Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins will be WITHOUT Evgeni Malkin against the Avs!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The penguins are looking for two big points in the standings tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, and Pat and I are going to preview that game for you all, plus discuss some keys to victory coming up right after this. Your 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 the Tuesday 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-s, Patrick Damp.

Starting point is 00:00:38 You can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendin Perwet. You can also follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Pat, Penguins kickoff yet another busy week as we get closer to the end of this March continent with the game against the Colorado avalanches will be the second of two meetings this

Starting point is 00:01:05 year after the Penguins blitz them in Denver a couple of weeks ago, not even a couple weeks ago, honestly, less than two weeks ago, seven to two, Fgeny Malkin goes off, Anthony Manta goes off, hell all four lions go off, all three pairings go off, just an absolute great game by the penguins. But Pat, let's start there, one of the players that went off, Fagney Malkin. He will not be available for this game. He is day-to-day with an upper body injury. if you're wondering what it probably is, it's a hand injury if I had to think because he blocked out shot against Carolina Pat.

Starting point is 00:01:38 He was trying to shake it off as he was going off the ice. He was getting it looked at by trainers. Did he finish the game? Yes, but that's just typical Pinkland's fashion. A player will finish the game. And then he'll be announced the next day as, oh, he's day to day with an injury. So he's going to miss this one. That's a big loss considering how well he played in that game and just how well he has played

Starting point is 00:01:58 throughout the year. I know he hasn't played that well in the last couple of Penguins games, but as a whole, he has been fantastic this year. So that's still going to be a big loss. Billy Coivinen was recalled from Wilkesbury. And honestly, Pat, I would have recalled Rucker McGority. I think he is more deserving of a call-up right now. I get why they wanted Coivinen up here, just from a pure playmaking perspective. But I would have rather had McGroity up here right now just because I think he's playing better down there compared to Covenant, just my opinion. I'm with you on that. I have been on the Magrorty over Coivinen train for the last couple of weeks for a couple of reasons.

Starting point is 00:02:38 One, obviously, like you said, he has been playing really well down in Wokes Bear, and he's just earning a call up. But I also look at the schedule coming up over the next two weeks when you got obviously the abs tonight. You got Ottawa in a couple of days, then Dallas, then the Islanders and the Red Wings. And without Blake Lazot, he kind of fits that same mold that you need on your fourth line. He's a heavier player. He plays more of a sandpaper style. And when you're not, when you're without Blake Lazot, I don't think Rutger McGority is going to be the next Blake Lazot or be able to fill his shoes at his skates, I should say, as easily.

Starting point is 00:03:20 But he's more in that mold. And I think it would be better suited for the lineup. up. And I'm just, I keep coming back to this. And I think it's going to be the focus of Coyvenin's offseason. He has got to get stronger just because the skill is there, the speed is there, the vision is there. But when he plays the big boy game in the NHL, he gets knocked off the puck a little too easy. He doesn't win battles on the wall. And that's all extremely fixable. That's not me saying I'm out on this kid. That's not me saying that I think this kid's going to be a bust. It's just a part of his game that he's got to get developed here. And it's going to take more

Starting point is 00:04:03 than a season of NHL slash HL experience. It's going to take an off season or two for him to really hit the gym, do some workouts, refine his game. So it'll take time. But I think for right now, I would have rather seen Rutger McGority called up than Villay Coitman. Pat, I'm just surprised you didn't use your quad A reference there when you were talking about it. Well, the thing is, I know you're making the joke, but he's not. Like, because you see his game, it's very NHL caliber, his vision, his skill, his speed that it is all worth it in the NHL. He just got to put it all together. He needs to be a bit stronger along the boards. Like, I felt like he was knocked off the puck too easily in his last stint here. Now he's going to get a chance to kind of redeem himself,

Starting point is 00:04:49 especially in this game. You look at some of the lines during the morning's gate. He was on the third line with Ben Kindle and Justin Brzoe. By the way, Pat, Justin Brzoe, also a player that really needs to get going again for the Penguins. I know his hot start was not going to be sustainable for a full 82 game season when you looked at his shooting percentage especially, but he only has two goals in his last 18 games. He also needs to be a lot better, I think, for this team.

Starting point is 00:05:12 Yeah, the thing that's worrying me about Brazil right now is that the chances haven't really been there. And he's the kind of player where if the chance. chances aren't there, I'm going to start to get a little worried. He's got to find some sort of something in his game. I'm like at a loss for words on it because I say this about a lot of players. When they're getting chances and they're not going in, I'm not going to light my hair on fire and scream from the rooftops that all is lost.

