Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Pittsburgh Penguins drop another one to the Colorado Avalanche and that's...OK. No, really!

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

The Pittsburgh Penguins weren't able to take down the Colorado Avalanche again as they fell, 6-4. Hunter goes over why it was a fine performance for the Penguins, but that some of their biggest issues came up yet again against a great team. Was this Tristan Jarry's worst performance of the year? Hunter analyzes some of the goals that he gave up (namely the third and fourth ones) and looks at how this could've been a different game had he made those saves. He also breaks down some of the defensive lapses that we saw from the Penguins, notably on the second goal from Marcus Pettersson. He looks at how this kind of defensive effort isn't going to keep him playing when the games matter most while then pivoting to the lack of finishing. After that, Hunter does look at the positives from this performance and what the Penguins still need to correct going into Thursday's showdown against the New York Rangers. All that, plus an honest view on where the team is contenders-wise, on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!HelloFreshGo to HelloFresh.com/lockedon16 and use code lockedon16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, at least the Penguins won't have to see the Colorado Avalanche unless both teams make the Stanley Cup final. Penguins drop their second straight to the avalanche and get swept by Colorado, 6 to 4 tonight. Coming up in this episode, I'm going to get into Tristan Jari's lacklust our performance, the defense not playing well, the finishing ability, not being there, and so much more. So look for that 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. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hoodies. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Follow the shows, Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. So Penguins, of course, they drop this one, 6 to 4 to the Avalanche. In a game that definitely a bit weird to touch on for today's episode. Just, you know, I'm not going to sit here into the Penguins played bad because I don't really think they did, but I think overall tonight, you definitely can see where the penguin's thoughts are going into a playoff series for whoever they play.

You know, they can play well in a lot of spurts, but, you know, they can also take some shifts off. And we saw that defensively tonight for a couple of Colorado souls. I'm going to get into those in a little bit. But we also saw Tristan Jari. He did not have a good performance tonight against, the Colorado avalanche and this was probably one of the first times I've said all year that Tristan has flat out stunk. That's the reality of this situation and I know that this kind of performance

is going to scare people going into a playoff series against whoever it is, probably the New York Rangers. I get it just because of what happened. I'm not speaking, but you know, this is also kind of a one-off performance, I would say, because the avalanche will do this to basically any goaltender. They are this talented even without Sam Darard, Nazam Khadri. and Gabriel Lannisog and a whole lot more. I mean, this is the best team in hockey, and they show that tonight by beating the Penguins. And, you know, the Penguins, again, they played fine,

but it, you know, it wasn't at the level that we saw in Denver on Saturday. And, you know, the other thing that the Penguins could not do again, which is also one of their faults throughout the whole season, is their finishing ability. They had plenty of chances to either tied the game or take the lead at times before Colorado took the game over, and the penguins were not able to do that. There's a two-on-one in the third period.

They're down too. Jake Gensel has the puck. Jack Johnson is back. He's trying to pass a Sydney Crosby. It's like, buddy, you know, you can shoot the puck in that situation. You know, you're one of the best goal scores in the league. You know, take the 50-50 there and see if you can beat Darcy Kemper wherever. It is five-hole, glove side, blocker side, top cheese, wherever.

But he decided not to do that. Jack Johnson breaks up, the Havillens go back the other way. and that's the only chance is gone. Again, he malcon finds Brian Dumont all in front, does a forehand backhand move, doesn't even get a shot on net. And it's like, I mean, these are the kind of chances that you got to finish.

You know, and it's this reason again that I think gives people some pause for the penguins on, you know, well, can they go on a deep run and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So that's something, you know, those kind of situations are, I want to see them fixed. We're moving forward. You know, I'm tired of the team. passing up on a lot of odd man rush opportunities.

It's very annoying, I think, at this point. And, you know, as I alluded to about 30, 45 seconds ago, Tristan Jari, I hated those last two goals that healed out, especially the fourth one. That is a shot from the point. I know there's a little bit of traffic in front. There doesn't look to be a full on screen. You have to come up with a save.

You know, your team is still in the game. They just had a lot of momentum coming into that intermission. It looked like the abs were really lucky to come out of that period upwind. But Jari allows that goal. And honestly, the game is basically over at that point with how good Colorado is the protecting leads this year. They don't really give up too many of those. That's just that's a puck that has to be loved.

