Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins suddenly have a little bit of life after a win over the Sharks

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Penguins lit up the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at home, and Pat and I are going to discuss that, plus preview two more massive games at home for the Penguins this upcoming weekend 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.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes, You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Join on my host, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Send him for Wet. And you can follow these shows, Twitter, at L.O. undersore penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this,

Starting point is 00:00:50 your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. So the penguins are back in the wind column. They absolutely crushed the San Jose Sharks 6 to 3 at home on Thursday night after a really sluggish start overall. The Penguins barely even saw the puck during the first four to five minutes of this game. they were making the sharks look like a Stanley Cup contender, to be honest, and not a team that's actively tanking.

Starting point is 00:01:13 It was a very disturbing start by the Penguins, but they eventually figured out, oh, we're playing the worst team in hockey, and they were able to score six goals on the sharks after only scoring two goals in their previous four games. And you know what I really liked about this win, Pat? They finally got quite a bit of depth scoring. Jeff Carter, Noah Charter, and John Ludwig

Starting point is 00:01:34 made up for half of the Penguins' goals in this game. I wish we could have said this earlier in the season when the Penguins were more in the playoff race, but it's funny, they are five points back of a playoff spot right now. But I just wish this could have happened a bit earlier in the season, but it's nice still to see it whenever it happens, even though it was against the worst team in the league. But obviously, I'm glad to get the win, though I do feel like the Penguins, they still have a higher gear that they can get up to. I feel like they didn't play as well as they could have in this game overall, even though

Starting point is 00:02:05 they scored six goals. It was a solid performance overall. Like you said, the first five or so minutes of the game were brutal. They barely, if at all, touched the puck and made the San Jose sharks look like a contender in the West. And then they woke up. And the other thing about last night's game is, like you said, you got depth scoring. Jeff Carter, John Ludwig. I know we have to call him depth at this point the way he's been playing, but Ricard Raquel.

Starting point is 00:02:34 and those are the things that you want to see from this team. And Nolichari also gets a goal. And you look at a game like this, and it's similar to something we've discussed before, you look at this stuff and you think, where has this been all season long? Again, worst team in the NHL, so really hard to get a gauge over it. But at the very least, now, after getting that win, and the way the rest of Thursday nights, NHL slate of games played out, The penguins suddenly have some life, and we'll see what happens.

Starting point is 00:03:09 That's the funniest thing that came out of that game, because everyone in front of them, except the Capitals, lost last night. The Red Wings, which we'll get to later on in the show, they've lost seven a row. They look like utter crap right now. They're really missing Dylan Larkin. They had a recent fight at practice again. We'll get into a deeper dive for the Red Wings a little later on in the show, but they're playing really bad. The Islanders have lost a couple games in a row. the teams in front of the penguins really don't want to bury them.

Starting point is 00:03:36 And the penguins right now are closer to a playoff spot than they were a week ago. And this team has been playing like utter crap for the last two weeks. That's the most hilarious thing, honestly. It is. And I will say this about last night's game. That had the makings of the kind of game that we have seen all season long, where a couple things go wrong, couple things don't go their way, and they just fall apart. You know, we saw it two different times.

Starting point is 00:04:01 They take a 1-0 lead, then the sharks take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. They come out, Jeff Carter gets a goal, they tie it up. Malkin then scores, they take the lead. But then right before the end of the second period, tie game. And then they go out in the third, and they dominated the sharks in the third period. The sharks got all of four shots in the third period to the Penguins 14 or 13. And that's just an effort we haven't seen all year long. that had the makings of a game where this team completely implodes upon itself.

Starting point is 00:04:35 And that didn't happen last night. They came out, they stuck to the game, they stuck to what they were doing, because let's be honest here, in the second and third period, the penguins were absolutely the better team. And at this point, you want to see that from them. We've wanted to see that from them all year. And to see them actually come out, stick to their game plan, continue to play hard, continue to play determined hockey, and get a win, regardless of where

Starting point is 00:05:04 this season is right now, that's a good sign. Agreed. And I like the point that you brought up about the third period because the sharks only had one high danger chance in that third period. And I actually screwed that up. So I want to correct myself for the record on this show. The Penguins got four shots in the third period. San Jose got 13.

