Penguins steal a MASSIVE point against the Carolina Hurricanes

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There are a lot of words that you can use to describe

the 2025 26 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Boring is not one of them because this is a team

with a lot of heart, a lot of fight

and they showed it on Tuesday night in Raleigh.

Hunter and I are gonna talk a lot about that game

and give out our Warrior Helmet Wednesday award

right after this.

Your Lockdown Penguin, your daily podcast

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Welcome in to another edition of the Lockdown

Penguins Podcast.

I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

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Boy was it an eventful night in Raleigh, North Carolina

on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Unfortunately, the penguins' win list streak continued

as they lost five to four in a shootout.

But there's a lot of stuff to talk about when it comes

to this game because a five to four shootout loss

on the surface looks like a pretty ho hum easy to describe

easy to break down game.

But this game was an absolute adventure and hunter.

I hate to put you on the spot like this,

but I don't know where to start on this one.

So where do we even begin with this game last night?

I'll do it for you right here.

The Pittsburgh penguins have a lot of fight, a lot of pride

and a lot of heart this season.

And that was on full display at the end of this game.

You know, Pat, I was kind of getting ready to go do other

things, watch a couple of my shows.

All right, they're going to skate to a four to loss here.

Maybe Carolina gets an MD net goal.

All of a sudden, penguins make it four three,

a little bit of a lucky bounce.

No, a chariot gets it's like, Oh, okay.

What's not going anywhere here?

And then they execute another beautiful six on five,

Brian Rust, the heartbeat of this team right now

with Crosby and Malkin out.

He now has 23 goals on the season, just a fabulous hockey player

who continues to play so well for this team.

He ties the game and just see the celebrations on the ice.

You can see the celebrations on the bench.

That is a stolen point for the penguins.

It looked like they were going to skate out of this game

with no points.

Columbus was going to be two behind them.

The islanders were going to jump them by a point

even though the penguins saw the game in hand.

It wasn't looking good.

The penguins were not getting any help last night

because you and I talked about it.

Tampa Bay Lightning were supposed to be pissed off

and the Blue Jackets go down there on the second half

of a backs back and beat them to a pulp.

The islanders were down three nothing

and then they come back with 22 minutes to go

to win an overtime.

Islanders continue their Cinderella season

and the penguins were about to go pointless

until they were rescued with less than three minutes to go.

It was fantastic.

The way that they got that point.

However, it does stink that they couldn't get that second one

Pat.

That's the second time in three games where

you basically have a power play to end the overtime.

You can't even get set up.

I have no problem admitting this right now.

If Cindy Crosby and Evgeny Malkin were healthy,

I think they take those extra points

against the flyers and hurricanes.

It's just such a massive difference

when you take those guys off the four on three.

Yeah, I know breaking news here people,

but everything about those two power plays.

Especially last night's one in Raleigh.

No urgency.

The zone injuries were bad.

Not enough scoring chances.

It's just simply not good enough.

Those problems will fix itself.

Once Crosby and Malkin eventually come back.

But it's just a little disappointing

to have that they couldn't find a way

to steal that extra point in the overtime.

I definitely agree.

I think this is going to sound like I'm making excuses

and I swear that's not what I'm trying to do.

But it feels like they almost overthink

themselves into paralysis when it comes to overtime power plays.

Because I said it going into the game last night

that with all the talent that is out of the lineup right now.

And they did this is best they could against one

of the better penalty kills in the league.

A team that runs a power kill and really does put

even the best of power plays under duress during.

Regulation.

They did a good enough job of keeping it extremely simple

and just taking what Carolina gave them.

They didn't do the best job,

but they did enough given the talent constraints

that they had in the lineup.

Then you get into overtime when it's a 4 on 3

and I don't care how good your PK is.

When you get to a 4 on 3 overtime penalty kill,

you are not taking unnecessary risks.

You are playing it extremely close.

And it almost paralyzed the penguins power play against Philly

and then against Carolina last night

to where they're getting set up and they're just kind of

going to a spot,

stopping, hoping to find a lucky opening,

hoping to find that perfect play.

And it's not there.

So they were doing that a lot with Raquel there.

They're a little bit during the 4 on day.