And again, you know, those kind of mishaps are, you know, they're what give people pause about this team going to the playoffs because they don't want to see a repeat of what happened last year with Trish and Jari in the playoffs. Again, I don't think he's going to be that bad. even if he plays the way he did tonight, when he still made good saves, but allowed that one or two bad goals,

that's not going to be enough for this team to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'm sorry, it's just not, especially against a New York Rangers team that has a Vesna caliber goaltender or Scherkerkin. You need to at least match him, if not play better than him. Tristan Jari was not even close to that level tonight.

You know, he didn't even match Darcy Kemper's play, to say the least. And I will say this about the avalanche of Darcy Kemper, continues to play like this, I do not know who is beating them in the Stanley Cup playoffs when they're fully healthy at least. This is a level we did not see it from Philip Grubauer at all, you know, when he was the goalie there. So this is going to be a team that's going to cause a lot of other teams' problems in the Western Conference, say the least. Anyways, again, you know, just going back to Tresen Jari a little bit, you know, just he has to

eat. Even the third one that I did not like at all. You know, He just, he has to come up with a save in that situation. That's just that that puck can not go in, say at least. The second one, I'm going to blame more so on the defense. Marcus Pedersen got walked twice in a row. You know, Jesse Marshall actually put that clip on Twitter. You know, he got walked. I think it was by one of Burkowski or Rantaninan.

And then the Penguins, they're signaling for a change. That change really doesn't come. I think Sid's able to come off the I. Today, Blueger comes on, but, you know, the other players really weren't able to come off. Pedersen then gets walked by O'Connor and Confer's able to score to make a two to one. And it's just, you know, those are the kind of defensive breakdowns that, you know, they got to stop. I'm to say the least. So again, you know, this goes with my theme of, you know, issues that have been there are a bit this year that have popped up a bit more here down the stretch that could be problematic come playoff team.

Again, overall, I like the Penguins compete level tonight. I thought they mostly played fine, but, you know, they got to, you know, especially in the second period, you got to have more than two or three shots at that time. I know Colorado obviously up to their game a little bit, but it's up to the Penguins to also up their game a bit more, especially from what we saw on Saturday when I thought the Penguins were a much better team.

And, you know, Tristan, he has to make a couple more saves. Heck, he makes a couple more saves. Who knows what happens with this game? If he plays the way he's been playing at for most of this year, You know, maybe the penguins are, maybe we're talking about a different result right now for the penguins. And again, you know, to defensive breakdowns, you know, Marcus, for Pedersen's case, you know, he's going to continue to be put in the press box if those kind of breakdowns don't, like, go away. It's just that that's the reality of the situation here. So penguins have a couple days to correct all these things.

They have a massive game on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. are now four points behind the Rangers. They have to win that game in regulation. If they have any hope of getting home ice in the playoffs. And they have Washington, Nashville, Islanders, twice, a home and home against them. And then they have the Boston ruins before a pretty big break. They'll play Edmonton, Columbus, Philadelphia, and I think Detroit to close the season. So the schedule will ease up at some point.

But this is a brutal stretch here in the Penguins, you know, they're going to have to up their game to make sure that they clinch here in the next week or two. That's for sure. So a lot more to get to for this game coming up in the second and third segment for this episode. Before I get to that, though, Veneline.net is your number one source for all your betting needs and sports info. Find all the latest sports developments, including this week's Masters, Championship odds, podcasts, and reviews for all the different leagues this season.

Vaneline is your continued source for all your sports-wagery information, including live betting, e-sports, and scores. You can head to the website today or use your mobile device and learn more about the trends and action that is bet online where the game starts. All right. We're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. You're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow this show's Twitter at L.O.

