Penguins get a CRAZY win over the Tampa Bay Lightning!

Penguins get a CRAZY win over the Tampa Bay Lightning!

Against all odds, the Pittsburgh Penguins somehow stole two points from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. And Pat and I are going to recap that wild game, plus get you guys set for Penguin Stars on Sunday right after this. You’re Locked on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Hunter Hodies. You can follow me on Twitter, Hunter Hodies, joined by my co-host, Patrick Damp, and follow him on all social media platforms, sin and Veruette. You can also follow the show’s Twitter, lol_penguins, and you can follow the show’s Instagram account, locked_penguins. Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, grand account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Pat, I don’t think everyone in the fan base had heart palpitations on their agenda for Thursday night. But that’s exactly what happened towards the late stages of that Penguins Lightning game in Tampa Bay. The Penguins, did they deserve to win that game? probably not with the way they played for most of it, but they were opportunistic and they had the better goalender. That is why they won that game. We’ll get to the review in just a second, but they won this game because a Tristan Jarry absolutely stood on his head. He was fantastic once again, especially in the first period. Pat felt like the Bolts were going to score five or six goals in that period alone. Tristan Jarry was right there to deny high danger chance. It felt like after high danger chance and throughout this game, the Penguins were very opportunistic with their chances of Genny Malin. He has his vintage game. More on that in a second because I’m going to pat myself on the back for that too. Ben Kindle gets a goal. The power play was opportunistic even though there there were times where I was like just the process wasn’t there. It felt like a little bit. And then Billy Kovvenan gets his first NHL goal of his career and the celebration was legendary to say the least. But Pat, we’ll start there before we get to everything else. Penguins won this game because they were opportunistic and they got the goalending. Okay. So, I’m going to start here. And everything you’re saying is correct. And I’m not aiming this at anyone in particular. I’m not aiming it at you. I’m not aiming it at anybody that I’ve battled with on social media. It’s just something I wanted to get off my chest about this game. Yes, we’re going to analyze this game. It’s what we do. It’s our job. We do it every single day. We do it on our social media channels. I do it on Substack. You do it on the hockey news. It It’s what we do because we enjoy it. But there’s one word in that sentence that I I want to emphasize. Enjoy. I really enjoyed that hockey game last night. I said it on social media. That first period, if you’re a head coach, and that applies to both Dan Muse and John Cooper, you were in hell because it was not crisp. It was firewagon. It was not very well structured on either side, but damn it did I have fun watching that hockey game last night. And sometimes that’s okay. We we don’t need to microanalyze every little thing. And we’re going to go over this game because again, that’s what we do. But I really, really liked watching that hockey game last night because even though, and this is where I’ll start with this, Tristan Jarry deserves all the flowers for that performance last night. He was spectacular. Even a couple of the goals he gave up, you just kind of go, it’s an elite player. They’re going to score. Sometimes they do that. And you can’t sit there and go, well, you know, it’s Tristan Jarry’s fault, blah blah blah. No. Sometimes when you’re Nikita Cooerov or you’re Brandon Hegel, what you do is score goals. And even on the disallowed goal, everyone was like, “Oh my god, Jar, make a save.” And it’s like, dude, it’s Nikita Cucherov. He’s one of the best players on the planet. Sometimes he scores goals that shouldn’t go in. It’s part of the game. But at the end of the day, this was a Penguins team that even with the surprising start, they’re not the greatest hockey team this year. They’re probably better than any of us would have expected and they’re probably better than any of us are willing to admit, but on the other side of that, Tampa’s maybe one of the three best teams in the league. And this was just two teams on a Thursday night going blowfor-blow. And I loved it. It was probably the most entertaining Penguins game of the year. That Penguins Ducks game, even though the Penguins lost that one, that one was also highly entertaining. This Penguins Lightning one was right up there, too. Just a great game. Excuse me between both sides. Tampa Bay had the better of the play throughout. And when they made it 3-1 at the end of the second period, I was saying to myself, okay, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before this is going to be tied. because you could tell by the way Tampa was pushing, the way they got the momentum from that goal. I just wasn’t confident. And sure enough, Pat, Tam makes it 3-2 early in the third. And then they tie the game a bit later in the third. And I know Penguins, they make it 4-3 of Genny Malin with an outstanding goal with less than two and a half minutes to play. It looks like Tampa