Starting point is 00:05:44 Because we say it a lot. Every goal score in the NHL with the exception of, say, Alex Ovechkin is streaky. You're going to go through dry spells. You're going to go through hot periods. But with Brazil as of late, he's not even really getting chances. And he's got to pick it up here because his hot start was great. But we cautioned about it earlier in the season. We were like, hey, listen, this isn't who this guy is.

Starting point is 00:06:11 He will score in bunches and his career trajectory at every level has been, he starts slow the first season or two, and then he explodes onto the scene. that's what's kind of happening with him. But the problem, as of the last few weeks, has been he's not scoring goals and he's not getting chances. So he's got to really break through here in the next couple of weeks. He had that really good one in the first period against Carolina where the third line actually

Starting point is 00:06:37 had a pretty good shift. That's probably the best shift of the game for the third line. He gets a chance probably about 15 feet out, just sales it way wide. You just got to put that on net there. And again, as a whole this season, I think Brzo has been very good. Again, great signing by Kyle Debus. I just want to see a bit more from him because two goals in his last 18 games, you know, especially when you need depth scoring this time of year,

Starting point is 00:06:58 I just want to see you a little bit more. You know, just finishing up a thought about Coivdin, though. Again, just want him to be a bit stronger overall, be more consistent. If he can work out those kinks in his game while also hopefully getting the points, I think he has the chance of hopefully being an everyday player, though. Again, I think McGrady is further along right now than Covenin. That's why also I'd rather have Maglady up here. I just think his game, it's just right now this time of year, I think it's better suited

Starting point is 00:07:29 for the team. But hey, Coyvin has a chance to redeem himself, especially for this game. I also think this with Coyvinen's game and this will come with experience in time. He doesn't need to become a fourth line guy. He doesn't need to. I know I keep bringing up that he needs to get stronger and hit the gym and all that. And that remains true. But he also needs to learn how to have some shiftiness in his game because you see him getting knocked off

Starting point is 00:07:56 the puck. You see him losing these battles on the boards. He doesn't have to become a bruiser. He's just got to kind of find the timing, find the confidence, find the ways to get around certain players and when to make moves, when to shift his weight, when to shift his edges. And that will come with time. Because again, he's got the skill, he's got the vision, he's got the speed, but it comes with experience. So we're kind of trapped right now in a catch 22 with covenin and where he's got a lot of stuff he's got to work on, but he's probably got to work on it at the NHL level, but the penguins are in a playoff hunt. So if you're not producing, you're probably going to get sent down. So it's a rough spot for him to be in. But like a lot of the players we're going

Starting point is 00:08:46 to see especially drafted and acquired, it's not going to happen right. away. Not everybody is going to be Igor Chinikov. It's going to take some time for these guys to find that momentum, find that stride and become everyday NHLers. Right. And also, development is not linear. Like sometimes some players take a bit longer to develop. So we'll have to see what happens. But again, he'll get another shot tonight. And speaking of the rest of the lineup again, we already discussed. The third line is going to be Billy Coyvin and Ben Kendall a Justin Brzo. You got Ricardo, Raquel with Cindy Crosby and Brian Russ on the top line. Igor Chinov with Tommy Novak and Anthony Manth on the second line. And then you got Soderbara and Achari on the fourth line.

Starting point is 00:09:28 Defensively, Ryan Shea will be back tonight. And by the way, Pat, I don't know if you saw his huge gash on his upper lip. Who, that looks like it does not look good to say it's rough. I'll say this too. I saw a lot of the discourse about it of the hit he took against Winnipeg on from Lowry was dirty. Listen, and Lowry's a million feet tall. I don't think it was malicious. I don't think it was head hunting sometimes when you're just a massive human. You throw hits that hit people high because you're taller than them. He's got to be a little bit, he's got to be a little bit more discerning of how to throw hits.

