Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Was Sunday the FINALE of the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry?

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins twice this weekend, but that wasn’t the story; the story was that this could have been the final meeting between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Hunter and Patrick start the show by recapping the home-and-home between the Penguins and Capitals, first how the Penguins played pretty much no one at home and didn’t put forth a great effort, then on Sunday, the big boys returned to the lineup, but Caps’ goaltender Logan Thompson shut the door. (1:10) Then, if this weekend truly was the end, they look back on how both Crosby and Ovechkin exceeded all expectations after they came into the league two decades ago. (16:40) Finally, there’s one playoff spot left in the East, and whoever gets it has a date with the Penguins. They go over all of tonight’s playoff-clinching scenarios! (29:00) Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Indeed Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get two-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. Rocket MoneyLet Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join athttp://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDON     FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were swept by the Washington Capitals in the home-and-home back-to-back this weekend, and Pat and I are going to recap both games coming up right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my host. Patrick Damp. You can follow him on all social media platforms at Sendem for Wet.

You can also follow this show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown 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. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandle. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $250 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Head to fandul.com. to get started. So perhaps the penguins get zero out of four points this weekend against the Washington Capitals,

losing both games in regulation. And that's kind of how I reacted to both losses as well. Oh, well, whatever. The Capitals are fighting for their playoff lives. As fun as it would have been to eliminate them, get the memes going on Twitter. I think they're probably going to get eliminated today or tomorrow. The Flyers just have to win one of these two.

games at home. They play Carolina tonight. Carolina is going to rest a bunch of their best players. I think the Flyers can potentially get this done. If not, they'll have a second chance on Tuesday, also at home against the Canadians. More on that a little bit later on in the show. But yes, as fun as it would have been to eliminate them, the Capitals get the two wins, because let's face it, Pat, the Penguins players are never going to admit this publicly, but they were not giving 100 to 110% out there. It felt like it was around 70 to 75. And, you know, when these two games are meaningless, because they are for the penguins, that's kind of what you get. I was really looking for individual performances,

looking to see if some things get cleaned up a little bit. And I do think we got a bit of both in these two games. I want to start personally, my biggest takeaway, Sam Gerard continues to play really good hockey. His skating has been great. I think his decision making has been awesome. He's been a one-man breakout from his own zone. He continues to look more and more comfortable in each game that he plays as a penguin. And I saw a couple of quotes that he gave some of the reporters after the game talking about how the penguin system under Dan News is so different compared to where he was playing in Denver under Jared Bednar that he said, it took a little bit of an adjustment period, but I have found my game. And he has been really good

the last couple weeks. I also want to shout out Chris LaTang Pat. He has really been finding his form over the last couple of weeks as well. If this second pair continues to play like this going into the playoffs, the Penguins will have at least two legitimate defensive pairs for each playoff game. Again, Ryan Shea, he's been sold on the third pair. Connor Clifton sometimes still scares me, but he's still been fine as of late. But if they have a legit second pair man, who that's going to help quite a bit. I really liked both of their games this weekend, Gerard and Letang.

That's going to be one of the biggest developments in things to monitor going to into whoever this first round series is going to be against this weekend is, does that pairing of Gerard and Latang continue to hold up and continue to progress? Because when they first got together, it was a problem. It was a big problem. They were oil and water. They did not mix. It was not working.

And credit to Dan Muse for understanding that there was potential there and keeping it together and letting them build chemistry, letting Gerard get more familiarized with the penguin's system. And for the last two weeks, Gerard's been one of their better defensemen. He has played extremely well. He just continues to get better with each and every game. So for any hope that these penguins might have going into the Stanley Cup playoffs, having a legitimate second pair that they can roll out there in all situations

would be a massive boost for this team's chances. regardless of who they're playing. The thing about this past weekend, it was, I guess, I don't even know the word, ceremonial, I guess. Pat, one team was desperate to save their season.

The other team was like, yeah, we're already in the playoffs. We're going to go out there. We're still going to compete. But let's be real, man. That was not 100 to 10% effort out there. It's not like what we were seeing when they had those 22 games and 38 days,

balls to the wall, every game where you're playing top contenders. And, I mean, Damien is also resting players in each of these games, which is the right call. We're going to get to that in just a second. I will disagree about Sunday's game. I think the Penguins played extremely well on Sunday. Logan Thompson just played his ass off.