Starting point is 00:05:22 But like you were starting to say, they weren't quality chances. They were shots from the outside that had no threat of going in. Every shot the penguins had in the third period basically went in if they only had four shots because of the goals that they scored obviously. But yeah, for the sharks, only one high danger chance. 0.47 expected goals were really good job by the penguins to clamp down defensively in that period. And I would love to know what Mike Sullivan said at the set in intermission just because of the

Starting point is 00:05:48 way they were playing through the first 40 minutes. It just wasn't the performance that I was hoping to see against the worst team in league. and yeah, they turned it up a little bit in the third period, even though it got a little bit dicey at times. I mean, there was still a time in the third period, Pat, where I was like, are they going to find a way to blow it against the worst team in hockey? Thankfully, they didn't, but that was still in the back of my mind a little bit.

Starting point is 00:06:09 But switching gears a little bit, you know who the one player that really stood out to me was last night again? Drew O'Connor. He continues to be an absolute menace on the forecheck. The way that he has matured into a bona fide top nine player this season has been something to behold. Again, I don't think he's a long-term answer in the top six for the Penguins. I think on a true contending Penguins team, which is what they're going to try to do for next season,

Starting point is 00:06:32 I think he is a really solid third-liner. But the way he's playing right now, these last couple of games, he's been fantastic. He was knifing through guys like it was nothing against the sharks, really establishing the forecheck down low, winning puck battles, getting it back to the point, setting up quality scoring chances, getting a couple of chances of his own. And in fact, his forecheck led to the Afghani Malkin goal that made it three to two. He had that nice shot of Ganyi Malkin follows it up, gets the rebound and gets it past Magnus Krona. But I just love the way O'Connor is humming right now.

Starting point is 00:07:04 He's been fantastic. I do too. And I think it really does validate my theory of the case that one of the things the penguins have been missing the last couple of seasons are guys like Drew O'Connor and Michael Bunting. because you look at the way those two have been playing for the last week or so, they're playing with a ton of energy. They are going to the hard areas of the ice, whether it's the front of the net or the corners in the offensive zone. They're not afraid to get a little bit physical.

Starting point is 00:07:30 Now, yes, they don't need a team full of Drew O'Connor's and Michael Buntings because then you essentially become the New York Islanders, who while they are ahead of the penguins, they can't score goals. But you need those guys who are going to provide that spark. You need those guys who are going to put the other team on their heels to set the table for your high skill guys to go in and score. And that's what those two have been providing for the last week. And I think moving forward at this point, Drew O'Connor is solidifying himself as a penguin for the future. And obviously Michael Bunting is going to be here for the next two years with his contract.

Starting point is 00:08:11 And that's a good sign for the penguins. If they can find pieces to fit around the big four, those two, this is a team that still has the opportunity next year to be at least a playoff contender again. Agreed. And I liked Bunting's game again against the sharks. He was also getting quite a few quality chances. He just feels like such a natural fit so far next to Sidney Crosby.

Starting point is 00:08:35 I think you can make an argument that both Bunting and O'Connor were the two best penguins forwards in this game against the sharks. And I will throw Gini Malkin in there as well. he gets his first goal in quite some time. I thought he was galloping all night long. That was one of his better performances of the year. I still think with Crosby, he needs to wake up a little bit. Yeah, he got the assist at the end,

Starting point is 00:08:52 but something still just hasn't been right these last couple weeks. I mean, sure, part of it is probably because Jake got moved to Carolina, but he's still been a bit off, and I'm waiting for him to wake up a little bit more. I wonder if fatigue is a factor for Cid at this point. I mean, he is 36. We know he's in immaculate shape. He's just one of the best athletes around.

