that Tommy Novak is on that top unit.
I know the face you're making right now, and I know that you're glad, just like me,
that Igor Chinakov is on the top unit for his shot.
they were, a lot of the players were asked about that after practice on Tuesday and they're like,
yeah, we love that they are bringing his shot up to the top unit.
He is going to fire that puck at will every time he gets it.
I'm really excited for a big season.
Hopefully I have to be Gortchina Kopp this year.
Pat, are you surprised that Tommy Novak is on that unit and not Evgeny Malkin?
A little bit, but I do think there is some logic to it.
We have seen, and I know last year is kind of the exception, not the rule, that when you load up power plays with everybody, there does tend to be a bit of overpassing, a bit of too much deference to everybody's got to touch the puck, get it to this guy, moving around, do that whole song and dance.
You split it up a little bit.
You put one or two or three on one unit, one or two or three on the other.
and you kind of know who the trigger men are.
You know who the point people are.
And if you can split that up,
it can give you a chance to roll out two effective units.
And you can limit the ice time as well,
where you might not have an exhausted unit
that just played a minute and a half,
minute 45, full two.
And by the time you get back to even,
your guys on the ice are gassed.
So I do think there is some logic
to it. We also know that Dan Mews isn't afraid to put lines, put combinations into a blender if they're
not working. So if you see this on game one and they go out tonight and they go 0 for 3, 0 for 4
or something, if they get multiple chances, I wouldn't be shocked to see some things get moved
around. Plus, you got to keep in mind, you got a few players who would get some power play time
that are going to be out of the lineup. So these aren't going to.
to stick around for a while. But at the end of the day, the most important thing that I want
Muse to keep on for a while to see if it works or not is Chinikov on that top unit. Let him be the
trigger man. Let him use that shot and make it a threat because if nothing else, if teams key on
Chinikov being there for the shot, you're going to open up other options, which can help your
power play be more effective.
I also want them to really move Chinakov around.
We all know how great his wrist shot is.
It's disgusting, but I kind of want to see him use that one-timer as well
because it's also a really good release that he has.
So I want to see them move him around, make the penalty killers uncomfortable.
I think that can be a really big weapon for the powerplay this year.
We all know how great the power play was last year, and it was awesome.
But if you are really married to Chinakov being up on the top unit like they should be,
I think he has the opportunity to be better,
especially if they move him around a bit.
With Novak, I am a little bit surprised,
and it is a little bit weird,
but I'm willing to give it at least a little bit of a chance.
If it doesn't work, you can put Evgeny Malkin right back up there.
And also, Pat, you said it,
there are players injured right now.
And then, of course, Andrei Guzmenko,
he's still in Russia, you know,
after the funeral for his father.
You know, he's going to come back.
He's going to be probably on the second unit.
So that's going to change.
Brian Rust, he'll be on one of these units.
And so will Ben Kendall as well.
So this,
second unit we all know that one is definitely going to change but i think the first one it could change a
little bit as well especially if you know no vac is struggling struggling a little bit up there and he's
maybe not finding the right fit they can put him down to power play to and maybe bump up of getting
malkin or someone else potentially but okay those are my thoughts on the power play now keys
to victory for tonight this one is very basic it's very cliche pat the first 10 minutes are just so
critical for this one you know the building is going to be juiced up
It's going to be the Hornets Nest.
If you can go out there and really kind of, quote-unquote, survive the first 10 minutes,
you know, be cool, calm, and collected when you're out there.
You'll really start settling into the game a bit more.
That especially goes, you know, for like playoff games, like the first playoff game in a road environment.
If you can really tape the crowd out of it, play a good, clean first 10 minutes,
that's really what I want to see in this game.
I think that's a big key for me.
if you can really settle in, get to your game quicker just because you know the flyers and their fans are all going to be choosed up, you know, I think that can go a really long way.
Another one for me, getting a lot of traffic in front of Dan Vladar, especially in that series, he was just gobbling pucks up like it was nothing.
So you get in his kitchen, especially on the power play, if you can really establish a net front presence there.
That'd be great.
So those are just a couple keys to victory for me.
What's say you?
Ideal world, you quiet the crowd down with an early goal.
you take them out of it, but we don't live in an ideal world.
We live in the real world.
And you're right.
The cliche, the old saying is survive the first 10 minutes because the first 10 minutes with a juiced up crowd, home opener, first game of the season, everybody is going off pure adrenaline.
They are just jazzed up.
They've got that energy boost from the crowd.