Bay ties it. And let’s just get into that right now. By the letter of the law, that is a hand pass. I’ve watched the replay tens of times before coming on this show. That is a hand pass. I understand why Tampa Bay fans and John Cooper were were really mad about it. And you knew that John Cooper was going to say a lot about it because he is a former lawyer. And that’s what he does. He’s been doing this ever since he came into the league. When he disagrees with the call, he will go on a long explanation about it like a former lawyer does and he will argue about it. So, I was waiting for his response and he did not disappoint. Now again, I think they got the call right, but if that went against my team, you know, I’d be coming on here pretty pissed off because it was a little ticky tacky. I was like, really? Like that’s that’s what’s coming off. But again, by the letter of the law, it is the rule. Even though I know everyone in Tampa Bay doesn’t like it, but I still felt it was a little ticky tacky. They got a bit lucky with the call, but hey, you take it. It’s in the same vein as a high stick. Even if you didn’t mean to do it, you still did it. And I I understand that. Yeah, he wasn’t intentionally making a hand pass, but it hits off his hand. He bats it to it gets batted to his teammate. Letter of the law, it’s a hand pass. Is it annoying and ticky tacky? Because, yeah, we know he didn’t mean to do it. It’s the same thing when you get a high sticking call. Oh, he’s falling through on a clearing attempt. He was falling through on a shot. He was in a weird position. still happened. And I get it. I understand the frustration. I do think Cooper’s response was even excessive for him. But like I said on the show yesterday, this is what Tampa does. And in that vein of the of the two power play goals that they scored or the one power play goal and the not long after the power play goal that they scored, the Jake Gensel trip and the JJ Moser trip, they sell calls and they sell them really really well. Like I I I understand on our side we’re frustrated about that, but that to me the Penguins need to be better prepared because they are a team that as soon as they feel a stick anywhere near them, they are hitting the deck and you can get mad at the NHL for not calling the dives. We know this is how it’s played. You have to be ready for that. And the Penguins weren’t. They put themselves in precarious situations and it led to the way this game went. Now on the positive side, Vle Kovenin, not only was it his first NHL goal, I am confident in saying that was a goalcorer goal. He took the time, he dusted it off, he picked the corner, he got all of it and beat the goalie. If Genny Malin, you called it, give yourself props right now because that was a Gino game if there ever was one. And finally, what more is there to say about Ben Kindle? This kid is so good. And it’s not just the power play goal. Incredible tip by him. Deserves all the credit for that. His two-way game last night against a team like Tampa Bay. That is not a team that it’s easy to play two-way hockey against because they are fast, they are talented, they are smart. And Ben Kindle stood right in the pocket. He was in the right positions. He was making good defensive plays, good decisions with the puck. I I’m running out of words to describe how good this kid is at only 18 years old. That’s the thing, Pat. And he’s not even doing this against third and fourth liners. He’s he’s doing this against top six players, top line players, second line players. We all know, we gushed about him on the show when he had the 91% expected goals for rate against Minnesota and Kel Capri off earlier in the season. The one the Penguins won, of course, not the one that they got blown out in, but he continues to get better on a nightly basis. I like Rucker McGre’s game quite a bit as well. I know he hasn’t scored since coming up yet, but I like his game in all three zones right now. And even Koven outside of the goal that he scored, which was an absolute rip, the celebration was great. You could tell he was relaxing throughout the rest of the game because he wasn’t, you know, gripping his stick a little too hard. He was getting some other chances. He was also good in all three zones. I like the way that line is humming right now. And I do think, and I tweeted this, I think you’re going to start seeing the points really come in waves now for Quon. I felt like he was just, you know, under a lot of pressure from himself to get that first goal off his back. Now that he has it, he can play more relaxed. More goals and more points will come. I think he is going to be totally fine. You said it about of Genny Malin. I mean, I teased it for the preview episode on Thursday. It felt like it was only a matter of time before we were going to see a vintage Gino game. And he was outstanding in this one. It’s something about Tampa Bay, Pat, where we we get more than the usual vintage Gino games. It felt like this was 2012 Gino against Tampa. The breakaway goal was stupendous. The goal to make it 4-3 was also great. What a nifty little feed there from Tommy Novak, by the way, in the offensive zone, but he was sensational in this one. So, got to give the props there. We already discussed Tristan Jarry. He was great. And the power play, it looked a bit scary at times, in