underscore Penguins. So, you know, again, Johnny down at my notes here that I have, you know, looking at natural statrick. Fortunately, the Penguins actually had 58% of the shot attempts, 58% of the scoring chances, 60% high danger. They had 61% of the expected goals, yet they were outscored, you know, 5 to 3 at even strength. Heck, the avalanche expected goals for was only 1.5.6. So the fact that they had five even strength goals,

it's not good enough. And, you know, I'm sure the hot takes are going to be pretty hot. I don't know why I said it like that. Whatever. I'm sure the hot take artists are going to be out in full force. here is the reality of the situation for you all. Are the Pittsburgh Penguins a really good to great team? Yes, I fully believe that nothing about these last two games or, you know,

five of these last seven games has changed that in my view. However, are they as good as a team like the Colorado Avalanche or maybe even just a tiny step below like the Florida Panthers or Carolina hurricanes? Probably not. But you know what? The best regular season teams or the teams with the best records, they sometimes don't just steamroll everyone in the playoffs,

even though I do think Colorado should be able to steamroll almost every team in the Western Conference, maybe outside of Calgary or even to a lesser extent, Minnesota. You know, this is, Colorado does this to every single team out there. They outplay the opposition on a nightly basis. You know, the Penguins, they probably had a, the better of the play for a bit more than Colorado did tonight. I thought, you know, the first period, especially Pittsburgh came out buzzing,

had about 20 shots. It was, the score was, yeah, it was tied going into a second period. And then Colorado took over that period. Pittsburgh was okay in the third period. They passed up some pretty good looks. But, you know, Tristan Jari, when they needed him most, he wasn't able to come up with a big save or two. And, you know, Colorado is going to take advantage of that.

excuse me, every single time to say the least. And oh yeah, Colorado also got a very lucky bounce for their first goal. Goes up, Brian Russ sticking in. So, you know, who knows what happens with this game. That puck does not go in to say the least. But again, just to repeat this, you know, for everyone out there, because I know people are going to have their takes and whatnot. Are the Penguins still a really good two-great team?

Yes, they are probably in that second tier of contend. enders behind Colorado, then Florida, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Calgary, then maybe Minnesota, Pittsburgh, New York, Tampa, you know, all those other, you know, teams in the Eastern Conference, you know, and all the other teams in the Western Conference, I should say anything. Anything can happen in the playoffs. It's all reset to zero zero. Colorado, they're the cream of the crop. At the end of the day, that's the reality of the situation.

I'm not trying to make excuses for the Penguins losing these last two games. I know people will come in and say to me, well, Hunter, you know, if you want to be a contender, you know, you want to beat the best, if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best and all this stuff. And yeah, I get that. But, you know, look what happened last year.

You know, Colorado steamrolled everyone in the regular season. They crushed St. Louis in the first round. Went up to 2-0 on Degas, and then Degas beat them four times a row to go to the conference to the Stanley Cup seminals. So, you know, again, anything can truly happen in the playoffs. Penguins just have to get their level. of play back to the level that I know they can play at and how the level that I know a lot of

the fans know that they can play out. That's the reality of this situation, at least in my opinion, that is my take on the matter. I'm not going to sit here and say, well, you know, first round exit, it's all doom and gloom for the penguins, fire Mike Sullivan, and all these other hot takes, you know, I definitely think, you know, in maybe a small way, the team is kind of coasting to the end of the regular season because, you know, they're basically 20 points, they're 19 points up right now on the New York Islanders for that, for the playoffs spot. It's just, it's very unlikely that they're going to be bumped out of that race. I'm if the Islanders lose tonight, the magic number drops to seven. Last I checked, it was two to two down in Dallas. I can actually

check the score right now as I'm recording just to make sure I don't miss anything. And right now, the stars have actually just taken the lead. They're actually out shooting the Islanders 27 to 8 overall in this game. So again, Islanders lose the regulation. They can only get 99 points of the Penguins are 92. And in theory, in theory, if the Penguins do win their next three games, which is going to be a tall task considering the competition,

they will basically clinched a playoff spot. They will be at 98 points. So still, there is a chance that by Sunday, the team will be in the playoffs and everything will be fine. But I can't overstate just how big this game is on Thursday against the Rangers, they have to show up on the show that they can not only play with them, but beat them again, that's for sure.

And, you know, good teams are going to beat good teams on a nightly basis. I'm going to pull up this graphic here from Adam Gretz. He's going to be coming on the show on Monday. It looks like, you know, we were DMing today. That's what it was like it's not going to be on Friday. But, you know, he actually, you know, looked at the record, again, so the top team's contenders against the top, excuse me, let me say this again.