And then after 10 minutes, like you said, you've got to settle in and you got to start action.
playing that momentum, that adrenaline starts to wear off a little bit, and then you're starting
to play. Now, again, ideal world, you go out in the first five to seven minutes, you get the
opening goal, you quiet them down, you stun them, and you make them dig in. But if you can't do that,
the next best thing, survive, play responsible, play honestly boring hockey, just put the puck
deep, keep them out of your zone, get some shots on net, get them on their heels.
I agree with the Vlodar part.
That was part of the big issue, the first few games of the series last year.
He had way too many clean looks.
And he was really good all of last year.
So that was a failing by the Penguins early in the series is when you have a goaltender
who's playing well, feeling himself, you give him the eye, you keep his eyes.
He's going to make the stop.
You take his eyes away.
it's going to be a lot more difficult.
The other thing that I'll put out there,
and this is another very obvious one,
is discipline.
Because we know how the Flyers play.
They're a physical team.
And they are getting back to some of their roots
of being a bully kind of team.
They will play physical.
They will try to intimidate you.
And you mix that with the crowd in Philadelphia.
Be real easy to retaliate.
Be real easy to get involved in the muck,
in the scrums and all the extracurriculars.
For as much as I said that the flyers are still looking for their guy,
they can boast a talented top unit and you don't want to give them that opportunity.
I know it was bad last year.
I know that they historic had one of the worst power plays in the league,
but that's not going to last forever.
When you've got the talent that they have, they will figure it out.
So you want to stay out of the box.
You don't want to retaliate, get sucked in.
to all the extracurriculars.
And then lastly for me, we're obviously recording this late on Tuesday and not Wednesday
morning.
So we don't know for sure, but I'm going to operate under the assumption that Artur Shilovs
will have the net.
He's got to have a repeat performance of game six in Philadelphia.
You can blame any a number of things on why the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't win that
series against the Flyers. There's one person who, in my opinion, is completely blameless,
and that was Sheelovs. He played his ass off. And if he can do that in Philadelphia,
that will go a really, really long way. I'm with you. And, you know, this is a big game right out
of the gate. We all know how great he has been in big games throughout his career, whether it's
NHL, HL internationally. So need big game already to really put a statement when to start the season. He was
good in the opener against the Rangers last season, shot them out. Yes, the rest of the regular
season was up and down until he played really well in the playoffs. I need him to carry that playoff
momentum into the start of the season and have a really good outing. And even outside of the
first time it's going back to that for a second, if they can really replicate the way they played
against Buffalo in that final preseason game, Pat, where everything looked simple, it was
crisp, especially defensively. Like, they weren't doing anything super fancy. They were just
defending really well, just playing more of like a simple, clean game.
Bring that into Philadelphia tonight against the Flyers.
I think that'll go a long way as well.
And then, hey, give me another Cindy Crosby goal against the Flyers, obviously.
And Pat, one more question before we get out of here.
And I agree with you.
I do.
I do think she loves it starting.
Who gets the first goal of the season for the Penguins?
I am going to go with Philip Hollander.
I think he is going to get the first goal.
We'll see.
That's a good pick.
I like that one a lot.
I think it would be pretty poetic given everything he's gone through
and the way he has just conducted himself throughout camp.
But I'm going to take a slightly more obvious one.
And it's not Sid,
but I do think Sid's going to get on the board
because it's Sidney Crosby.
It's Philadelphia.
You can set your watch to it.
I think Nick Robertson is going to have himself a big game.
I liked a lot of what he did in camp.
I think he's poised for a big breakout.
And I think it all begins tonight in Philadelphia.
And here's the thing.
It's not going to be a breakaway.
It's not going to be a one-timer.
He's going to be right in front of the net.
And he is going to jam one home to put the penguins on the board.
You heard it here first.
So Pat's going with Nick Robertson for the first goal of the season.
I am going with Philip Hollander.
Let's see if either of us are right.
I am sure Pat will just get old takes exposed.
And it'll be someone else that gets the opening goal.
but hey, it's going to be great.
Hopefully the Penguins come away with a victory to get to 1-0
going into their home opener against the Canadians on Saturday.
That will do it for this one.
Thank you all so much for tuning in.
We appreciate it.
Pat and I are going to record after the game on Wednesday,
so we'll have the Thursday episode bright and early
so you all can listen to our thoughts and analysis
on game one of the 84 game season,
and then Friday we will close out the week
with a preview of the Canadians game
and get to your takes and your questions for Fan Take Friday.
So we've made it.
Hockey's back.
Let's have some fun in this 84 game season,
and let's hope the Penguins can return to the playoffs
and maybe even go on a little bit of a deeper run.
We're just really excited that hockey's back,
that we're back to really previewing, analyzing games.
It's my favorite time of year.
So we're really stoked.
Again, that's going to do it for this one.
Thank you all so much of tuning in.
We appreciate it.
We'll be back on Thursday.