They were trying to feed him a little too much.

And Raquel is one of the leaders on this team right now,

especially with Crosley and Malk out,

but he's not having that good of a year.

And it stinks considering how great he was

for the penguins last year.

I thought they were doing a solid job

of running the power play through Chinacov in regulation

and then how when we got to the 4 on 3

that kind of just stopped.

You should have obviously more room out there.

You should be making quicker decisions.

I didn't see any of that during the overtime power play.

I just thought again,

two stagnant just like the one on Saturday against Philadelphia.

The shootout problems are what they are.

It looked like it was maybe going to change after the first round.

You're like, okay,

actually up one nothing going to the latter two rounds.

And honestly, a Chinacov berries that chance

if he doesn't sail it,

actually think they win that shootout.

I think Stuart Skinner does save one of those next two.

That mess just sums up their shootout

woes in general this year.

When that doesn't go your way,

like what else can you do?

Well, let's get into that now

because we're going to have a lot of other things

that we got to talk about and dedicate some time to

from last night's game,

mainly the officiating,

mainly some coaching decisions,

or I should say coaching actions,

but we'll save that for the second segment.

The thing is because of how bad

this team has been in the shootout this year,

it's going to understandably

get put under a microscope what happened in Carolina

because it's another loss.

It's another missed opportunity to take

a what could be a really crucial point,

but you look at the way they worked last night in the shootout.

They only got three shooters.

They go with Kindle Chinacov,

Manta.

We've seen Manta score on several breakaways this year.

He's shown he can do it.

Ben Kindle,

I was ready to throw my phone at my television

because he did the same thing

I've complained about on this show over and over.

He comes down the wing.

He cuts to the middle and he tries to go five hole,

but it worked.

So he misses the smoke from this one.

He escapes it.

Chinacov.

He just tried to get too fancy.

That's the like that was the biggest problem with that attempt.

He had a man.

He had him dead to rights and just sailed it again.

He scores there.

I think they win that shootout.

All he had to do was tuck that in and now he he.

I don't I said it last night in the heat of the moment.

He tried to get fancy.

I don't know if he tried to get fancy or not,

but you could tell he was trying to roof it.

All he has to do is tuck it and he wins that and or not wins

that he scores on that and we'll see what happens.

But I mean,

you would have had two of your three scoring and I'll say this

for Stewart Skinner in the shootout last night.

Good save on Jarvis.

Svetchenikov unbelievable move Jackson Blake.

Really good shot.

But I can't fault him for the shoot.

This wasn't like she loves who for it seemed like every time

he was in a shootout.

He just completely forgot how to play the position.

Skinner got beat by two really good shots.

Yeah, I also I think was Skinner.

And he was pretty hard on himself after the game.

I saw a couple of his quotes saying like,

Hey, I'm going to put that one on me.

Still come on, man.

You were the biggest reason or one of the biggest reasons

why this team even got a point out of this game.

Member Pat for two.

He makes that sprawling save going across the crease

to keep it a four to game giving the penguins a chance

to tie that game late in the third period.

He gives up that goal.

They don't come away with a point.

I thought Skinner was excellent in regulation.

I thought he was also really good in overtime.

We should mention Anthony Manta that bad check

to break up that two on O.

That was a thing of beauty and Manta

was also really good overall.

But Skinner, man, I thought he played really well.

His rebound control at the beginning of the game

was a little bit scary.

I wasn't liking it too much.

After the first few minutes, though,

really settled in played a great game.

And again, I want to stress this to everyone.

That is a stolen point.

A really big point also for the penguins.

They're three up on the jackets.

They're still in second place.

You have three out of four points overall

in your last two games against Boston and Carolina.

Two playoff teams this year.

It's just it's unfortunate that you couldn't

get that extra one in overtime

when you had the power play.

That's all.

Yeah, they they really scratched in Claude

for that point.

And it's it to put a fine bow on this segment

before we get into whatever everything else

that we got to get into.

This is what we talked about coming out

of the Olympic break without Sid

and now without Geno.

Tread water keep piling up points.

It is it is frustrating.

It's annoying that you're only getting one

instead of two.