Starting point is 00:10:04 But at the end of the day, like, I don't think it was head hunting. I don't think it was dirty. I think it was just, he's a lot bigger than Ryan Shea. And he caught Ryan Shea at a bad moment and sucks. but it's a risky run playing hockey. Right. I didn't really think it was that bad, excuse me,

Starting point is 00:10:23 compared to a whole bunch of other dirty hits we've seen this year. Hell, we just saw AJ Greer get a three game suspension for probably the dirtiest play you'll see all season, management of player safety stinks, as always. But Ryan Shea is back tonight. He's with Connor Clifton,

Starting point is 00:10:37 Sam Girard and Crystal Tang for whatever reason. I don't understand. And then Parker Waters from Eric Carlson. Dan, we can switch up the D pairings, my man, we really can switch them up. If it's up to me, I bump up Shea to the second pair still. I moved Dr. Rard down, and I put Ilyos Solov in the lineup for Connor Clifton. I'm not trying to disrespect Connor Clifton.

Starting point is 00:10:57 I just think he could use a night off. I was liking Soloviov's game before he got put in the press box. And I was honestly liking that pair a little bit with Gerard. Very small sample. But in the minutes we saw with those guys, I thought they played pretty well together. I think the way to go is still Gerard, Letang, and Carlson on their separate pairings. Dan, please switch up the D pairs. We will see how the game plays out.

Starting point is 00:11:22 But if this is the six defensemen that they want to go with, honestly, the second and third pairings should be flipped at this point. Like with the way LaTang is playing, with the way he plays with Gerard, that should be your third pair. And you should shelter the hell out of them. And I know that Shay and Clifton aren't exactly a world-beating pairing, but they're playing better than that pairing.

Starting point is 00:11:45 and with the team you got coming to town tonight, I don't want to see that Latang-Girard pairing get exposed. I'm with you there, but it feels like they're going to get a healthy dose of at least one of the abs, top six lines, which, you know, that's going to be something else. And speaking of that,

Starting point is 00:12:02 that'll do it for the first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to do a full preview for this game, plus give some keys to victory a bit later on in the show. That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is game time. There's nothing like being in an NBA arena, the crowd, the energy, the moment.

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Starting point is 00:13:15 And remember, it's GameTime. CO, not gametime.com. All right, we're back here on the Tuesday edition of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Damp. And Pat, as we all know, this is going to be a very tough game for the penguins to win tonight. Now, especially without the services of a beginning Malkin. You know that the avalanche are probably going to give you a much better effort than what they showed in the last matchup, where they just got blitz seven to two.

Starting point is 00:13:44 It's funny, we talked about that game. The first period, I actually thought the avalanche outplayed the penguins, despite the penguins being up 4 to 2. And then the abs really just didn't have much of anything in the final 40 minutes. The Penguins adjusted their game plan, played more simple, and they shut the abs down in the final 40 minutes of that game. We'll get to Keys to Victory a bit later on. I'll just give you a hint. That's going to be one of them for this game. But the abs, they're getting a bit healthier. Gabriel Landiscon is now back. He returned over the weekend. They got a big win over the Washington Capitals.

Starting point is 00:14:16 They've already clinched their playoff spot, but they're also trying to clinch the Central division because the Dallas stars are right on their heels. They want to get that top seed in the central to avoid sliding into that two three spot and playing the Minnesota wild. They're going to get home ice in the first round. It's just a matter of do they get a more favorable matchup or do they get that two three matchup? They want to get the more favorable one. Let's be real here. But Avalanche, Nathan McKinnon, one of the Hart Trophy favorites he had again with 45 goals and 114 points in 68 games. He scored that insane goal against the Penguins earlier this season, again, less than two weeks ago where he just blew that puck right past Archer Sheelovs,

Starting point is 00:14:53 just not much he can do there. Man, like when Nathan McKinnon comes down like that, good freaking luck. Marty Natchez, he's been fantastic with 32 goals and 86 points. Kail McCar, he has been, once again, one of the best defensemen in the league with 20 goals and 70 points. Brock Nelson is a 30-plus goal score this year. Also, always a penguin killer, so watch out for that. They have out to choose can still, Gabe Landiscon, who I just mentioned. and this is a team when healthy that can run four lines with virtually anyone.

Starting point is 00:15:22 They have three solid defensive pairs, but their goaltending for the most part has been fairly good this year. Scott Wedgwood and McKenzie Blackwood Pat have pretty good same percentages, and they have been a big reason to me why they are where they are in the standings. Now, do the penguins light both of them up in the first matchup? Yes, I don't know if that's going to happen again because it feels like that was kind of just a one-off with the way the penguins were just blitzing the avalanche. But I think overall, you are going to get a much better effort tonight from the abs.