a bad way, but they also cooked the league’s top penalty kill in a couple of instances. The puck movement, Pat, on Ben Kindle’s goal, they torched Tampa Bay’s PK on that sequence. I tweeted about it. Like that was an absolute joke of penalty killing for the Lightning and just crazy stuff from the Penguins power play there. You go two for four against the league’s top uh penalty kill. I don’t have a lot of complaints even if the process doesn’t look that great. Goals count. They don’t ask you about the process. They just care that they go in. Obviously, we want to see them clean it up and do a little bit better overall. But you get 50% of your output on the power play. It’s a pretty good night. On the other end of it though, speaking of Gino, I do want to I I hate to end this segment on a sour note. Did not love Sid’s game last night. Did not love the way he played. He got very frustrated early. Took the cross-checking penalty and it was kind of all downhill from there for him. On one of the goals, he goes down to block a shot for absolutely no reason. Hash stop the slide. I tweeted it on Twitter, Pat. I hate when players do it. It doesn’t matter who you are. Stop the slide. I am fine with the slide to block a shot. In one instance, when you’re blocking a shot from the point and the defender or the person manning the point has already wound up for the shot and it’s a reactionary, I’ve got to move quick to get in front of this kind of block. But other than that, twoon- ones in the slot, wherever, stay on your feet and make a play or at the very least stay on your feet, make a turn and block the shot. In that instance, I for Sid last night, it it made no sense. And I just his game was wobbly all night. I’m not worried about it. It’s Cydney Crosby. He’s gonna bounce back. He always does. He’s been locked in for the last two weeks. But last night it just was not his best effort, right? And he’ll be fine. I’m not really concerned about it. This is usually the time when he heats up anyway. So oneoff game really isn’t going to change that. I also thought Blake Lazot was an absolute menace again on the penalty kill. I don’t think he still gets talked about enough by a lot of fans in this fan base. His effort and his tenacity on a nightly basis are second to none. Especially on the penalty kill, man. He plays his absolute ass off. And I thought he had another very strong game. I thought Eric Carlson was also tremendous last night for the Penguins. I also thought Parker Wther played a pretty sound game. We already discussed Tristan Jarry, but hey, they got two points even though they probably didn’t deserve them. This was a classic survive and advance game and they’re now third in the Metropolitan Division going into Sunday’s game against another very good team in the Dallas Stars. And speaking of that, Pat, we are going to preview that game right after this. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, which is Game Time. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it’s going to be massive. But let’s be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part. That’s why the Game Time app is clutch. Finally giving fans a real advantage when it comes to snagging seats. 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All right, we’re back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I’m one of your hosts, Hunter Hodies, joined by my co-host, Patra Damp. Pat, Tampa Bay was super tough on Thursday. It’s going to be just as tough on Sunday, if not a little bit tougher, when the Penguins go to Dallas to take on one of the top teams, not just in the Western Conference, but in the National Hockey League, the Dallas Stars. They have also been red-hot as of late, 18 and five and five, second in the Central. The only reason why they are second in the Central is because the Avalanche have just been lighting up the NHL to start the year. Granted, they did lose their second game in regulation. finally on Thursday to the New York Islanders. But the Stars are right behind them. Dallas this year, they are being led by the two-headed monster of Jason Robertson and Miko Ransin. Robertson 17 goals, 36 points in 28 games. If Billy Garren does not put Jason Robertson on the Team USA team, he should be sent to Guantanamo or something like that. That’s just ridiculous. Robertson is off to an unbelievable start. Mo Ransen 12 goals, 35 points in 27 games. He has also been fantastic for the Stars. Wyatt Johnston’s over a point per game. Mero Hastings almost had a point per game. We all know how great he is. Rupe Hint is still there. It does suck that Tyler Sean is going to be out for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL earlier this week. I feel awful for him just because he’s been there for so long. He’s one of their top leaders. He’s off to a good start. Just really unfortunate news for him. And then in goal, Jakeer. He’s 9006 this year, 124 and two. How about former Penguins goalie Casey De Smith Pat 61 and three, 921 save percentage this year. That came out of nowhere for the former Penguins goalender. Even outside of both their goalies, this is, I think, the best overall forward group in the NHL. They’re fast, they’re deep, they’re skilled, they have the high-end guys, but they also have the depth guys. They’re also good defensively. Maro Hkin is one of the