I agree with that. That had a great game. The Penguins decided to put the big boys back into the lineup, which we're going to talk about later in the show. I think there's a reason for that. and Logan Thompson just shut them down at every turn. And Stuart Skinner played well, but he played against a goaltender who went Super Sonic.

So there's not much you can do. On Saturday, that was the B&C squad for the Penguins. The effort was not great. The Penguins were very much out for a Saturday afternoon skate while the Capitals were fighting to keep their season alive. So it was barely a hockey game at that point. It was Pittsburgh just showering Ovechkin with affection for everything he's done in his career

and being part of this rivalry. But yeah, I mean, individual performances. I liked Stuart Skinner, loved Sam Gerard. I really liked Elmer Soderbloom on Sunday. He had himself one heck of a game. And he basically did everybody looking at me when I start barking, just looking down at Tom Wilson like, I got at least a foot on you, bud.

Get out of my face, which was very fun to see. Yeah, Tom Wilson just wants to fight everyone on the Penguins bench, which I guess is not surprising considering, you know, his play style and all that other stuff, but none of that is surprising at all. I'm glad that you brought up soda blonde because, Pat, the way that he protects the puck behind the net,

it's so fun to watch. You can't really get the puck off his stick at all once he gets going. in those situations. There were multiple times on Sunday where the fourth line hemmed the capitals in for over a minute, and it was because of Soda Blum's game. I think he's also really improved his board battle game, the way that he's able to control the puck along the boards, the way that he's able to win puck battles along the boards. He's been good ever since coming over from Detroit. He's been improving in each game.

Again, continuing to make a case to be in all the playoff games, even if this team, is healthy and that that means you know getting Connor Dewback he's week to week now by the way getting Blake was off back that that's if everyone is healthy he is making his case to be in any of these games now if there's a player hurt obviously he's going to be in there but still he is one of the players that we're looking at here to see if he will be in if this team ever does get healthy but I really liked his game I'm glad that you brought up also they played better on Sunday compared to Saturday. I'm not going to disagree with you on that. The save that Thompson made on Novak was insane. And then that sequence later, Pat,

where he just flubs the pox. Just poor guy, just a disaster sequence. The way that he robbed Crosby on the power play there, Sid goes down to one knee. You and I both know. That's automatic. Still, somehow makes that save. I'm like, yeah, it might just not be your day when Thompson is making saves like that. There were multiple times where the Penguins, even outside of their fourth line, had the capitals hemmed. they just couldn't beat Thompson. It's funny, Pat. He has a great game then, but on Saturday,

he was giving up a couple of bad goals and just off his angles, didn't really play well. But hey, credit to him, he responded. I just felt like, you know, these two games were so meaningless that they weren't going to give 100% anyway. That said, Sunday's game, performance-wise, was better than Saturday. It was.

And the thing that disappointed me more about Saturday, was that some of the players said this after the game. And listen, I understand human nature. And I'm not going to kill this team for this weekend. They're in the playoffs. Like they have more than overachieved. So at this point, I'm picking nits and complaining that I got the wrong champagne at this point. But a few players said it after the game that, hey, we got to be ready to go because rare

is it that a team gets through the Stanley Cup playoffs without injury, without guys needing to step in. Not to mention, there's going to be a lot of open roster spots next season. In Saturday, if that was an audition for some of the younger guys, they ain't getting callbacks because the effort wasn't really there. The speed wasn't there. The pushback wasn't there. The pushback was there, but it was from Anthony Mantha, Noel Chari, Kevin Hayes, guys who probably won't be here next year pushing back. And if you're

coping in, if you're Villay-Coyvenin, I'll even call them out, even though I like them quite a bit. If you're Rutger-McGrorty, you look at Saturday's game and you go, did I really make a better case to be a penguin in the next six, eight, ten, twelve months? Because again, one game, I'm picking nits, but you're playing a desperate team who is trying to keep their season alive. Your team has clinched the playoffs and you're getting an audition and what is a big game for your opposition and you just kind of had a Saturday skate about it. Billy Coyvenin, I didn't really like his game that much this week and he continues to still struggle pat along the boards. I just think I'm not trying to be too mean here. I just think he's

a little too soft along the boards. He's knocked off the puck too easily. He's not making the right decisions going from him to Rucker McGrody, I really wanted to see more from him. I didn't see enough from him this weekend either, in my opinion. Yon Okopening, I mean, he's just a guy. He's a 15th, 16th forward. We all know that. But I wanted to see more out of Magrorty and Coivinen, and I didn't feel like I got that this weekend.