Starting point is 00:09:14 But at the same time, for long stretches in this season, he was carrying this team on his back and really didn't get many, if any, nights off. And regardless of age, regardless of skill, anything like that, you get to that point of the season where you're in the back half in the final stretch and even playing the kind of tough hockey that Sidney Crosby's been playing all season long, it's going to catch up to you. And this is the hoping that, you know, over the next week or so, you can continue to get contributions from other guys in the lineup.

Starting point is 00:09:49 So this team doesn't have to completely rely on 87. But I do worry that this is fatigue because we saw that last year. When we got down the home stretch of last season, Crosby started to slow down. And it was because of the same thing. He had to carry the team all year long. Right. And I'm just hoping also at this point that he gets to extend his point for game

Starting point is 00:10:09 streak at the end of this season, just because that could be in jeopardy if he keeps going through games where he's not fully producing for the team. But I think that I'll do it overall for this first segment. I think we talked about the Sharks game long enough. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to preview the first of two games this weekend, the first one being against the New York Rangers, another big game for the Penguins going up against a bona fide Stanley Cup contender. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about Robin Hood. Did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement, you can still have an IRA. Robin Hood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robin Hood Gold. But get this. Now through

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Starting point is 00:11:36 host, Hunter Hodes, join by my co-s, Patrick Dam. So the Penguins will play the New York Rangers for the second time this season on Saturday. The Penguins were shut out by the Rangers a little earlier on this season. They lost 1-0 at home. Jonathan Quick, of all people, shut them out. And honestly, I will say this. Jonathan Quick's been really good for the Rangers this year. And I did not see that coming at all.

Starting point is 00:11:54 I thought he was cooked heading into this season. And he's honestly been one of the better goaltenders in the league overall. No matter who the Rangers star, whether it's him or Shasturkin, this is going to be a tough hill to climb for the Penguins. and even outside their goaltenders. This is a bona fide Stanley Cup contender. This team is loaded top to bottom. Kreider, Zabenejad on their top line.

Starting point is 00:12:15 They have Panarin and Trochequec on their second line. Alexei Lafranier, who I was not really too high on heading into the season. He has been really good overall for the Rangers and is finally starting to low up to the hype after he was selected number one overall just a few seasons ago. They also have Alex Wenberg on their third lane. They got him that trade deadline. Capococos on their third line. you have Jimmy V.C. Barkley-Gudrowdered around the other forward group.

Starting point is 00:12:38 Adam Fox is one of the best defensemen on the planet. Obviously, we talked about Shastarkin and Quick. This is going to be a major test for this team. I know no one's probably thinking about the standings right now when it comes to playoffs. But again, I'll say this. They're five points down. And if this team has any hope of somehow climbing even more back into this and maybe leapfrogging a couple of teams this weekend, it has to start on Saturday afternoon.

Starting point is 00:13:05 against the New York Rangers. It does. And the one thing that we won't have to worry about on Saturday is Matt Rempe. He is still in the middle of a four-game suspension that he earned on Monday night against the New Jersey Devils when he elbowed Ziegenthaler in the head. It was a very well-deserved suspension. It was an absolutely dirty hit. I will say this. I feel bad for the kid a little bit just because of all the hullabaloo that surrounded him,

Starting point is 00:13:34 with fighting and everything. He isn't a bad player. He's actually a pretty solid power forward. And I think at this point, I hope there will be an adult in the room that steps in and tells me he doesn't got to fight every single night because the kid can play. He's a very solid bottom six power forward that will help the New York Rangers when they try to win the Stanley Cup this spring. But yeah, you're right.

Starting point is 00:13:57 Overall, this is going to be a very tough test for the penguins, even though the Rangers, I don't want to say they're fading because it's not really the case. They're 6-3 and 1 in their last 10. They're coming off of a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay, who is once again showing that they're not dead just yet. But at the same time, I mean, they have held on pretty much all season long to the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. They've already got 43 wins this year.