five to seven best defenseman on the planet. It’s going to be 60 minutes of hell against this team like it was against Tampa, but I want to see a better effort. I want to I want to see them bring that opportunistic mentality to this game. Obviously, you need the goalending like you had against Tampa, but I still want to see the process be there a lot better than it was against Tampa because again, in some ways, they were a bit lucky to win that game even though they had a three nothing lead with less than 22 minutes to go against Lightning. But I still want to see a better overall 16-minute performance against the Stars team that has been giving it to teams to start the year. This is a game just like Tampa where you can’t open the door at any moment because the second you do t uh Dallas will kick it right down. They will make you pay for your mistakes at every turn. And just like Tampa, I highly doubt this will be a game where you get spotted a three nothing lead. So this is going to be a game that you have to absolutely earn when you go to Dallas on Sunday. The biggest surprise, and it’s not even so much a surprise as it is, this is going to be one of the biggest nightmares for any opposing team that goes up against Dallas, is the emergence, so to speak, of Wyatt Johnston. He is going to be stapled next to, oh, what do you know, Mo Rantin? So, that’s a horrifying proposition. if you’re an opposing team. Those two have just been peanut butter and jelly together and that should be horrifying again. But you look at this Dallas team, you ran down that roster. You ran down a lot of the people that are that are going to be driving the bus for them. Find me a weakness on this team. It’s really difficult to find one, especially with the way Jakeer is just Jakeer 124 and two, 9006, two shutouts, 2.6 6 GAA and then right behind him Casey De Smith 61 and3 2.16 921 save percentage and a shut out to go along with it. You’re not going to lean on Casey to Smith but knowing that you have a capable backup behind one of the best goalenders on the planet mixed with great forward depth and a really good defense. This is one of the West’s best teams. And I just hope as a hockey fan at some point or another in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, and hopefully it’s a later round, we get Dallas versus Colorado because that will be a sevengame heavyweight fight with punches galore probably both literally and figuratively. But back to the Penguins, this is the obviously we’re recording this on Friday. We don’t know what the Penguins are going to decide to do. But if I’m Dan Muse, Jar’s back in the net. I I’m I I I’m not out on Archer Sheilovs. I think he’s got a lot of potential. I think he has room to grow, but with the way Tristan Jarry has been playing, where this team is in the standings and where they want to go, you ride that hot hand and you keep him in the net, at least for this game, right? You can keep going away from the platoon at least for a little bit just because of the way Jar has been playing. He’s giving you a reason to give him a little bit more of the workload. Now, I’m not sitting here saying you need to give him, you know, six to eight starts in a row. But you can give him, as of right now, you know, maybe, you know, threeish, fourish starts in a row, something like that, just with the way that he’s out playing she loves, he’s making these timely saves, especially the high danger saves that he made against Tampa. He’s been fantastic. So, give him another start. He’s been great. I 100% agree with you. If you want to find a weakness in the Stars, it’s some of their defensive core right now just because they have some injuries going on on their back end. Like you look at the right side of their defensive group, Pat, you know, Labouchkin and Petravic is on the right side behind Hastkin. Probably not what they want. You have former Penguin Kia Chanuk and, you know, on the sec on the second pair. Essa Lindell, I like him. I don’t know if he’s a top pair guy at this stage in the NHL. you know, Harley, I mean, he definitely is when he’s healthy, but he’s been a little bit banged up as of late for the Stars. He’s, it says he’s out right now, but still, this team top to bottom when fully healthy is a juggernaut. And even with some of these defenseman that they have out, they’re still playing fine enough defensively, they’re getting contributions from all four lines, and their goalending has also been stout. So you combine all of that also with their third ranked power play. Their power play is very good this year. It’s directly behind the Penguins and the Oilers. They also their PK it’s fairly decent. Well, it’s kind of league average this year. Usually it’s a lot better. It’s 18th this year. That’s usually one of the other teams that I say that can more or less run a power kill. This year though, Pat is definitely taking a bit of a step back. So, well, some of that is some of that is injury and who who’s been in and out of the lineup for Dallas. It’s still very much like we said about Tampa’s power play yesterday. It’s a unit that on paper is going to be very good once they’re healthy and at full strength. So, that’s a unit that even though right now they’re at 80.9% and 17th in the league, it’s still a very good penalty killing unit. So even though the Penguins do have the