Starting point is 00:15:55 However, game plan wise, I want to see the same from the last two periods. Simple hockey, not trying to turn this game into a track meet. If you do that for a full 60 minutes, it's probably not going to end well with the way the ads can just come at you in waves. You saw that in the first period or the first game where they were going to blow for blow with them. And it worked for a period. But I said at the time, I don't think it was going to.

Starting point is 00:16:18 work for the latter two periods and the penguins adjusted very well credit to DMUs and the rest of the staff. So those are just some of my thoughts for this game, Pat, what say you? I mean, whether it's Wedgwood or Black or Blackwood, wow, I just, I had to question it in my head there for something like, wait, both their goalies are, would second name Wood. That's weird. But anyway, you're not going to get that same kind of goaltending performance out of either of them regardless. They're both above 900 save percentage on the year. They both have a couple of shutouts to their name. They're good goaltenders. They had an off night. So to your point, trying to go blow for blow with the avalanche, it worked last time because

Starting point is 00:16:59 they couldn't get a save. So that worked out in your favor. You were getting saves. They weren't. And you're not going to replicate that on most nights with the Colorado avalanche. It's just unrealistic. The other thing I will say as a key to victory here, and I understand I'm saying this about a home game. you got to survive the first five to seven minutes. Yeah. Because you know Colorado is going to be full of piss and vinegar because of what happened last game. This team is led by Nathan McKinnon. Nathan McKinnon wakes up angry.

Starting point is 00:17:32 Nathan McKinnon wakes up ready to kill anyone that gets in his way. So you know he has been marinating on that loss for two weeks. And he wants to get his lick back from that game. So you know that the first five to seven minutes, Colorado is going to come out on bath salts. They're just going to have themselves an evening because they want to get that lick back. They want to get some revenge. If you're under siege for the first five to seven minutes, but you don't give anything up,

Starting point is 00:18:04 that's totally fine. Let them work on that emotional momentum for the first few minutes. Let them punch themselves out, survive, and then dig in and take it back to them. Because that's how they're going to start the game. If you survive that, you get this game to 50-50, you play smart, you play good, responsible 200-foot hockey. You showed two weeks ago, even with the lack of goaltending from Colorado, that if nothing else, you can hang with this team. Are you on their level? Probably not.

Starting point is 00:18:38 But when you're only seeing them twice a year, you can hang with them. Play a smart, responsible game, survive those first few minutes, and you should be all right. the abs, they had that very hot start, Pat, where it felt like for the first half of the season, they only had, what, two regulation losses. Since then, they've been a bit more normal, 15, 11, and 3 in their last 29 games, if you combine that, 15 and 14. So they've been beatable over the stretch,

Starting point is 00:19:05 and we obviously saw that at home where the penguins absolutely crushed them. So I know they had that hot start. They've cooled off a little bit since then. Feels like they've been low-key kind of coasting to the end, because they knew after that hot start, hey, we're going to be a playoff team. We only had two regulation losses, but basically the first half of the season,

Starting point is 00:19:22 we can just play 500 hockey the rest of the way and we'll be fine. And that's what they've done. It's taken a crazy run from the stars to even make this first place conversation a thing in the Central Division. But, yeah, I think for the first five to seven minutes, I also just want to see a response overall from the Penguins. And they've been good about that. They haven't had too many sinkers this year.

Starting point is 00:19:45 I think that's also been a storyline we haven't talked about enough where the penguins have been in almost every game they have played in this year. You haven't seen too many stinkers from them compared to the last couple years where you saw quite a few under Mike Sullivan towards the end of his tenure. But every time they have had that rare stinker this year, they have responded. I want to see that tonight. I also want to see the penalty kill play much better. They gave up three power play goals last game against Carolina. I want to see it much better tonight. even though the aves do not have a good power play this year,

Starting point is 00:20:18 which is crazy to say, considering the amount of high-end talent that they put out there, that's still a unit. You don't want to give too many chances to, considering the firepower that it does have. I also want to see Archer Shilovs have a strong performance. I thought overall against the abs, he played very well.

Starting point is 00:20:35 I want to see him replicate that here against them for a second time. That's another key for me for tonight. No Malkin. The onus is now on the top line a little bit more. I think Crosby is still working out the kinks ever so slightly. He was out for a while, getting his legs back, getting that game back. I think hopefully tonight you see him have a vintage-like performance, especially going up against his best friend and Nathan McKinnon.

Starting point is 00:21:01 Again, I don't think Cid has been bad or anything, Pat. That will be totally unfair to say. He's just working out some of the things that, you know, he hasn't played in a while. He's been a bit rusty. So hopefully tonight we see a big game from the top line, especially him. This is actually a good little transition point for me because it's, it's going to kind of weave two things together.