But if you keep the pace of getting points

if you keep your points percentage up high,

you're going to stay in this race.

And then when Maulkin comes back from suspension

and Sidney Crosby comes back from injury.

The depth gets a little bit better.

The team gets a little bit deeper.

The team gets a little bit more talented.

And instead of having to play catch up,

you can start pulling away.

So continuing to compile points,

continuing to tread water.

I understand.

It's frustrating.

It's annoying.

We all want to see this team win.

But given where they are

and given where they want to go,

this is how it's got to be done for right now.

But that's going to do it for our opening segment.

Hunter, I don't think you're going to get a pat rant

in this second segment.

But I do have to talk about the head coach

of the Carolina Hurricanes, one Rod Brindamore.

And I will do that.

We will both do that when we come back right after this.

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Welcome back to the Wednesday edition of the Locked on

Penguins podcast.

I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp.

That's Hunter Hodeys right beside me on your screens.

As if you're watching us on YouTube.

And listen, I know, I know, I know.

Before the comments come.

I know I am a goofball sitting in his office with a podcast

Mike in front of a computer who never played anything

more than ACHA Division 2.

I know that if Rod Brindamore walked through this door

behind me, he would beat me to a pulp.

But you know what?

That was embarrassing behavior from Rod Brindamore last night.

And I understand it is a hyper competitive game.

The Carolina Hurricanes while having a sizable lead in the

Metropolitan Division at this point are a team that has

disappointed over the past decade.

They have been a team that everybody looks at and says they're

going to take the next step.

They're going to take the next step and then they never do.

Were some of the calls on the penguin or that the penguins

got power plays out of questionable?

Of course they were.

It's the National Hockey League.

It's all judgment calls.

What I don't understand is how he can get to berate

and abuse and scream and yell at an official for what

felt like and probably was five actual real time minutes

and not get anything from it.

Don't get a bench minor doesn't get a misconduct doesn't get

booted from the game and listen.

Carolina's good team.

They don't need the help of the officials.

They are not on top of the Metropolitan Division by accident.

They are not consider consistently one of the best teams in the

East for no reason.

They are a very well put together, very talented, very

disciplined team.

They embody who their coach was when he played.

People hated playing rod the bod because he made you earn

every single snowflake on that ice.

What I saw out of him last night was embarrassing behavior.

It was baby stuff.

That's what it is and I tweeted this pad.

I have no problem saying this on the show too.

If that's damn used doing that.

He probably not only gets a bench minor.

He gets thrown out of the game as a rookie head coach.

I don't think the official would have any problem throwing him out.

I won't say this.

He has earned a level of that.

Rod Brindamore has.

He has been in the National Hockey League as a player and a coach

for a really long time.

And that is human nature.

You know someone for decades at a time.

You you kind of know where their lines are.

You know where okay.

If he starts acting this way, we're in the red.

But last night, it wasn't as if the penguins were getting away

with things left and right.

And Carolina was the only team getting wrong up.

Some of the calls.

Yes, they were questionable.

I will grant you that.

But the reaction by Brindamore was just completely just disproportionate

to what was happening on the ice.

Like sooner or later, you had to give him a bench minor for that.

And after that, the officials it felt like they let Rod Brindamore

change the game with how it was called.

Some of the Carolina players were just diving to get calls

and they were being rewarded for them.

Like that cross check.

There's the diving motion for everyone watching on YouTube.

Like come on, man.

Like some of these guys went down really easily.

I don't understand how they didn't get embellishment calls.

It was embarrassing to say the least.

And I don't like when players just try to dive to get calls like that.

And it was because Rod yelled at the officials

and it felt like they were almost scared of what was going to happen next

if they were just weren't going to call those penalties to say the least.

It's funny.

I have some caps friends from back home and I was messaging them during the game

and they even said, yeah, Hunter, this is why we hate Carolina so much.

Like you haven't seen it because we played them a lot in the playoffs and such.

But this is what they have done before.

And I was like, well, this is only the first time I'm really seeing it.

Just they haven't really done this.

It feels like against the penguins a lot.

But last night I was like, Rod, come on, man.

You're acting like a baby on the bench.

I don't know how you don't get a minor there.

Then your team just starts diving for calls.

