Penguins look to get a SEASON SWEEP in Vegas!

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The Pittsburgh Penguins 5 Game Road Chef goes to Fabulous Las Vegas on Thursday night and

Pat and I are going to get you all set for that game coming up right after this.

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So Pat, this will be the second game of this five game road trip as we head to fabulous

Las Vegas 10 o'clock start time tonight.

This is made for me as a late night hockey sick oak and stay out till 12 30 almost 1 a.m.

going into the going into Friday, excuse me.

This is made for me, man.

I love late night hockey in the penguins.

We're going to be going with the same lineup for tonight because Cindy Crosby while

he was out there for the morning skate on Thursday.

He's still not good to go just yet.

He was skating online with Fgenny Maulkin and Kevin Hayes.

So he's still working his way back.

No need to panic.

Come back on Saturday.

Maybe he comes back on Monday with Maulkin is eligible to come off from his suspension,

but said still not ready to go just yet.

But again, he continues to make progress.

It looked like was potentially going to return because he was out there for the morning

skate with a regular jersey then left the ice early and then penguins PR said that he

is still day to day with his injury.

He will not play tonight, meaning again, it will be the same lineup for this game.

Igor Chinacob with Ricardo Raquel and Brian Russ on the top line and the Nampa Tommy

Novak and Lily Coigin on the second line, Elmer Soderblom with Ben Kindle and Avery Hayes

on the third line.

And then Conor Dewey, Blake Lazot and Noah Chariot for the fourth line, defensively,

same pairings.

Parker Walters with Eric Carlson, Ryan Shay with Crystal Tang and Ilya Soloviev with Conor

Clifton, Alexander Alexiev, who's also rotating in there.

He was we called by the penguins earlier today because Ryan Graves was set back to Wilkes

Berry on a conditioning stand and it'll be Archer Shilov's starting in net for the penguins

as the penguins continue their golden rotation.

That really no surprise with the lineup here.

That lineup did everything they could to salvage a point from that Carolina game.

They have three out of four points over the last two games, very respectable.

And now you're going into this game against the Vegas team that is really struggling out

of the Olympic break.

They are and this is a huge opportunity for the penguins since the end of the Olympic

break.

Like you said, it has struggled there currently in the middle of a three game losing

streak.

They're 4 6 and 0 in their last 10.

This is a team that has struggled pretty mightily with playoff teams, no less.

They're their last couple of wins in their last 10 are Detroit who is in the playoff picture,

but with how crazy the Atlantic has been and with some injuries Detroit might drop out

over the next couple of weeks.

And then the Kings twice and Vancouver, but they've got losses to the capitals are very

penguins, the Sabers, Minnesota, Edmonton and Dallas.

So this is a Vegas team that's kind of getting themselves filled up on empty calories.

And when it's time for them to beat teams that can actually do something, they don't find

a way to do it.

And excuse me, I'll say basically the same thing I said before our last preview at the start

of the month against Vegas.

It's a very strong roster.

It's a lot of talent up front and on the back end, then you go to the goal.

They are struggling in net this year.

Akira Shmeed, 893, two shutouts though.

So that's not too bad.

Aiden Hill, 859, 3.32 goals against average.

This is a Vegas team that has all the talent in the world when it comes to their skaters,

but they cannot get a save.

Yeah, and I'm sure they tried poking around the goal-tuning market around the trade deadline.

I think it probably would have been a little too much for them right now in terms of, you

know, assets making everything work.

I think that's something that they're going to really have to look at over the summer.

I always say Vegas is like the one team that always operates like an NBA team where, you

know, it's just like they'll make one move, they'll try to do something else a year

later.

So they'll just keep doing stuff like that.

And I just think with the goal-tuning this year, I think they botched it.

Like, you're really going to go into the playoffs with Aiden Hill being your guy.

And he's starting tonight, by the way, against the penguins, which, you know, on paper, it

is good.

And you saw last game when he played against the penguins, penguins led him up, man.

He was not good in that game.

He gave up a couple of very, very soft goals.

Would not be surprised at the same thing happened tonight just because, again, he has been

wofl this year.

Maybe they go to a curisement in the playoffs once they get there.

It also helps them, even though they've been struggling as of late-pat.

It helps if their division is awful.

Like, look how bad the Pacific is.

Like, yeah, I don't mind Anaheim, but still are they like a true, true contender when

you compare them to Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota?

No.

Edmonton is very flawed again this year.