top ranked power play, it is going to be a night where they are going to have to earn every look they get with the man advantage. And then the other thing about this Dallas team to just give you an idea of how good they are, they have they are fifth in the league at goals for per game at 3.43 and they are third in the league at goals against per game at 2.57. This is a team that scores goals pretty well and doesn’t give them up. So, like you said, if there is one thing to bring from the Tampa Bay game into the Dallas game, it is being opportunistic. When you get your chances against this Dallas team, you have to finish them because one, you’re not going to get a lot of them. And when you do, it’s going to be difficult to finish them. So when they get their opportunities, they are going to have to finish them. And we don’t need to see the firewagon hockey that was on display on Thursday. As entertaining as it was, Pat, and we talked about it a lot already today. You don’t need to be giving up oddman rush after oddman rush like you were against Tampa Bay. That’s not a recipe for success. Hell, Pat, even after the goal came off, Tampa Bay still had countless chances to tie that game late in regulation. They gave up an oddman rush to Cutrov literally right after. It’s like, he just burned you. What are you doing there? And there were a couple of other great passing sequences that also almost wound up in the back of their net. So, they got to really tighten things up in their own zone if they want to win this one. That’s another big key for me. But unless you have anything else to add for this one, I think that’s going to do it for this second segment. This game will take place literally right after this Steelers Ravens game. So, if you are upset if the Steelers lose to the Ravens, you can hopefully maybe be cheered up. If the Penguins are able to beat the Stars and hey, maybe vice versa, Pat. If the Steelers can beat the Ravens, maybe we’ll get a twofer and the Penguins can beat the Stars that day. But remember people, that’s Sunday 6:00 puck drop between the Penguins and the Stars in Dallas before the Penguins come back and have a fivegame home stand. But that’s going to do it for the second segment. Coming up to end the show, it’s Friday. Yins know what that means. It’s time for another edition of Fan Take Friday, where Pat and I react to your takes and your questions. 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 Monarch. The holidays are amazing, but they can also get overwhelming fast. Travel, gifts, parties, year-end expenses. It’s really easy to lose track of your money this time of year. And that’s exactly why Monarch has become such a gamecher for me. 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I’m one of your hosts, Hunter Hodies, joined by my co-host, Patra Damp. And Pat, let’s get into some takes and some good questions for today. Pat, you put up another poll for today and you said, you asked, excuse me, is Stress and Jari back and is it sustainable? 53% of people say yes, Jar’s back, while 47% say we’re not convinced. We need to see more. I lean option B where I need to see a bit more just because of his splits for his career. He has had seasons where he has started off really strong and then has tapered off. So far, he has been great, but I still need to see it on a consistent basis. Now, Pat, let’s get into some of the takes and some of the questions here from GTO, one of our very regulars here. Hot take, I believe that the kid line will be here to stay. Side note, Jarry has to show up in March for me to trust him again. I think both of those are fair. I do think the kid line is going to get some runway here even when Brazo and Achari are ready to come back. And B, I hear you. I’m right with you, man. I think we got to see this in March and April for me to really believe that he can turn a corner here. I I will say this, that’s where I am with Jarry. I was going to say for the poll, I’m option C. Uh, I’m not ready to say he’s back and it’s sustainable, but I am seeing a lot of trends that show this is better than what it was in years past, but again, has to prove it. As for the kid line, we talked a little bit about it in the in the recap of the Tampa game. Aside from the the goals of Kindle and Kovvenan and the defensive play of Ben Kindle, they were also kind of a menace on the forche. They caused a lot of turnovers. They got chances and I’ll say it again, it’s no slouch in Tampa Bay. It wasn’t like they were whipping up on a crappy team. They did that against one of the better teams in the NHL. And if I’m Dan Muse and I’m Kyle Dubis, my thought is let’s let them cook for a little bit. Let’s keep them together. And you heard if you were watching the pregame show last night, Rucker McGory basically said, “We’re getting to know one another both on and off the ice and we’re starting to form a little bond here. We’re starting to become buddies and we’ve seen it with a lot of teams, especially Penguins teams in the past. There’s some lines that make zero sense when you put them together and this isn’t one of those. But when you see those lines that come together and don’t make a lot of sense, they have a strong off ice bond and it carries over to the play to game play. And I think we’re seeing that with the kid lines so far, right? And it also helps that