Starting point is 00:14:24 They've got 90 points. And the good news for us is they're coming to Pittsburgh, and they're kind of worse. on the road than they are at home, but not by a lot. 2011 and 4 on the road, but they, Madison Square Gardens, a house of horrors for other teams. They're 23, 8, and 0 at Madison Square Garden. But, I mean, at this point, if you're the Penguins,

Starting point is 00:14:48 this is going to be a huge test. And I wrote about this today on my column Penguins' perspectives for Mike Sullivan, because this team now all of a sudden has life. They've been saying and saying all the right things about, oh, you know, we got to dig ourselves out of this. We want to be in the race, all this stuff. Well, now you are. Your five points out, and a lot of the teams you're chasing are starting to fade.

Starting point is 00:15:12 So you have an opportunity in front of you. For Mike Sullivan, he has to put his pride aside. He has to adjust to the roster that he has. This run and gun, aggressive pinching, heavy four check game, you can't get into this game with the New York Rangers. You will get run out of the building. I can guarantee you that. if they can play a smart game where they're not overly aggressive,

Starting point is 00:15:37 they can give themselves a puncher's chance against the Rangers because this is a team that is good as they are. They do get frustrated. In the games I've watched them this year, when they're stuck in tough, close games, they get frustrated. So if you can frustrate the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon, you give yourself a chance to steal two points from a very good team.

Starting point is 00:15:59 Yeah, if you turn this into a track meet against, Rangers, you are going to get blown out because they are great off the rush. If you give them way too many odd man rushes and if you are too aggressive with your pinches in the offensive zone, they're going to make you pay nine out of ten times and it's not going to be pretty. It all starts with Artemmy Panarin for me. He is a heart trophy contender. I think this season, in my opinion, 36 goals, 88 points in 66 games, is 88 points ranks sixth in the NHL. He has been a wizard for the Rangers overall. at. He's been good, not nearly as good as he used to be, but he's still been pretty

Starting point is 00:16:34 solid for them overall. And Vince Trochek is also having a great year as well, but I do think part of that is because he's been able to Panarin for most of the season. But it all starts, and I wouldn't say ends with Panera, but it all starts with Penner. They still have quite a bit of talent outside of him, but if you're not shutting him down, the Penguins really don't have a prayer to win this game. And also for the Rangers special teams, because I love bringing that up on the show when I do previews. Rangers are great both on the power play and penalty kill. Seventh for power play, fifth for penalty kill.

Starting point is 00:17:04 So that's also going to be a very tough ask for the penguins. And if it is Igor Shisterkin that starts this game, this is not the Igor Shisterking that we saw December, January, where he was really struggling, kind of hovering around a 900, 905s, say, percentage. No, he is playing like a top three goaltender in the world again. You can do all the Igor chance in the world all you want. And yes, it is hilarious when the crowd does it because they've gotten into his head, before. That said, the way he's playing right now, I don't think that's going to work because he

Starting point is 00:17:34 has been standing on his head game after game for the Rangers. And that's going to be a really tall task for the Penguins as well, especially without Jake Ensel now. Yeah. And speaking of the goaltending in New York this season, this is a game where guys like Michael Bunting and Drew O'Connor have to absolutely eat. Whether it's quick, whether it's Shasturkin, it doesn't matter. They have to be in one of their kitchens all game long. You have to go to the front of the net. You have to try to rattle these guys. You have to get them frustrated. And we've seen it from both guys when they come to Pittsburgh. In the heyday of this team a few years ago, that was how they got guys like Schisturken, guys like Lundquist off their game. They were in front of them all game long

Starting point is 00:18:17 to the point where these goalies got so frustrated with having someone in front of them every single time the penguins were in the offensive zone that they weren't worried about stopping the puck anymore. They were worried about yelling at their own defensemen to clear the front or taking hacks and wax at the guys in front of them, and it led to scoring chances. So if I'm Mike Sullivan, I'm telling those two on Saturday, you live with the tip of the blue paint. You sit there all game long and make them move you and make either Shasturkin or quick get upset that you're there all game long. And that's exactly what Henry Lundquist did towards the end of his tenure with the Rangers because there were so many years where he would dominate the penguins. And then the 2016 season came around.