I don't respect that.

I do think the penguins were taking it to the hurricanes for a good portion of this game.

I thought overall Pat, the first 10 minutes, all Carolina.

They were steamrolling them right off the ice.

The penguins though, they pushed back in that back half of the first period.

All started because of that Kindle shift in the offensive zone.

He dragged the rest of the team back into the fight.

They blitzed them in the final half of the first.

They played a very professional, very good 20 minutes in the second period.

And then Carolina blitzed them for most of the third.

So if you want to add all of that up, 30 minutes each right there.

And I don't think that's one of the biggest things to me.

I'll give this right back to you.

They showed to me that they can play with this team.

They really can.

In years past, they've been outskated badly outplayed by this team.

And you can tell right away, this year through two games, they can play with this team

and they can skate with them.

This is why I'm glad that we do this show after the fact

and not like a live stream or a watch along because now looking back.

Because I'm sitting at home.

I'm watching the game last night.

I'm watching that first period first 10 minutes.

I'm thinking, geez, like Stuart Skinner is the only one who decided to show up

in Raleigh tonight because and like, but then now that we have the entire game

behind us, this was just two good teams trading punches.

This was two good teams going at it.

You said it.

It was about a 30 30 split in regulation.

The Carolina Hurricanes had 30 minutes of really good hockey.

The penguins had 30 minutes of really good hockey.

If I really wanted to break it down, I would maybe say 25 25 each

and then it was five minutes of a stalemate each to where they were going back

and forth.

And you're right.

The other thing I texted you about last night that I noticed in the second period

and this kind of goes into what I was saying about Brenda Moore.

For the second period, the penguins punked the Carolina Hurricanes.

They were goading them into everything after the whistle.

They were goading them into taking penalties.

They were goading them into wanting to take liberties with everything

the penguins did.

And to your point, that's the penguins telling the Hurricanes.

We aren't scared of you.

We're not we know you're good.

We respect the fact that you're good.

But if you think we're going to back down just because you got a big lead

in the Metro, think again, we are going to battle our asses off right

along with you.

And I'll again, I'll toss this back off to you for any other thoughts

you might have from last night's game.

What I noticed out of last night's game more than anything is that if this

team gets healthy, continues their level of play or at least something

comparable, I feel incredibly safe in saying that I think this team is a

playoff team.

Just the way they've hung with some of the better teams in the league.

Now, obviously this month can go completely haywire.

They might not get healthy.

They might get more injured because it's the Pittsburgh penguins.

And we know that they love getting bit by the injury bug.

But you look at the way they've played since returning from the break.

This is a team that was rested, a team that was ready.

And most importantly, it is a team that is motivated.

They're in all of these games.

And there's a certain level of confidence that is just beaming

throughout the locker room, spills out onto the ice.

And everyone is playing for one another.

There's all the heart.

There's all the pride.

There's all of that fight.

Everyone is having a blast out there.

And again, this team continues to play such confident hockey.

I know they've been losing a little bit more than winning as of late.

But the more important thing is they're at least getting points in most

of these games.

They're staying afloat.

Yeah, Columbus has been hot.

Islanders have been hot.

You know what?

As of right now, the penguins are still ahead of both teams.

And they still have that game in hand on the Islanders.

I've getting all can is set to come back in five days.

Sydney Crosby could come back as soon as tomorrow against the Golden Knights.

It looks like he's really ramping it up in terms of his return.

You get those two guys back.

You know, let's have some fun for the rest of this month.

And it's April, hopefully Justin Brzeau gets back sooner rather than later.

Sam Gerard, I think the third pair really missed him.

Last night, and this leads me to my final thought about this game, Pat.

Crystal Tang needs to be so much better.

And I am really concerned about his level of play right now.

He is one of my all time favorite penguins.

He has been through hell and back throughout his career.

He's the greatest defenseman in the franchise's history.

He has done everything for this organization.

He needs to wake up down the stretch here.

His play lately is simply unacceptable.

And I know he's a lot older now.

Again, he's been through hell and back.

His skating is just not there.

He's not making quick and simple decisions.