all three players are close to similar in age. So I think that’s also a factor. and Rucker has experience playing with Billy. Billy has experience playing with Kendall. So, you get those two factors going. I also think that really helps too. And you can tell like they are really feeding off one another. They’re ferocious in the offensive zone. They’re playing well in their own zone, especially with Ben Kendall Pat. The way that he’s so defensively responsible at age 18, it’s ridiculous. So, I agree with you on that. Let’s get to our next one here. This one’s a good one from Luke. Since we’re actually competing for a playoff spot right now this year, how do you see the trade line deadline playing out? Are we sellers or do we get aggressive and trade for someone that fits our team’s timeline? Okay, Kyle Dubis has talked a lot about not taking shortcuts. I think he is going to stick to that. I don’t know if they’re really going to be big buyers. I think the biggest thing I could see them doing is maybe Dubis low-key rewarding this team for defying a lot of expectations and bringing in maybe a smidge of help, but I don’t think he’s going to make a big blockbuster and get the biggest fish on the trade market with the vision that he has and the plan that he has. I also do think that there’s a chance that they still sell off some of these players like especially the pending UFAs Pat even if they are in a playoff spot by a point or two at the trade deadline. I do think you could see a pending UFA or two or maybe even more still go just because I think he’s going to stick to his plan no matter what. And he’s talked a lot about not taking shortcuts for, you know, a short short-term game, excuse me. So I think that’s going to be his plan at the deadline. And if he adds, it’s kind of like a, hey, you guys defied expectations. Here is maybe a smidge of help. While I’m not trading away my top draft picks and prospects, I am going to make a wild comparison. So, buckle up, folks. I’m doing this. I am going to compare this to the team on the Northshore and not the one that plays baseball. It is to me a lot like what the Steelers are doing. And I know everybody is frustrated about the Steelers. I’m not coming for Chris Carter’s job on locked on Steelers, but if you back up and look at the forest through the trees with the Steelers and see the whole picture, this year was a bonus for the Steelers. They don’t care what they’re doing this year. They could have gone 0 and 17. They could have gone 17 and0. They could win the division. They could make the playoffs. They could win the damn Super Bowl. They don’t care because they are drafting young players. They’re putting a young core into place and they’re building up towards getting their quarterback. How does this compare to what I’m going to say about the Penguins at the deadline? Here’s how. They are going to play the hand that they have. And I think you’re right, Hunter. They aren’t going to Dubis isn’t going to make any big swings. He’s not going to trade a first round pick for some big big piece at the deadline. If he makes a trade in the leadup to the deadline or at the deadline, it’ll be a low round pick. It might even be one of the pending UFAs to get some younger talent, to get some other prospects and some guys who might need second chances. But I imagine they are looking at the start of this season and going the guys we’re going to put the saddle on in the future years. Your Ben Kindles, your VA covenins, your Rucker McGoris, they’re playing well. The team is playing well and if we do well, great. If we don’t, still part of the plan. So I don’t see any big moves. And I see them looking at the way they’re playing this year as all right, we might have a little bit of an accelerated track here, but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to take a massive swing at the trade deadline. They’ll find some second chance guys, maybe some younger talent on teams that aren’t doing as well, that might have a irrational reaction to a disappointing season, but right now they’re not going to I don’t think he’ll stand Pat, but I don’t think he’s going to make any big moves. And if I had to take a stab at what he would acquire position-wise, I’d actually lean towards another defenseman just because they’re still a bit thin on that left side. We still don’t know what’s going to happen with Harrison Brunick. The conditioning stint is going to be ending here in a few days. They have the World Juniors, of course, coming up, which I still expect him to go there. Then they’re going to have to really make a call. Does he stay up here for the rest of the season or does he go back down to his junior team? But I’m still going to go defense just because a lot of the options on the left side, especially on the bottom pairing are not very good. Forward-wise, when healthy, I like a lot of the forward group, especially when everyone is humming and there’s no injuries. But, you know, obviously things could change. There’s more injuries around that time. Maybe I could see him getting a depth four if they’re still in the playoff spot. But, as of right now, I might lean towards them getting a, you know, third pairing defenseman or someone that can also play secondary minutes at some point. So, those are my thoughts on that. Whole bunch more about Tristan Jarry