Vegas on paper is good and they have some solid underlinings, you know, their top 10

and shot attempts at five on five.

Their top five and expected goal share, but their 19th and actual goals can't get saves

and they just haven't been jelling as well as I thought they would.

I think of a Bruce Cassidy coach team.

I think of a team that generates good offense and they really shut things down.

Excuse me in their own end.

I'm not seeing them play that type of lockdown defense that you would come to expect Pat

under a Bruce Cassidy coach team.

No, that's the craziest thing.

I mean, you look and it's, it's a really difficult way or difficult problem to try to figure

out with this Vegas team because you look at their back end and it's pretty good.

Rasmus Anderson, Shay Theodore, Noah Hanuffin, Jeremy Luzon, Brad McNabb before he has

been in and out of the lineup, but it's a good defensive core, but they're also struggling

to defend.

They're struggling to get saves.

So it's difficult to say which is which.

Is it the fact that their defense might not be as good in practice as they are on paper,

or is it the fact that they're not getting saves?

I mean, the other thing that always stands out to me about this Vegas team is up front.

You've got Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner who both players, I in my estimation at least,

do not get nearly the love they deserve for their defensive acumen.

Mitch Marner might be the single best puck thief in the NHL.

He can pick pocket players like nobody I've ever seen.

It's actually wild to watch.

If you have ESPN plus or you live out on the West West coast and you can tune into Vegas

games, ISO yourself on Martyr anytime he touches the ice, he is really good defensively.

Same thing with Jack Eichel.

Jack Eichel has a ton of points this year, obviously, as he always does, 23 goals, 49 assists

for 72 points, but he is a great two way forward as well.

It's a really baffling Vegas team that, I mean, as I talk myself through it here, you

got to figure it's goal tending, but it's often more than just that.

Right.

And you said it for Eichel, he's one of the best two way centers in the game that we have

today.

Marner has also really worked on his defensive game as we've gone through this.

Mark Stone has been hurts since he got injured against the penguins off a very innocent looking

play.

He has 21 goals and 60 points in 43 games.

This injury uptap opat was very fascinating.

So Mark Stone, he came back to the morning.

He skate today, no contact Jersey.

He participated in line rushes.

He participated in the top power play and all that good stuff.

Bruce Cassie still do not rule him out for this game.

Usually a player has to take contact before he comes back, but it sounds like they're

going to wait to see how he feels at game time.

So to be determined, if he plays, if he does, that is a big boost for them.

He is one of their best players.

If not, obviously, that is a huge loss.

But even without Mark Stone, Tomas Hurdle has 24 goals this year.

He's been really good.

Pablo Dora.

He has 30 goals.

They're scouting with him was sensational.

He is a really, really underrated player in this game.

And then, you know, I'm in barbershop is also closing in on another 20 goals season.

So this team, they, they're still deep.

They got nicked out at the trade deadline from the Washington capitals.

But again, it just hasn't overall translated to the ice and they need to get more consistent

sooner or later, or they can potentially flame out early in the playoffs.

But overall pat, this is a very winnable game for the penguins on this road trip.

I know they're still without crossbeats.

They're still without malkin, but you still want to take advantage of a team that has

down in the depths like this, especially as your schedule gets tougher.

Other teams around you in the standings are playing tonight, including the Columbus

Blue Jackets.

They're down in Florida, taking on the Panthers.

If you can get two points tonight, while the Blue Jackets say, for example, they lose

in regulation, all of a sudden, you're back to being five points up.

And then again, your one game closer to crossbecoming back, one more game closer to malkin

coming back.

This is a big game standing makes wise.

It's a huge opportunity.

And the other thing to kind of build off what you're saying is Vegas is pretty pedestrian

at home, just a Paltry 1410 and seven.

T-Mobile Arena used to be a house of horrors for everybody, not just for the penguins.

Some of it was, yes, the novelty of Las Vegas having an NHL team and don't let coaches

and players and managers tell you to not believe you're lying eyes.

It's Las Vegas.

They went out.

They had fun.

They had the Vegas flu.

But also Vegas was both a really good team and Vegas fans are one of one.

They have a blast.

They make it a damn hostile atmosphere, but this year doesn't seem that bad.

So a lot of things are lining up for the penguins to get what is shaping up to be a pretty

crucial two points.

Yeah.

And the penguins have also been a lot better on the road.

This year compared to the last couple of seasons as well.

But that's going to do it for this first segment.