Even now that he's back with Ryan Shader, the last couple of games,

I'm just not seeing that mistake-free simple hockey that I was seeing

when he was paired with Brett Kuhlack.

It has not been good, man.

Yeah, I saw red just like Rod Brindamore did

when I went through that segment

that I almost completely bifft our rundown here

where it said, let's talk Latang.

But to your point, I agree.

I mean, listen, I said it on social last night.

I kind of furthered something.

Our pal Adam Gretz said about basically,

you know, there's all this talk about 87 and 71

and hurt feelings and what to do.

I don't, I know they won't

because it's not something Kyle Dubas does.

He has explicitly said it's something he doesn't like to do.

But man, I would not be against exploring a buyout

for Chris Latang just because it only cost you about 3.25 million

against the cap the next two years

and then about 1.4 the two after.

And with how high the salary caps go

and with where the penguins are, that's a cost I don't think

would be that prohibitive for them.

And again, I don't want this to come off

as me saying he stinks.

This isn't me coming off saying his reputations tarnished,

but he has become a genuine liability

on the blue line as of late.

And I'll finish it with this

because this is going to be a little bit of a,

I don't know if it's optimism,

but it's definitely something to keep in mind,

something to kind of put the perspective on it.

This is part of what happens in this kind of rebuild

because he played his best hockey with Brett Kool-Ack.

Traded Brett Kool-Ack for a premium pick

and a better defenseman,

somebody who better suits what they want to do.

That comes at the cost of Chris Latang's game,

but as we have talked about on this show,

as much as that sucks in the immediate,

as much as that hurts right now,

Kyle Dubas' job is to see the 10,000-foot view.

His job is to plan for the next 10 years,

not the next 10 games.

So I don't know what they're going to have to do

to get him back in action.

I don't know if it's an even more of a declining role,

putting him on, say, a third pairing and limiting his usage,

but until the guy finds that stride he had with Brett Kool-Ack,

it is genuinely difficult to see him on the ice

and high leverage moments

because the big things he did well,

he just simply can't do anymore.

And it's things to say all this,

because again, he's a franchise icon.

He is a legend through and through.

It just thinks that one of your favorite players

of all time has just, his game has just gone so downhill.

And this happens to everyone in SportsPath.

Father time is undefeated.

It comes for everyone.

It just thinks that it's happening right now

when they're in the fight for their lives

to get into the playoffs.

That's also a big thing for me.

And again, I really want his game to turn around,

but the skating is not there.

He's not driving offense.

The decision-making is really poor.

He's not defending well in his own zone.

Everything with his game needs to be so much better.

And I hope it does turn around again.

I love this guy.

But man, it's a tough watch for him out there.

It really has been, but that's enough depressing stuff

for this episode.

It is Wednesday.

That means it is time, once again,

to hand out our MVP of the week

as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday.

And we will do that when we come back right after this.

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Here's.

All right, we're closing out the Wednesday edition

of the Locked On Penguins podcast on Patrick Damp.

That's Hunter Hodeys.

Thank you so much for hanging with us on a jam packed

Wednesday edition of Locked On Penguins.

And as we do every single Wednesday,

we hand out our MVP award in what we call Warrior Helmet.

Wednesday, if you're new here,

this is us paying homage to the 2016 Stanley Cup

winning Pittsburgh Penguins,

which we're gonna be celebrating

that 10-year anniversary here pretty soon, Hunter.

That's pretty freaking crazy to think about.

But if you know about that team

after victories throughout the regular season

and into the playoffs,

the team would hand out their player of the game

after wins with a Warrior Helmet.

So that's what we do here.

And this was a really difficult week

to pick an MVP for the penguins

because despite the injuries, despite the results,

despite everything else,

a lot of contributors this week and Hunter

because it is our award and we made it up

and the rules are whatever we decide they are,

you go ahead and tell the people

who gets your Warrior Helmet for this week.

So yeah, I'm gonna change mine up a little bit this week.

I'm gonna get half to one player

and then half to another player

because I felt both these players

were the two best penguins players for this past week.

The first half goes to Igor Chinakov,

a goal and four assists for five points in three games.

He has been exceptional in all three zones.