Starting point is 00:18:57 flip the net over. And from that point on, the penguins destroyed Lungquist basically every game after. I'm not saying history is going to repeat itself here. I'm just, Erkin's going to flip the net over or anything like that. But if you can get in his kitchen and really upset him, that could really just get him going and potentially have him get or allow, excuse me, a softer or two overall. But do you have anything else to add on this game against the Rangers overall? I'm also very interested to see what the atmosphere at the arena is. going to be like on Saturday because regardless of the standings, as of the last four or five years, the New York Rangers could, you could argue, are the Penguins biggest rival right now.

Starting point is 00:19:38 And it's St. Patrick's Day weekend in Pittsburgh. So that is going to be a party level crowd, especially if this Penguins team comes out with some jump. So if you're the Penguins, you have a lot of factors going in your favor right now. Yes, it's a very good Rangers team. You are not as good is this Rangers team. Let's not get that twisted. But you have a chance to play spoiler. You have some life once again in the playoff race. And it's a holiday weekend in Pittsburgh. If you give the crowd something to be cheerful and something to be hostile towards the Rangers about, they are going to take it. No questions asked. So you have a very good opportunity in front of you as the Penguins this weekend. Is it a tall task to get into the playoffs? Absolutely. You have to leapfrog

Starting point is 00:20:24 quite a few teams to get there over the final month of the season. I still feel like it's unlikely. But if you have any shot of doing it, you have to get at least three out of four points, if not sweep this back to back. Because say you somehow do sweep this back to back and the other teams in front of you keep losing, there is a very low possibility, but it's still out there that by the end of this weekend, you could be a point or two out of a playoff spot, which would honestly make me laugh forever, just because of the way this team has mostly been playing.

Starting point is 00:20:54 since the Gensel trade, and even before Jake got traded overall. I do expect this to be a pretty good crowd at PPCA Paints Arena. I think there's going to be quite a few Rangers fans there as well, just because the Penguins aren't playing as well as they normally do this time of year. But this has to be a good and fired up crowd with the way they beat San Jose. It's one of your biggest rivals coming in. And I will agree with you, actually, Pat. I do think right now this is the Penguins' biggest rival.

Starting point is 00:21:20 Washington for a time, yeah, that was the case. but that's kind of fizzled out over the last few years. Philadelphia, I might, this might be a hot take to some people. I don't think the Flyers have been the Penguins' top rival in a decade. I'm sorry, people. That rivalry has been kind of dead for quite a while. I expect to wake up at some point, but right now I think the Rangers are the Penguins' biggest rival, and you're going to see that in this game overall.

Starting point is 00:21:45 But I do think that I'll do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to preview the second half of the back-to-back against the Detroit Red Wings, a team that has been fading pretty heavily as of late. But before we get to that, we got to tell you all about I-Bata. Grocery bills are so expensive these days, but now they don't have to be. Start getting cashback on your grocery shopping with the free I-Bata app and get cash-back every time you shop. I-Botta is a free app that gives you the most cash-back every time you shop on hundreds of items

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Starting point is 00:22:43 earning cashback and use code Locked on NHL. That's IBata in the Google Play or App Store. use code locked on NHL. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes, join with my host, Patrick Camp. So the second half of the back-to-back comes your way Sunday from PPG-Pains Arena against the Red Wings. The Penguins lost to the Red Wings very early on this season.

Starting point is 00:23:09 They did not really play that well in Detroit. They had a pretty solid third period, I thought, against the Red Wings, but in the first 40 minutes, they did not play well in that game. And this is a Red Wings team that I have said so many times on the show already today. They are struggling. They've lost seven or the last 10 games, including seven in a row. Right now, they are not in a playoff spot. The Islanders have a tiebreaker because they have a game in hand.

Starting point is 00:23:28 And they are just completely reeling right now. The injury to Dylan Larkin has been crushing this team. And according to a couple Red Wings reporters, he is expected to be out for this game against the Penguins, which is going to be a big break for them, considering how good Larkin has been this season. But when I look at the Red Wings overall, I see a very top-heavy team.