So here is the record for, you know, each playoff team against the other top 10 teams in the league. Coming into tonight's game, the Colorado avalanche against the top 10 teams in the NHL by points percentage, they were 12 in 4 and 2. They have absolutely dumped on almost every team in the top 10. They're now 13 and 4 and 2 against the best teams in the league. The Penguins, they were 9 and 7 and 4. They're now 9 and 8 and 4. You know what teams are behind the Penguins in terms of point percentage? The New York Rangers, the National Predators, the St. Louis Blues, the L.A. Kings, the Washington Capitals, the Tampa Lightning, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins are only 5 and 11 and 3 against the top 10 teams in the league and the league right now. So that just goes to show that, you know, for all these people that say, well, the Penguins can't play well against the contenders and, you know, they're not for wheel and all that. You know, it just goes to show that the penguins actually have an above 500 record by points percentage against the best teams in hockey. Yes, I understand the overtime losses paint, you know, the picture as the penguins being, if I can go back here, excuse me, nine and 12 overall in 21 games, that record is going to change by the end of the season.

But, you know, the penguins have still played fine hockey. You know, they're in the middle of the pack in terms of. of the playoff teams right now by point percentage against the top 10 teams in the league. So I just wanted to debunk that theory that I've seen from fans out there that, you know, well, the Penguins can't play against the best of the best, and, you know, they stink and all these other stuff. So I'm had to get that off my chest as well. Overall, I think this is just a bump in the road.

Teams go through this kind of stuff all the time. You know, look at the Washington Capitals right now. They're not playing good hockey to say the least. it's been brutally bad down there. Ever since there's 7-0-1 straight, heck if it weren't for that streak, yins, the islanders will be really creeping up their neck right now, to say the least.

So at the end of the day, you know, everyone take a deep breath. You know, again, I try to be as objective and as rational as I can, and I want to keep it as real as I can as well. You know, the team, I thought they had it in some capacity, tonight. But again, their biggest flaws popped up with the inability to finish. Tristan Jari being not as good as he has been earlier in the season and some defensive write downs. At the end of the day, that's what happened there. Coming up in the next segment,

I am going to get to some positives that I did see out of tonight that hopefully can be, you know, good moving forward, at least from a goal scoring and playmaking perspective. And what I want to see changed overall on a line basis as well. Before I get to that, though, you can save time and money when using Rock Auto. Why she used to spend 30%, 50% or even 100% more for the same parts in a chain store or car dealership. Rock Auto is a family business or do yourself for over 20 years. The prices are also reliable low for every customer. They have everything you can need from great parts, tail limbs, moral oil, and even new car. But you go to their easy choose website today to find a solution to your auto part needs. You can go to Rock Auto.com.

com right now and see all the parts available for your car truck. And you can write Lockdown. Their how do you hear about us box so they know we sent you. Amazing Exilection, Will I below prices? All the parts your car were ever mean, visit rockano. com. All right. Welcome back to another segment for the Locked-on Penguins podcast for Tuesday.

I am your host, Hunter Hodes. Myrnaudy's. You also follow the show's Twitter at L.L.M.R. So getting into some positives tonight, I don't want to have a show be fully negative here. Evan Rodriguez got back on the score sheet, you know, a pog in the chat, of course, as the kids like to say, gets his 18th goal of the season.

You know, he was in a massive drought, two goals in his last 34, 35 games. He badly needed that, even if Devon Taves put it in. That could do a little bit of wonders for his confidence here down the stretch. I want to see more of him in a shooting capacity here. If he can get back to that, I think the buck is going to hopefully start going in more for him

like it was during the beginning in about the halfway point of the regular season. Nice to see him get rewarded for a goal there. Jake Gensel, he was able to score again. He's on his push right now to score 40 goals. That was big. So kudos to him there. Cindy Crosby, I thought, played a very fine game.

Chris LaTang is continuing to play Stellar as well. He had a couple really nasty hits tonight, clean hits, I should say. And, you know, he was, there was so many zone entries and zone exits that, you know, maybe some of the fans don't see, but it's just like, man, I mean, good luck trying to find another defenseman on this team that can do what he does with the puck. He is truly, truly special with it, to say the least. So I really liked his game as well. Now that said, you know, oh, one more thing.