I'm still not down on Magrorty. I think he's going to be a factor on this team, especially going into next season. I'm starting to get a little bit more concerned about covenin. Just when I compare the two, I'm, what's the word I want to use here? I'm more confident in Magrory than I am on Coivin. I think that's the way I want to say it. But I still didn't like either of their games this weekend. And I also want to say this, Pat, before we head to break here.

I saw some people online talking about how mad they were that they rested a lot of the big names on Saturday. Guys, all that matters, all that matters, yeah, Pat's probably one of them. All that matters right now is this team's health going into the Stanley Cup playoffs. I understand fan appreciation day. You wanted to get the chance to see them in their last regular season home game. But what matters to me is that everyone is healthy by the time game one rolls around this upcoming weekend at PBJ Paints Arena. I really don't have any problem with Dan Muses resting those guys on Saturday. And yes, he inserted them back in on Sunday.

But I do think a big part of that was because of it could have been Alex Ovechkin's last game, more on that in a couple of minutes. But someone like Ben Kindle, I totally support giving these two games off. I'm sure he's banged up, Pat. But this is what we see with load management in other sports. It's like, say you go to an NFL team, they've already clinched their seed going into week 18. They're playing all the backups against a team. That's what this was kind of on Saturday. And yeah, there's obviously some regulars still playing for the Penguins.

you can't just call up the entire Wokesby's the Rastrant roster. But I compare it to the NFL in a way where you're playing a lot of the players that you don't normally play compared to resting your starters. So that's the comparison I have. I hope no one got super triggered

about it. Yeah, I mean, it sucked being in the building on Saturday and not getting to see Crosby, OV, OV, Malkin, etc., etc. But at the end of the day, the joke I made the whole day was it's fan appreciation day. I'm more appreciative that they made the Stanley Cup playoffs than this being their last game until next season.

Exactly. And I did have one more thought before we had to break it. I forgot about this for a second. I want to shout out Kevin Hayes for this weekend. I thought he played two very good games. I don't think he's going to be in any of the playoff games unless there's a few players hurt. But I thought for someone who had not played in over a month, scored a really nice goal on Saturday, was mobbed by his teammates. I thought he played well on Sunday. He protected the puck well in the offensive zone, got a couple of good quality chances. You can tell how much the players love this dude, both on and off the ice.

Good for him. He's been a great soldier all year, hasn't been playing much lately. And I thought he played really well this week. And I want to shout him out. For sure. That goal was great. And it was a very professional performance from him. And you love to see that for a guy who has accepted.

a very, very decreased role with the Penguins near what is probably the end of his career. So you like to see a guy get rewarded like that. I agree with that. And with that, that's going to do it for the first segment. Coming up in the second segment, was this it for Alex Lvechkin? Pat and I are going to discuss that coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is Rugi it. The NHL playoffs are here where every shift matters, every moment is intense and the pressure is

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All right, we're back here on the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Dam, and Pat. It certainly felt like this was it for Alex Ovechkin, but also at the same time, I'm not fully sure. He got a great ovation from the Pittsburgh crowd. That is the second year in a row that he has gotten a great standing ovation. from everyone inside PPGP's Arena. You go back 10 years, that would have never happened.

He would have been booed the whole time. Hell, how you could probably say seven years ago. Hell, maybe even five years, he probably would still get booed. But, hey, time heals all wounds. And as a player that is this great has gotten older, I think everyone else has gotten older to you. You appreciate someone's greatness for what it is. And he is one of the best players in NHL history.

and, you know, he got that empty neckle on Saturday. He was kind of laughing about it with his teammates. And, you know, Gino goes over to his house in D.C. plays little mini sticks with Ovi's kids, the Protest brothers who, by the way, those guys are just tanks. Those are ginormous human beings. He's having dinner with Ovec and sitting with him outside. You go back, you know, again, 10, 15 years.

You go back to even that O'9 series. Those two guys did not like each other. And now they're here. Best friends, you can say the same, obviously, for Ovetchen and Crosby. There was a very heated rivalry there, no pun intended for a long time. And now they're really good friends. And you saw the signing of the sticks after the game, signing of the jersey, Sidanovi shaking hands.