in here. Ken saying he doesn’t trust him. Rod saying if there isn’t Tristan Jarry, I would trade him while he’s hot. Yeah. I mean, if he wants to keep boosting his value and a team comes calling and makes you an offer that, you know, that’s an offer that you can’t say no to, 100% do it. I mean, this is a player who had negative value it felt like last year. Now that he’s had a really nice start for the first couple of months, it’s going up bit by bit. And if he can keep this up for a full season, you’re going to see more than I think one team come calling. We’ve seen Elliot Freeman and Kevin Weekes talk about how the Penguins have goalies available. Kyle Dubis can be patient with this, but 100% like for the long-term vision, if you can get a good offer, by all means, do it. Like, yeah, I know a playoff birth this year, it will be fun. It would be also very unexpected, but you also have to look at the long-term health of this team as well, which the front office has been looking at. And if you get an offer from a team that you really can’t say no to, especially for a goalie that’s been very inconsistent throughout his career, you have to take it. Yeah. I mean, at some point, you have to open the runway for Sergey Murash to hopefully take the the starting job. And again, if he keeps playing well, it’ll be easier to move him because his contract one has less years on it. And then with the rising salary cap becomes more affordable for a lot of teams. So I it’s again it goes back to what I said in the last question. It’s the Penguins this year. It’s all it’s all house money right now. And it it gets even more it becomes even more of a house money year if Tristan Jarry suddenly decides to become a true starting goalender and you can find a suitor. It it it would suck because you think like oh my god we put all this money into him. We put all this time into him and then we ship him off. But you’ve got Sergey Murishov right there waiting in the wings and he went down to Wils Bear after his little cup of coffee here in the NHL and look at him look at him go. He’s doing all the same things we expected him to do. So yeah, I mean at the end of the day it’s a found money year so far and I don’t really have many complaints. Right. I hear you. I was going to get to our favorite Chelsea fan asking about Owen Pickering just talking about consistency. I mean, Pat, that’s really the name of the game. He just has to keep trying to dominate down there and earn his way back. You know, Billy Kovven when when he went down, Pat, he dominated and earned his way back up. And now I think this point he should be staying there for the rest of the year. We need to see Owen Pickering earn his way back. And by the way, my favorite Chelsea fan, you guys talked a lot of crap after your draw against my boy, my Arsenal squad this past week, and then you lost to leads. So, nine points back at the top of the table right now. That’s all I got to say about that. But Pat, do you have do you have anything else to add? No, I’m good. And you’re right on Pickering and it’s been a good organizational year in the sense that all the people who have gone down to Wokes Bear have taken it in stride, worked hard, improved their game, and earned their callups. So, you just got to hope the same happens for Pickering once he finds that consistency. We know how it it it takes a while with defenseman. It’s it rarely happens right away. It’s a rare case when a defenseman comes up and figures it out right away. And I think there’s a lot of good in Pickering’s game. He’s just got to refine it and once he finds it, we’ll see him here in Pittsburgh quite a bit. Right. I hear you. And I think with that, that’s going to do it for the Friday edition of the Locked On Penguins podcast. I know we went a little bit long today, but we had a lot to discuss when it comes to Thursday’s game, previewing Sunday’s game, and you guys had a lot of really good takes slash questions for today’s episode as well. So again, that’s going to do it for this one. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slashwatch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you guys on Monday, recapping this game against the Stars and getting you all set for the week ahead because the Penguins had a pretty big home stand coming up. But for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodis. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slwatch this one and we will be back on Monday.

Did the Penguins deserve two points on Thursday night against the Lightning? Probably not, but they got them! Hunter and Patrick begin the show recapping an absolutely bonkers win over Tampa Bay, and they touch on all of it, from the review at the end of the game to the play of the Kid Line, Tristan Jarry turning in one of his finest performances to date, and everything in between. (0:00) Then, there’s going to be no rest after a big win, because the Penguins have another huge test waiting when they take on the Dallas Stars on Sunday night. They get into the keys to victory, who the Penguins will have to be on the lookout for on the Stars. (15:21) Finally, it’s Friday, and that means it’s Fan Take Friday, the take your questions about the trade deadline, goaltending, and some of the Penguins’ young players! (26:25)

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