Brian Ross, he set a career high in points tonight. He's right below. I believe it was off 57 points tonight for Brian Russ, 23rd goal. of the season, he's going to get paid, and rightfully so at the end of the season. Now, to some of the, you know, the lines, of course. I think Mike Sullivan has done, obviously, a lot more good than bad this year. You know, he's done a hell of a coaching job with Penguins as he's done every year since he was hired. But I'm kind of tired of seeing Carter out with Ricardo, Raquel and of Guinea-Malkin.

because right now with Jason Zulker still signlined, and there was really no update today from Mike Sullivan again. You know, it sounds like to me they might be weighing surgery, but he's also responding to treatment. He's back on the ice again after practice, skating in a full capacity with full equipment. I should say, I'm not really sure when he's going to be back in the lineup.

But, you know, this team can't afford to have Carter on Evgeny Malkins wing. They've got to put someone else up there. You look at the underlying numbers. They get caved in. Basically all the time, though tonight, you know, this was probably their first game that they weren't caved in at 58% of the shot attempts for even strength, 62% of the expected goal, 54% of the scoring chances. But it seems like every time the puck touches Carter's stick when they get into the offensive zone, it dies. But yet, the underlying numbers are telling me that the scoring chances and the high danger chances are pretty decent.

But I mainly think that's due to Raquel and Malkin being a great fit together. I still want Carter at center when it's all set and done. I want to see someone else elevated up to that line just because, you know, I don't like what I've been seeing from an eye test perspective. I hate using the plus minus stat. I think there are so many other better stats to use than that. I got to say, though, in these last couple of games, I believe there are minus eight on the ice, you know,

ever since Jason Zoko went down. That's not good enough. again, you know, it's not the end-all B-all stat. I do not use it very often, but I had to throw it out there for the sake that, you know, it's just they got to start. Carter has to start shipping in a bit more on offensively if he wants to stay on that line, to say the least.

I just, I don't really like those line combinations right now. And I'm curious to see if Mike Sullivan decides to change that. Moving forward, I don't know how long Zooker's going to be out. Brock McGinn, I know is getting closer. He's continuing to skate in full of, equipment as well. Don't know when he's going to come back to practice. Hopefully it's in, hopefully it's within the next day or two because he's been skating for at least the last little bit here.

You know, the penguins also decided to ice Brian. Boy, what's times tonight against the Nathan McKinnon line? You're just, that's a recipe for disaster. And, you know, sure enough, you know, they gave up a goal when that line was on ice. That was, I think, a poor decision by Mike Sullivan to have that line staying on the ice against one of the best lines in hockey, you know, especially that has. Even without Landisog, Andre Berovkovsky is still a really good player.

And he's quick. I just, I don't get what Mike was thinking there when he decided to have Boyle and Angelo on the ice at the same time. And, you know, I'm not no Anthony Angelo knocker here, but you can just see that the huge downgrade from Zach Asson, Mries, and Dominic Simone, to Anthony Angelo. And, you know, all three players are not good offensively.

I am not going to say anything else with that, but it's still a sharp decline when you go down to Angela. He's just basically a wheelchair regular at this point. I don't really see him ever being an NHL contributor at this point. But that will do it, I think, for this episode of a locked on Penguins podcast. Let me know what you think down the comments for YouTube, or you know you can tweet me, DM me on either Twitter account. I promise everything is going to be hopefully just fine with this team.

let's see how they respond on Thursday against New York. I think this is going to be a pissed off Penguins team. They've lost 5 of 7, two in a row. They've stumbling a little bit down the stretch. Let's see what message Mike Sullivan will send them in the locker room. And maybe they're going to be motivated to play a lot better against the Rangers than what we've seen the last couple times, even though I think that last matchup was basically a 50-50.

I bet. So we'll see here. There's only 11 more games left with regular seasons before play. off hockey starts. I'm ready to get into it, to say the least. Tomorrow's episode will feature John Chick and I

of Locked on New York Rangers. We'll be previewing the game on Thursday at Madison Square Guard, and then on Thursday, I will have a full game recap episode with Rachel Nones of the Hockey Writers. And then Friday, we'll be previewing the weekends

late of games of Penguins. I'll have Washington and Nashville at home. The schedule does not let up for the Penguins to say the least. So again, thank you all so much for listening to another episode of Locked on Penguins podcast. I hoped I kept it very, very real with you and I tried to be as objective and as rational as I can be. And I'll talk

with you all again on Wednesday.