You saw the opening face off. Great job by Chris Rooney to kick Dellenstrom out. And I know that was intentional. Everyone knows that. Ovi goes in there. You see him say to Sid, give me one. And Sid's smiles. wins the face off very easily. But it felt like to me that this was a goodbye, but also at the same

time, again, I'm not fully sure because OVosetti's got to take his time with his decision. Everything else, though, points to it being so long, farewell, thank you for everything. But until he makes his decision, which is going to come this summer, we don't know. And I will say this before I hand this over to you. If this was truly it, if this was the last ever OV. Crosby game, I just want to say what an honor it has been to watch these two go at each other for 20 plus years. The NHL will never see a rivalry like this ever again. These two guys basically save the sport coming out of that lockout the way that they played, the rivalry that it was.

It's two generational talents going at each other every time they play. I just want to say what a pleasure it was to watch it for 20 plus years if that was truly it. before we get one more year, though. This weekend felt like a coronation. This weekend felt like it was the end. It felt like a goodbye. Just the way that the penguins had a video package ready to go, obviously the Capitals, this was potentially their final home game of the year.

They still are alive. We'll talk about the playoff race later on in the show. But this felt like it was it. This felt like these guys were soaking it all in. I mean, how often is it outside of during a blowout or a series clincher that we see Sidney Crosby smiling on the ice? He was smiling after that opening face off. Yeah. There were dozens of pictures of him skating alongside Ovi with a big old grin on his face.

And I say it on the show all the time. Crosby's the ultimate competitor and the pettiest athlete in the world. If he's playing Alex Ovechkin any time in the past 20 years, that dude is so locked in that he's never going to smile. So that mixed with the big guys didn't play on Saturday, that feels like a Crosby and Malkin and Latang went to muse and went, listen, we know we're playing on Sunday in Washington because this is never going to happen again.

And you're right. This was the NHL's Larry. in magic. This was their bird in magic because they've never had a rivalry like this before. You can say Lemieux and Gretzky, but they were in different conferences for the majority of their careers. They rarely crossed paths. You can't say that it was anybody that was involved with the Blackhawks in the 2010s. It wasn't anybody in Boston. It wasn't anybody in L.A. This was the only and best individual rivalry since maybe the 1970s in the National Hockey League. And to your point, I don't think we put enough emphasis on what these two were tasked with

when they came into the league. I wrote about it this morning on my substack. These two were tasked with saving a league that was about to fall into total and complete irrelevancy. The NHL, their first season, was a lot of. on the outdoor life network. Granted, it became NBCSN, but it became NBCSN

because of the way these two put the league on their backs. They were polar opposites at the exact time that the NHL needed it. You had the clean cut, straight as an arrow, Canadian kid. He's going to be the next one.

He's going to be the greatest to ever do it. And then coming in the league with him is the Russian rock star. The kid's got. a shot like a missile. He's outspoken. In his early days, he's a known party animal. He is just a big kid, but he can score goals.

And then these two go on a collision course for 20 years that helps grow the game. They have four of the best, and I mean best playoff series of the modern era, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018. All four of those series, there was not a clear-cut winner. There were games that existed on a Razor's Edge. And if one bounce goes the other way, we're talking about Ovechkin, the three-time Stanley Cup champion,

and Sidney Crosby still chasing his first championship, or only having one championship. That's how good these guys were. They were tasked with saving the league. and they did it. They sure did. And I love that you brought up all four of those series. They were awesome in every single way, shape, and form.

The dueling hatcher came, obviously, the game 7 and 09, 2016, with an overtime winner with the HPK line, 2017, the Penguins go into Washington. Not a lot of people are picking them to win that series, going into that game seven. they find a way. 2018, Pat, penguins are going for the three P. Washington's like, hey, this is our time to strike back and they finally do it. And the best part about these four series, Pat, the winner of that series would go on to win the Stanley Cup. You had to go through each other to go win the Cup.

Exactly what happened. And, hey, don't disrespect the versus network, by the way. It's right. It was versus first, and then it was NBC. Yes. Versus. Also. You're talking about media consolidation.

It's all just Comcast owning all of it. Yeah. Hey, I had to point it out versus some of those games on versus were special. And, hey, Joe Beninati was, he's the Caps play by play guy. He's been there for a long time. He was one of the play by play guys on versus. Awesome play by play. One of the best.