Coming up in the second segment, I'm going to dive into some keys to victory for the

penguins tonight.

That's coming up right after this.

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All right.

Or back here on the Thursday edition of the locked on penguins podcast.

I want of your host Hunter Hodes joined by my coast Patrick amp and Pat.

It's funny.

I always start this off with special teams and especially the power plate because you're two out of the last three games.

I have not liked the penguins for on three power play situations.

So if that comes up again tonight, say this game goes to overtime and the penguins draw penalty and overtime.

I want to see some adjustments from Todd Nelson and the rest of the staff.

I just have not liked the power play in the situations.

That's the biggest thing that I've really harped on with those two losses.

Like, yeah, I'm glad they've gotten a point.

It's four out of six points overall in these last three games.

But it easily could have been six out of six if they just finished those two teams off that took dumb penalties in overtime.

And they've had trouble setting up, trouble getting the flow going in the offensive zone.

That is something to at least look at.

Keep an eye on fine tune for this game.

And I can even say the power play has a whole I liked that they were running it through Chinacov a bit more against Carolina.

I want to see that continue in this one.

I love the way Brian Russ is playing don't get me wrong.

I just don't think the power play should run through him fully.

I wanted to be Chinacov especially with the way that he has been going as of like the PK.

I feel like we could talk how great it is for an hour.

Like I expect that to continue in this one.

And then obviously already party.

I want to see him bounce back a little bit from his last start again.

He made some really key saves down the stretch in that third period.

All I'm saying is there's another level that he can reach.

And we have seen him at that level a lot over the last month, month and a half.

And I just want to see him get back to that for this game.

The special team is going to be huge tonight against Vegas and about the PK.

It's about one percentage point off of being the top power play in or penalty kill excuse me in the entire league.

As for the power play.

Listen, I'm with you.

I love Brian Rust beach front property in my heart.

One of the most clutch penguins to ever play one of the best best heart type guys.

Best leadership type guys in a long time.

But he is great for grunt work.

He is not your guy running a power play.

He's the guy that you have worked the corners.

He's the guy you have worked the front of the net.

He's the guy you have retrieved the pox.

He's not the guy you have conduct in the symphony, unfortunately.

But I think Chinacov is that guy or Carlson, one of the two.

You run your power play through those guys.

Make them the focal point.

Put the onus on them to make this thing work.

Because I said it in the recap outside of the overtime power play.

Which again, I think they overthink themselves into paralysis at this point.

In regulation going up against the power kill like Carolina.

They kept it simple.

They kept the puck moving.

They gave what they took what the hurricanes gave them.

And tonight you're going to play another top 10 power play or penalty kill in the league in Vegas.

So you're not going to have a lot of time to overthink it.

You're not going to have a lot of time to try to get too fancy.

Take what they give you.

Get the shots to the net.

Play this a little blue collar and get yourself a win.

So the opportunities there, but special teams more more so than than usual.

Because it is top 10 units all around for both teams.

I agree with you on that.

Another situation I'm going to be closely monitoring is.

Chris let's say we talked about him a little bit towards the end of our Wednesday episode.

The way that he has been playing as of late is simply not good enough.

I think that's being nice about it.

I want to see if he can start turning the tide a little bit and changing some of these recent performances.

Because it's just not been pretty.

He's now back with Ryan Shay, which, you know, that pair has seen some success this year, especially when you go back to the early portion of the season.

I think him playing better tonight is also a big key.

Eric Carlson has been doing everything as of way.

I think he is honestly carrying the rest of this defensive group.

Just he's been going nuclear last couple of weeks.

I think Carlson's had a great year overall.

He has gone nuclear ever since.

Cosby went down ever since Malkin got suspended for five games.

Obviously he'll be back on Monday when the penguins go to Colorado to take on the high flying avalanche.

But Carlson has been awesome, but he still needs some help.

And I want to see Latang have a better performance tonight.

That's another key for me.

I want to see the depth continuing to step up.

Anthony Manta has been great.

I want to see that continue.

Egor Chinokov has been the best forward as of late.

I want to see that continue.

Same with Ben Kindle.

So, you know, the depth obviously, but again, really want to see Chris have a big game here.

Yeah, I don't want to harp too much on Chris Latang.

Because we spent a good chunky yesterday's episode talking about him.

But it need this is what I'm about to say is going to be a wild comparison.

I promise you it's not one to one.

I know they are not the same player, but it's just the situation that I'm going to explain.