Starting point is 00:21:23 One, you're right. Crosby has not been bad, but he's kind of been bad by Sidney Crosby standards. For us mere mortals, that's a pretty good day at the office. But you can see him ramping back up. He's starting to get his timing back.

Starting point is 00:21:35 He's starting to get everything together. And what better time than to do it against Nathan McKinnon. And the other thing I want to say, and I promise this isn't me. doing some dummy contrarian thing where I'm like, actually, is Colorado really good? No, they are very good. They're incredibly good. But also take a look at their conference and their division. They're five points up on Dallas who is having a generational run over the last couple of months. And they're still unable to catch Colorado. That's how good Colorado started the year.

Starting point is 00:22:09 And then Minnesota, also a very, very good team, 10 points behind them. And then the closest after that is Utah with 22 points, a 22 point standing deficit on them. It helps that they're in a conference in a division that's kind of weak this year. So they were able to really wolf down some early points and get themselves that lead to where this point in the season, don't fall into bad habits, don't lose too many people to injury, stay healthy, get to the playoffs and then unleash the super weapon. So I do think there's an element of that. But at the end of the day, like I want to make sure I reiterate it.

Starting point is 00:22:53 This isn't me doing some, I'm going to take the other side. Devil's Advocate actually Colorado is bad. No, they're extremely good, but they are definitely the beneficiary of being in a weak Western conference. That's true. I mean, the three best teams in the West to me are still very much Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota. And they're all in the same division. Yeah, it's the top three teams. And only one of those teams is going to be in the conference final.

Starting point is 00:23:20 Great playoff format we have here, Gary Bettman. I will always take time to trash the playoff format because I think it's good. Real quick, I agree in general that the playoff format is stupid and bad. But I'm also a student of the school of Jeff Merrick of to get a Stanley Cup, you're eventually going to have to play and beat a really good team. So whether it's the first. second, third, fourth round, there's no, hey, we're going to make this path to the Stanley Cup easy mode. You're going to have to beat good teams. Sucks that it isn't always the conference

Starting point is 00:23:53 final, but if you want to be the best, you got to beat the best. Hey, I agree with you there, 100%. I just hate how the playoff format doesn't reward regular season success enough, where two of the top, what, five to seven teams in the league are playing in the first round. Not a fair format here, Gary, but you said it. To be the best, you got to beat the best. But that's going to do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, we're going to look at some pretty big matchups around the league tonight and who you all should be rooting for tonight, Sandings-wide.

Starting point is 00:24:25 That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our second sponsor, which is Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not just you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy yourself. live all game long, use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter.

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Starting point is 00:25:28 It is a jam-packed night in the NHL tonight. A lot of big games outside of Colorado Pittsburgh, where obviously, if you're listening to our show, you were rooting for the Penguins to win. Toronto, Boston, you want to root for Toronto to win that game because Boston is very much in the race, though. It's going to be able to Toronto to win that game because, well, they're pretty banged up, and also Boston hardly loses at home. So I don't think you're going to get too much help from Toronto tonight.

Starting point is 00:25:53 I'd love to be wrong, but I think Boston's probably going to win that game. Carolina, Montreal, you want Carolina to win that game because the Canadians are also in the playoff race. Ottawa, Detroit just ends in regulation. Someone needs to win that game in regulation. We don't need a three-point game here between those two teams going on. Chicago Islanders, Anton Fondell's NHL debut tonight.

Starting point is 00:26:16 That could be must-watch TV for some people. that is they are playing on the island against the islanders. By the way, I don't know if you've seen the Islander's schedule. Almost all their games down the stretch here are on Long Island. Very weird scheduling quirk by the NHL where they're hardly playing on the road at all for the final three weeks of the season. So they have a pretty good advantage in terms of playing at home, but they also do play a lot of tough games at home. But that's a big game against Chicago, root for Chicago. Columbus, Philly, probably root for Philadelphia in this game.