He's fantastic. But yeah, they really did save the league. There are so many people who are playing hockey now because of both Crosby and Ovechkin. and that's also something that needs to be said too just two absolute giants of the game two of the best players to ever do it and i really hope that was not the last crosbie versus obetchkin i saw some caps fans saying it would have been awesome if backstrom and john carlson were playing in this game on sunday i would agree with that considering how you know backstrom it was like that batman and robin with him and ovechkin for so many years you know john carlson

was there for so many years as well before he got traded. It's almost like basically their version of our Chris Latang here. That would have been cool to see that. Obviously, things are different. But I did love seeing the picture with Crosi Malkin and Latang with Ovi. And then the picture with Sid and Ovi was great. It was also cool about we didn't bring this up. The Penguins were waiting on the ice after the game to shake Ovi's hand.

And I'm fairly sure Sid and Gino probably organized that to say, hey, if this is it, let's go shake his hand. But OV said, hey, we're not doing that. I haven't made up my mind yet. And I was like, okay, we'll escape right off the ice. Maybe there's a hint there. I don't know. Maybe OV wants to still, you know, do this privately,

excuse me, retire on his own terms. Because to me, he's not like a big retirement tour guy. Pat, like this year with Copa-Tar. You see players shaking his hand and stuff. I know, Ovechkin led the charge last year when Mark Andre Fleary retired. They shook his hand on the ice. I don't think Obie's really all that into that. So I think if he does this, it's going to be very private.

But maybe. Well, I have read, I have read reports that he was not happy about last season. He was not very happy that the capitals were basically this year's penguins, where everybody kind of looked at him like, ah, you know, they're doing a good job with this retool and rebuild on the fly. But there's still a couple years away. And we don't know when they'll get. back to contender status. And last year, they were one of the better teams in the East,

but the entire focus was on OV's chase for the goal record. Yeah. And it was taking away from how good his team was doing. If he goes on the farewell tour this year, he would have probably really hated that. And I know we're going to get comments. Oh, Alex Kovetchkin, the guy who celebrates and yada, yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. He's still a hockey player at heart. And these are the guys who as much as they will celebrate goals and be eccentric and go against the grain, it's very different than the rest of other sports. They're still going to be all about the team. So I do think, I still think that this is it for OVie, but I also think OV looked at the way last year went and went, I'm not doing a year long farewell tour. I hear you on that.

For me, I'm still not sure if this was it. If it was, though, again, it's been an absolute pleasure for the last 20-plus years. I just hope we get one more year, and then he can ride off into the sunset. But that's going to do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to look at the week ahead for the Penguins, plus discuss the playoff picture and how it's starting to come into more focus. That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our final sponsor, which is Fandul.

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head to fandul.com to get started, and that is fandle, play your game. All right, we're back here to close out the Monday edition of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I want of your host, Hunter Hodes. That's my good friend and close, Patrick Damp and Pat. Only one more regular season game remains for the Penguins. That is tomorrow night on Tuesday in St. Louis, 9.30 p.m. start time. So a little bit later, perfect for someone like me. Pat doesn't really like it because he has to get up for work early.

on Wednesday morning, the game will probably not be over until midnight. Again, sickos like me. Love that. And I can't wait for the Western playoff games as well. Starting this upcoming weekend, those games are going to start at 10, 10, 30. Sign me up late night, playoff hockey. It's the best. It really is.

But also, Pat, isn't it so weird in random that the final game of the season is on a Tuesday in St. Louis? What a weird quirk from the NHL schedule makers this year, a game that literally is meaningless for both teams. teams, the blues, they have been eliminated, the Penguins. They're going to the playoffs, but you and I both know, not a lot of the regulars are going to play in this one. I'd be stunned if Crosby played. Ditto for Malkin, Latang, Carlson, Brian Rust, Parker Walthor Spoon. I wouldn't play Ben Kindle either. I also wouldn't even play Rickel. I know some of the regulars are going to dress, but those guys that I just mentioned, Pat, I would not play any of them.

No, no. I have no reason to want to play anybody on Tuesday. I mean, if it was a legitimate option to sub in the actual Wilkes-Bare Scranton Penguins for Tuesday's game, I would take the option because this game has zero meaning. You're in second place. You're not moving up. You're not moving down. This game is nothing but a formality. So let's get to the craziness of who the penguin's first round opponent could be.

We could know by the time we get to tomorrow's episode, the Philadelphia Flyers can clinch third in the Metropolitan Division if they beat the hurricanes tonight in any fashion. It can be overtime, it can be shootout, it can be regulation. If the Flyers beat them, we have ourselves a first round matchup between the Penguins and the Flyers. The Flyers don't win. It is chaos on Tuesday because everybody remains alive because right now the Flyers hold third at 94 points. The caps are one point behind the Flyers at 93 points.