It's a lot like what I said about Ryan Graves in the sense that.

It has to start with the first step.

It has to start with he doesn't have to come out tonight against Vegas and be Chris Latang circa 2016.

He doesn't have to come out and dominate the game, dominate possession, be the best skater on the ice.

He just has to have a solid game.

And then he has to stack another solid game on top of that and continue to build.

Because we know it's there.

We saw it mid season.

We saw it right before the Olympic break.

He was putting together some good performances.

Was it again, circa 2016, Chris Latang?

No, but it was a Chris Latang who was playing within his limitations.

He was doing things that were effective and he wasn't taking unnecessary risks.

You look at him in the last few games.

I will add this.

I think some of this is a byproduct of the fact that Crosby and Malkin are out.

He is a leader on this team.

He's a heart and soul guy on this team.

He feels like the burden is going to be on him to have to step up and carry this team.

Unfortunately, it's 2026, not 2016.

He doesn't possess the ability anymore to dominate the game the way he once did.

So if he can just get back to playing some smart, simple hockey, I think he can be effective.

I sure hope so.

He was really doing that with Brett Kuwak.

And yeah, I know they traded him.

I still overall think it was a fine trade.

You got that extra asset coming back.

And I still think Gerard skillset is a better overall fit.

I just still want to see what Latang can do.

A little bit more with Shay and I know some people are talking about, you know,

a by-out trade for next season.

I personally don't think any of those happen.

I think if he wants to play next season, it will be here.

And I don't think anything is going to change what that.

I know some people may not like that answer.

But they're not just going to force a franchise legend out.

Like, that's just not what they're, what they're prolonging in this year.

No, and Kyle Dubas doesn't do by out.

No, it's his absolute last of last resort.

So I don't think you need to worry about it.

He's got to figure it out.

I know he's in his late 30s.

I know he's been through hell and back throughout his career.

And I have the utmost respect for him.

He is one of my favorite all-time penguins to ever wear this weather.

He is the best franchise defenseman in this franchise's history.

But it's on him to figure this out.

And if he does, it obviously makes them that much better down the stretch

and hopefully into the playoffs.

Do you have anything else to add before we throw it to break?

Okay. Well, I guess Pat does not for that part.

But that will do it for the second segment.

Coming up to end the show, Pat and I are going to look at the updated playoff race

and why we're starting to finally see a little bit of separation

between a good chunk of the teams out of the playoffs right now

and the teams that are in a playoffs.

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Rappin up the Thursday edition of the Lockdown Penguin's podcast here.

I'm one of your host Hunter Hodes joined by my good friend and co.

So Patrick and Pat.

So we but surely we are seeing some separation in the Eastern conference standings.

These are the teams that I have as playoff locks right now.

Carolina Hurricanes.

They are a lock.

The Tampa Bay Lightning.

They're a lock in the Buffalo Sabers.

People can be weird about that.

No, they're a lock.

I'm I'm stamping it right now.

You can say that on the show.

I'm stamping it, man.

They are.

I'm putting two locks in the playoffs right now.

Buffalo and Carolina.

Everybody else right now is a coin flip to me.

Because I disagree with you on Tampa.

But I don't listen to him.

It's not a it's not me saying I don't think Tampa is good.

But you look at Tampa in the last 10.

They're four and six.

They're on a two game losing streak.

And they are all of four points up or three points up.

I should say on their closest competition.

And Detroit is in the same is in the same boat.

As the lightning in the sense that they're banged up.

They're without lock in.

They're struggling a little bit as a late.

But I mean, at this point, you remember what we said.

Going into this playoff race that if you're in the Metro,

you're going to need a top three spot to get into the playoffs.

That suddenly changed a little bit.

And ones are in the wild card race right now as well.

Because realistically at this point.

Detroit has 79 Boston has 78.

And the gang ones and islanders both have 79.

If Columbus keeps charging forward like they have,

they jump into a top three spot.

One of the penguins or the islanders fallen to the wild card.

And then if Tampa or Detroit or whomever start to kind of falter again.

They might be out.

So it's not me to get to my point.

It's not me saying that I think the lightning aren't going to make it.

It's not me saying that I don't think the lightning are good.

It's just the landscape has shifted.

And I don't want to put a put them in the playoff stamp on them yet.

Because if they have a rough two weeks and I'm not even saying they fall apart.

But if they go 500 or slightly under and Boston or Montreal or Ottawa have a good week and a half.

I could kind of hurt them.