Starting point is 00:23:50 David Perron, JT. Comfer, Lucas Raymond, okay, that's a fine top line. Then you have Michael Rasmussen, Joe Villano, Patrick Kane on your second line. That's fine too. But then you have De Brinket, Cop Fabri, Jonathan Bergeron on your fourth line, Christian Fisher. I mean, they have some depth,

Starting point is 00:24:05 but this team is just way too top-heavy for my liking. They don't have enough talent that really, I guess, always scares me if I were to play them in the playoffs. I think they're going in the right direction, but they're not there. just yet. And it's funny, just a couple of weeks ago, I thought this was going to be a playoff lock. You even said on the show path that the Atlantic was going to take five teams, but that might not be the case anymore the way the Red Wings have been playing lately. It really shows you how fast things can change in the National Hockey League because the Red Wings were humming along.

Starting point is 00:24:37 They were looking like a team that was finally on the rise. They were finally going to get back to the postseason. And that very much still could happen if they get Larkin back sooner rather than later. But again, it proves your point of this being a top heavy team. because without Dylan Larkin, they've heavily struggled, and it shows how much value he brought to that team. I will say, though, very good organization. Stevie Y is putting together quite a system at this point, and they've got a ton of young talent on the way

Starting point is 00:25:08 that is going to help them for years to come. This is a very good team that is going to get better. And this is kind of the growing pain you get when you're a team like Detroit that has been on this rebuild, and they're starting to get to the point of it where they get back to the playoffs and start getting themselves to the cusp of being contender once again. But right now, I mean, it's tough.

Starting point is 00:25:31 You brought up the fight in practice. You brought up the fact that they've lost seven in a row. And when it rains, it pours in the national hockey league. We've seen it the last few weeks with the penguins. They've had everything go wrong, including after trading guys that you figured we're never, going to get traded. So at this point, you look at how they're playing. You look at how the penguins are all the five points out right now. If they can get a win somehow on Saturday against the Rangers,

Starting point is 00:26:02 they're going to have a ton of momentum coming into play in Detroit. And Detroit is not exactly coming in here after an easy game. They're going to play Buffalo. They're playing Buffalo at 1230 on Saturday and Buffalo has been a wagon as of lately. That team's starting to rise up again and look like they're, they might sneak into the playoffs. Or they could break their fans' hearts again like they have for the last decade. Yeah, it's always a possibility with the Buffalo Sabres, but they're not exactly going to be coming into Pittsburgh well rested.

Starting point is 00:26:33 So it's going to be a pretty even playing field come Sunday evening. Agreed. And if the Red Wings do lose that game to the Sabers on Saturday and the Penguins are able to beat the Rangers and then they beat the Red Wings in regulation. You look at the standings right now, the Penguins will be one point behind the Red Wings. Again, people, I know this is probably more unlikely than it is likely. And Pat and I don't expect this team to make the playoffs by the end of the season. But wouldn't it be something if this team somehow found a way to sweep this back to back,

Starting point is 00:27:05 the Red Wings lose two in a row and the Penguins are then potentially one or two points out of the playoff spot after the way they've played for the last several weeks, I will just last laugh the entire weekend, to be honest. I will too. But at the same time, this is the nature of the NHL, and this is what we were asking from this team after the trade deadline. We're not expecting you to go on some magical run and become the lovable losers that somehow back their way into the playoffs and surprise some people, but at least make an

Starting point is 00:27:31 interesting. And right now they have an opportunity right in front of them to make it interesting. Show some fight. That's what I've been saying for the final month of the season. I just want to see if they can carry some momentum into the offseason and then into next season. Because, again, we know that they're probably not going to make the playoffs at this point. But see if you can play spoiler a little bit, especially when it comes to the Red Wings and how they're ruling right now. They are playing like a team that hasn't really had to experience a playoff race like this before.

Starting point is 00:28:01 I mean, they were fully in it just a couple weeks ago. And they thought they could just cruise to the playoffs and then you have the Larkin injury hit. But even before that, they had started to lose a little bit. before he got hurt, but now they are fully reeling. And the penguins have to take advantage of that in this game. And the last thing that I didn't really mention, the Red Wings goal tending lately, it's been putrid, Pat.