The blue jackets are two points behind the Flyers and one point behind the Caps with 92. And guess what happens on Tuesday night? The Caps and the Blue Jackets play one another at Nationwide Arena. So if you want to know who the Penguins first round opponent is, tonight you root for the Flyers. if you are like Hunter and I and you love chaos, you root for the Carolina Hurricanes tonight because we might know who the penguins are playing,

but at the end of the day, we also might be having a last game winner gets in moment. Team chaos all the way. If the Flyers win one of these two, they are in. They can also just patch us get two loser points, and they are also in. It would not matter if the capitals won that. game because again, the Flyers, the Capitals are behind the Flyers right now.

So the Flyers get two loser points, Pat, they're in no matter what. Obviously, it's easy for them to just win one of these next two games. They're both at home. If the Flyers can't get in, it's on them. You're playing a Hurricanes team that's going to rest. I think quite a few players tonight. Montreal, you know, they're technically still playing for Homeways, but I could see them resting some guys on Tuesday to make sure that they don't get, you know, hurt before the

playoffs and all that. but everything is right in front of the Flyers right now. They just got to take care of business. If not, we're on full team chaos tomorrow where we're going to be watching both the Flyers game and that Capitals Jackets game. Those are the three teams that the Penguins could play. The Islanders, they were in that conversation.

They have now been eliminated. Oh, no, anyway. Dot Giff. So there's that. And here's something else that could affect this race going into tonight. If the Carolina hurricanes are able to get a win or at least get to overtime, they will clinch the Eastern Conference, which would be huge for them. That means you are getting home ice all three the first round, all first three rounds. So Carolina does still have something to play for.

It's not like they are done. Granted, they'll probably rest some players, but at the end of the day, they have a chance to clinch the conference's top spot. So they're not totally done. Here's the other thing. You have the Sabers and the Blackhawks tonight. Now granted, the Blackhawks, they're out of this thing. They're not going anywhere. They're going back to the draft lottery and this rebuild continues.

But the Sabers are actually playing for an Atlantic Division title if they win in regulation. But if that doesn't happen, there is a chance that. that Montreal can catch the Buffalo Sabres for the top spot in the Atlantic. And guess who the Philadelphia Flyers play on Tuesday? The Montreal Canadians. So there is a chance that a lot of these teams that were worried, hey, they're resting guys, they're sitting people out because they're just getting ready for playoffs.

We've still got some stuff to play for tonight and tomorrow. So this isn't all just a formality. So if you're getting ready to hate the flyers, which we know you already do. But if you're looking to kick it into playoff mode, maybe hold off for a little bit because there's a chance this all could change. I do agree with that. I will just say again that Carolina, the last two games, they have been resting some guys. So I assume that that's going to continue tonight.

They're still going to play hard. It's a Robbrennamore team. Every game for them is like game seven, the Stanley Cup final. But I don't think it's going to be the. full Hurricanes team that you'll see for game one of their series. It looks like right now it's going to be against Ottawa. If Boston wins their last game, they clinch wildcard one. They will play the winner at the Atlantic, which looks like it will be Buffalo.

And then Ottawa would be in the metro bracket going up against Carolina. That's how it is right now. Obviously, things can change if Boston loses the last game, Otto wins the last game, the two flip-flop and then Boston's in the metro bracket. Ottawa stays in the Atlantic bracket. Still some things are sorted out. But I still think, again, my overall point, not going to be. a full loaded hurricanes roster.

They're still going to have some of the regulars. They're going to play hard. Not going to be an easy game for the Flyers. But again, it is at home. They're playing for their playoff lives. They have more at stake than the Hurricanes do. And then Montreal, they are at least playing for home ice on Tuesday in the first round, but I could still see them resting at least a few guys for that game.

So here we go, everyone. Flyers win tonight. It's the battle of PA. If not, get ready for Team K. on Tuesday where it could be the battle of PA. It could be one last Penn's cap series, or we could even see Penguins' jackets, though it feels like the jackets are starting to run out of steam a little bit.

They have not been playing well as of late. But that's going to do it for the Monday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much to take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Tuesday, getting you all set for Penguins Blues and potentially reacting to a Battle of PA series if the Flyers win tonight. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunzer Hodes. Thank you all so much tuning in.

We appreciate it. We'll be back on Tuesday.