I hear you.

I have to be careful.

I disagree.

I have them as a playoff lock right now.

And yeah, I know they've lost a couple in a row.

But it's the Tampa Bay freaking lightning.

We're talking you out here.

I would be shell shocked if they missed the playoffs.

I have them as a lock.

They also have two games in hand on the sabers.

They win those.

They are back to being tied up for first in the Atlantic division.

So I have Buffalo Tampa and Carolina as my playoff locks.

Everyone else is really fighting to get in outside of the Rangers.

The May beliefs, the Devils, the Panthers, the Capitals and the Flyers.

I think all of those teams are cooked at this juncture.

The Flyers.

They're seven points out only 18 games to go.

It is very hard to make up that type of ground this year.

The Capitals.

The only way of 16 games left.

They're also seven points out.

Very, very hard to do this time of year.

Ottawa.

They are still in this.

But they're still six points out.

It's going to be.

A lot for them to get in.

Actually, excuse me.

They are five points out.

It's going to be a lot for them.

It's going to get in.

But they're still alive.

Columbus is obviously charging.

The one team I'm curious about right now is the Red Wings.

No Dylan Lorkin for at least two weeks.

Andrew Cobb.

Also out for at least two weeks.

Does that team slide with both of those out?

That's the team I'm circling right now.

As a team that could potentially slide out of a playoff spot.

Outside of the penguins.

I mean, just for obvious reasons.

The penguins are still without some big names right now.

The schedule is obviously very nasty.

But the Red Wings is a team that I'm really looking at.

Montreal.

They're fighting.

We already talked about the islanders.

The Peruvians are still very much there.

The jackets, of course.

Again, it's really just down to, you know,

the eight teams that you see in a pile of spot right now.

And then Columbus.

And Ottawa to me.

I think it's those ten teams.

Battling for eight spots.

I mean, I'll say this here.

Here's what is going to make this difficult.

For your Detroits and your Tampa's at this juncture.

You go through the rest of the teams above them.

The New York Islanders in their last ten.

Three regulation losses.

The Pittsburgh Penguins.

Two regulation losses.

Four overtime losses.

Carolina Hurricanes in their last ten.

Two regulation losses.

Montreal.

One regulation loss.

Three overtime losses.

Buffalo.

One regulation loss.

One overtime loss.

And then you look at Tampa.

Six regulation losses in their last ten.

Detroit.

Five regulation losses.

One overtime loss.

And then for the teams that are chasing them.

Ottawa and Columbus.

Columbus has one regulation loss in their last ten.

Three overtime.

And then Ottawa has two regulation losses.

Two overtime losses.

The problem is that I see right now.

And this is why I didn't want to put that stamp on Tampa Bay.

Is everybody around them.

Is putting up points.

Whether it's regulation wins.

Regulation.

Or overtime losses.

Excuse me.

Everybody around them is continuing to compile points.

They're leaving two points on the table.

And the way this race is shaping up.

We talked about it with the penguins.

If you tread water, you're probably going to at least state in it.

You might not have the spot you had coming out of the break.

Like the penguins might not get second in the metro.

But third, maybe a wild card spot entirely possible.

You look at Tampa Bay.

You look at Detroit.

Everybody around them is putting up points.

They aren't.

And just by the pure math of it all, they could fall out of it.

I understand what you're saying.

I'm just very confident that Tampa is going to turn these struggles around.

They are too talented, not too.

And a lot of the players on there have a ton of playoff experience.

They know what these high stakes games are about.

I have all the confidence in the world of that team.

I still think overall that team is pounding for pound the best team in the conference.

But hey, I'd love to see them play Buffalo's in a seven game series.

Especially after those teams beat the crap out of each other a few days ago.

That was Buffalo saying, we're not afraid of you guys.

Even though Tampa Bay has been at the king.

They've been the king of the mountain before in the Eastern conference with winning a couple of Stanley cups.

But it's going to be a fun race to the finish over the next four or weeks.

We got to cover every day here on the locked on penguins podcast.

And with that, that's going to do it for this episode.

Thank you all so much.

Take the time to listen to slash watch this one.

Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode for you all on Friday.

Recapping this game against Vegas and getting you all set for Saturday's game against the Utah mammoth

as the penguins will go for a little bit of revenge after blowing that three gold lead against Utah back in December.

So for Patrick, I'm Hunter Hodes.

Thank you all so much for tuning in.

We appreciate it.

We'll be back on Friday.