Starting point is 00:28:20 They're not getting any save whatsoever from any of their goalies. No, and that's another thing that you have to take advantage of. If you can get an early goal or two, with the way this team is in the barrel right now, that just is going to further that seat of doubt in their head of, oh my God, here we go again. It's happening again. and then you can take full advantage of it.

Starting point is 00:28:43 Yeah, no, I mean, I agree with you. I mean, you look at the stats right now for the Red Wings goalies. I mean, Alex Lyons 904, Rhymers, 903. That's kind of league average to a little bit below league average overall. So this is a game that can be won for the Penguins, especially if whoever starts and goals shows up and if this team is able to get some jump, especially if they can take down the Rangers at home on Saturday. But I think that will do it for this preview overall,

Starting point is 00:29:08 but I do know you have one last thing you want to, touch on before we close out for today's episode. Yes. If you are really feeling in a hockey mood on Sunday, you can catch another game at PPG paints arena before the Penguins and Red Wings play at 1230 because the professional women's hockey league is coming to Pittsburgh. And Penguins fans,

Starting point is 00:29:28 you're going to be in for a treat if you go to this one because coming to town is Toronto and Montreal. And those are the two best teams in the PWHL right now. So that'll be a great game. you're going to see a ton of star power. Toronto is absolutely stacked with players like Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse, Maggie Connors, Blair Turnbull. There's Jocelyn Lockerue.

Starting point is 00:29:53 I always get that wrong, but, you know, not great with names. Kaylee Flanagan. And then obviously the biggest heartbreaker for us American hockey fans comes to town with Montreal and Marie-Philippe Poulin. So I'm tired of her. I'm tired of her at this point. We as American. and hockey fans are very tired of Marie-Philippe Palam.

Starting point is 00:30:12 But this has been a really fun league to watch this season. It's absolutely incredible hockey. And we get treated to the two best teams in the league in our city on Sunday. So if you haven't gotten tickets to that one, I would highly suggest it because it is going to be well worth your time. And these games in the PWHL have been sold out all here. And this is just the first year of the league. And I do think if this goes well for Pittsburgh, whenever this league does it,

Starting point is 00:30:39 its first expansion, Pittsburgh is going to be one of those teams because it has the market and the fan base especially for a team here. It really does. And I covered the people at the time it was the NWHL, All Star Game when it was in Pittsburgh in 2017 at the Lemieux Complex. And that place was packed wall to wall for two straight days. So it is the market is here for a PWHL team. And as we know, the penguins have been working very hard behind the scenes to try to make it happen here in Pittsburgh. And I really hope that it does because this is a great league with a ton of talent and it's very much worth watching. I will say this. If you haven't watched it yet, they stream all of their games on YouTube and it's completely free.

Starting point is 00:31:26 Give it, give it a try. I'm telling you you will not be disappointed. I was talking about it this morning with some coworkers. and the funniest thing and coolest thing to me is, despite it being a professional women's hockey league and not allowing hitting, it's still pretty physical hockey and the refs, unless it's very, very blatant,

Starting point is 00:31:46 they don't ever really call it. So it's a lot of fun to watch and it's very good hockey. And their playoff format for this year is also going to be quite fun as well, by the way. It's better than the NHL's in the first round. Yep. It's better than the NHL's playoff format will. I mean,

Starting point is 00:32:03 I think anything at this point is better than the NHL's playoff format, but the TPWNHL's format, I saw it a couple days ago. It's going to be fun to say the least. And I do think within a couple years, whenever this league expands, Pittsburgh is going to be one of the first cities that gets a team. But that would do it overall for this episode. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Monday to recap both games against the Red Wings and the Rangers, plus get you all set for the week ahead for this team. But that will do it again.

Starting point is 00:32:32 Thank you all so much for tuning in. We'll talk with you all on Monday. Hope you all have a great weekend overall.

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