Starting point is 00:26:47 Flyers have been. been hot as of late. They were seven of their last 10 games, three in a row coming off their California sweep. They've tried to play their way back into it, though. I still think they're a long shot to get in right now. I just don't really see it, in my opinion. I'd root for Philadelphia over Columbus. The Penguins have more of a gap over Philadelphia, and especially if the penguins win tonight. They keep that gap, even if Philadelphia win. So, root for Philadelphia to win that game, I think, in regulation. And then St. Louis over Washington,

Starting point is 00:27:16 that's easy enough. Am I missing anything here, Pat? I think those are the games you really want to be paying attention. Yeah, I mean, looking at this, like, one of the things I look at it as is if you're, let's almost worst case scenario this, where you're playing the Colorado Avalanche, you don't have a Gettie Malkin, this is going to be a tough game for the Penguins to win. This is going to be a difficult challenge. for them to get two points.

Starting point is 00:27:45 It's even going to be a bit of a challenge to get one because it is a very good team. So you want the Philadelphia Flyers to get themselves a win over Columbus because you don't want Columbus to overtake you. You want the Islanders to continue to lose because you want them to stick where they are. You don't mind seeing Ottawa get a win because even though that Ottawa Detroit game doesn't really have a ton of implication because it's the Atlanta. you still want to keep the islanders down. So that's kind of the way I'm looking at this.

Starting point is 00:28:19 But you're also in the wild card race too. It's not just the metro race that you're in. You're also playing for one of those two wildcards. You're honestly playing right now, Pat, for four playoff spots. Like one of four. So, but that's the end of the day. That's kind of how I'm approaching tonight's slate is that you almost have to approach it in. Yeah, the penguins are playing the avalanche.

Starting point is 00:28:39 And this is going to be a really tough game. You get two points. who the hell cares what happens with the rest of the slate. But I look at it again in two forms here. One, you got to look at it from the, okay, let's, and I know this will sound like negativity and cynicism, but you want to look at it as, all right, if the penguins don't get points, what is the path of least resistance for them? And then the other way I look at it is we talked about it this week is you want to look

Starting point is 00:29:08 at the schedule right now in chunks. You got six points coming up this week. How can you get the most and keep yourself in playoff position? I don't have us against Dallas and Colorado as scheduled losses, but it's one of those moments where you go, I'm going to be two really difficult games, but they're Western Conference games. So what do we want everybody else to do?

Starting point is 00:29:31 That's kind of how I'm approaching the slate. And also just take care of your business, first and foremost. That's the biggest key. Everything is in front of you. really relying on other teams to lose, first and foremost. Like, that's the thing. Like, you're not behind the eight ball. You're in a playoff spot right now.

Starting point is 00:29:51 Everything that you want is directly in front of you. Win, and then let's see if you can get some help. I just want to have these matchups out there to give you all a taste of who you should be rooting for as well as rooting for the Penguins to get two crucial points in this ending tonight. Obviously, this game means more to Pittsburgh right now. now than it does Colorado. Colorado has already clinched. Yes, they are playing for a division title, but their playoff spot is locked up. They're getting at least the second seed in the

Starting point is 00:30:20 central. They're going to get home ice in the first round. But I want the penguins to come out looking like more of the desperate team tonight because they should be. Their playoff spot is not set in stone. There's a very real chance they could still miss when you see how tight the standings are right now. I mean, just take care of this way. With how tight the saying, are Detroit and Ottawa are on pace to have the most points ever and potentially miss the playoffs. Like that's how tight the Eastern races. Like it's to the point now where 100 points is probably the cutoff.

Starting point is 00:30:56 96 to 100. It's probably somewhere in there. I think it's going to be between 96 to 100 in terms of who could make slash miss the playoffs for this year again, which is crazy because the bubble last year was way lower than that, to say the least. that four-point game in Ottawa on Thursday. Ottawa is more banged up right now. Tomash Shabbat and Jake Sanderson are still out.

Starting point is 00:31:17 Sanderson is trying to make his way back, but he's still not fully ready to go yet. So the Penguins Pat, they may play an Ottawa team without their two best defensemen on Thursday. That could be, again, two really big losses for this ends. But they have played their way back into it, and that's probably a must-win game for them tonight against the Red Wings. Again, for the Penguins,

Starting point is 00:31:37 they just got to finish above at least one, if not two of these teams. Now that Ottawa, again, has played their way a little bit back into it. They also have a really good tiebreaker number right now. So, again, if you finish above at least one, if not two of these teams, you should be fine. But everything is right in front of this team. They just have to seize the moment. But that's going to do it for the Tuesday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

Starting point is 00:32:02 Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Wednesday, recapting this game against the avalanche and of course giving you our picks for warrior helmet Wednesday. So for Patrick Damp, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in. We appreciate it. We'll be back on Wednesday.

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