He made that overtime goal happen against Austin

before setting up that beautiful goal

to Brian Rust on the power play

to make it a two-one game in Raleigh on Tuesday night,

vision that he displayed there was.

Awesome.

I think his skating has also been great.

He's getting countless chances.

He almost won the game 17 seconds

into overtime as well.

Freddie Andersen had to make a really nice save there.

He has been fantastic.

Even without Evgeny Malkin,

who we all know,

those two are so insane when they're playing together.

He has been great.

Second half, Eric Carlson,

also a goal and four assists for five points in three games.

With Crystal Teng really struggling

and a lot of the blue line as well,

not playing particularly on their A games,

like even Parker Walters,

when I feel like it's really not played

well the last few games,

and that's going to change.

I think you said a really good season,

but the last week hasn't been that strong.

So Lovyev has been fine.

I like Connor Clifton,

fine enough outside of yesterday.

I felt yesterday wasn't really his strongest game.

Eric Carlson has been by far the best defenseman

on this blue line,

not just this last week,

but for this season.

He is doing everything possible to carry the load

for the penguins in these stretch games

without Crosby,

without Malkin.

He has been fan fricking,

fantastic man.

He is skating has been marvelous.

His decision making has been also really good.

The way that he has backchecking his own zone

to get to loose box,

and look like he's going to be beaten.

That has also been great.

I can't say enough about how well Carlson has played

over the last week.

So both Carlson and Shina Kov get my Warrior helmets

for this week.

Yeah, I mean, I'll add this real quick

before I get to mine.

Shina Kov has maybe been the penguins best player

in the last week.

That's true.

Genuinely their best player,

not just having himself a really good week.

He has really,

he has blossomed into a pretty complete player

with the penguins.

We love the goal scoring.

We love the offense.

We love the shot.

But he has shown he can play in all three zones,

at least recently.

And that's a huge development for this team.

And you're right about Carlson.

He has been doing everything he can

to keep this team afloat amid the injuries.

And he has done a pretty damn good job at that.

But for me,

I am picking a different one.

So if you're watching us here on YouTube,

it will get spoiled.

But I am taking Anthony Mantha

for my Warrior helmet this week.

Well, the week started a little bit quiet for him.

No points against Buffalo or Philadelphia.

Two goals against Boston,

a goal against Carolina.

And he was a menace against Carolina last night.

This is a bit of a recency bias Warrior helmet for me.

But his game last night,

whether it was back checking, blocking shots,

scoring a goal, creating offense.

He had himself a really good game.

He had himself a really good gaming against Boston as well.

And I I joked about this.

I do think at the end of the year,

if this see at the end of the regular season,

if this season continues to go the way it's going,

Dan Mews should get Jack Adams considerations,

Kyle Dubis should get general manager of the year considerations.

And if for no other reason,

he should get that GM of the year consideration for Anthony Mantha,

who is hitting career highs at age 31,

after knee surgery,

got him on an unbelievably affordable deal,

took that chance and he has been so good for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So he gets mine for this week,

really good two games to end the last week.

And he has been one of the penguins,

steadiest soldiers all season long now.

Let's take a look at the tracker for this season,

leading the pack with five Warrior Helmet Awards

is Captain Sidney Crosby.

Right behind him with four is Evgeny Malkin,

Anthony Mantha joins Justin Brazil and Eric Carlson

with three on the season with two.

We've got quite a long list.

Kyle Dubis, Avery Hayes, Ben Kendall, Dan Mews,

Sergei Murashov, and Arthur Sheelovs.

And with one Igor Chinakov, Connor Doer,

the special teams units and Stewart Skinner,

we're keeping track of it because as we do at the end of every season,

we do our recaps, we do our awards.

In this year, we're going to add in a year long Warrior Helmet Wednesday

award for our Warrior Helmet player of the year.

But that is going to do it.

For the Wednesday edition of the Locked On Penguins Podcast,

thank you again for hanging with us on what was a jam packed Wednesday edition

of the Locked On Penguins Podcast.

Hunter and I will be back on Thursday

because we got late night hockey coming back.

We'll get you set for the penguins and the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday

and cover any other news that might happen between now and then.

So for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp.

Thank you again for tuning in and we will talk to you on Thursday.