DK’s Double Shot of Penguins: Breaking down blue line

0:00Uh, penguins. That's you by your friends at the most southwest grill. I'm Dan Kovatovich. He's Chris Halik. We're from DK Pittsburgh sports. As you can see, it's penguins versus sabers tonight up at PPG in Pains Arena covering that a little bit later. And she says the helmets are good here. Yeah, that look, he gets her way today. Stop visiting helmets. How's that look? That's good. That's a seven o' eight PM face off at PPG Pains Arena. The sabers really, I covered this game up in Buffalo just before the Olympic break month ago. They really took it hard, losing to the penguins, uh, heading into the break.

1:02I can imagine. I was a little bit surprised by it. They had some strong. They felt that they didn't even really compete. They didn't, they didn't perform the way they've been for the most part. The sabers have been one of the better teams in the NHL. Yeah, uh, certainly over the past couple of months. And they feel like they've hit this new stratosphere and they're all, they're all in and everything else here. And they're going to make the playoffs for the first time in whatever it is 15, 16 years. And they feel like they didn't even show up. This was the one the Avery Hayes game, scorching goals and, yeah. And I would be surprised if the sabers didn't come out like really, really aggressive and flying around and all that other stuff and trying to get that one back. Um, now I don't know who gets to define who is the storm and who is the storm. E in these situations, I always find that kind of funny. Uh, but I know that the penguins themselves weren't very happy. Certainly with their first six, seven minutes in Boston the other night.

2:05So I have a feeling that the first period of this will be pretty high octane. I really do. Uh, yeah. I'm into the, the penguins are obviously going to want to bounce back there. Want to get back into the wind column. They don't want to get back to, you know, they obviously want to get the two points to stay ahead of the islanders. Look at the standings. The penguins and islanders have the same number of points, both said with 75, but the penguins have two games in hand. So they hold the advantage, uh, you got to keep ahead of them. But the sabers, like you said, they, they did not like losing that game ahead of the Olympic break. They're also only two points behind the lightning, uh, in the, in the Atlantic division. So they are right on the cuss. Oh, there's, there's a lot going on. There's a lot. And, and in fact, there's even more than that going on because the sabers thought they had Colton Paraco in a trade from the blues, which would have been a massive boost for them on the back end. And then Paraco was like, oh, man, I, I got a no trade clause. I'm not doing that. He said, no. And then that's the end of that. Yeah. And then all of a sudden, the sabers in Buffalo have their standard stigma,

3:09which they're always very comfortable wearing. And nobody wants to come here. Nobody likes us. And it's us against the world or it's Josh Allen against the world or whatever. Dominik Hachik against the world. And then they never actually win anything. So the sabers, the sabers do present a real challenge for the penguins though. They, they have, they have depth up front. They have size up front. They have skill up front. They have the taged Thompson, Alex Tuck combination up front. It's a, it's a good team. I think the penguins will benefit from this after the other night and help passive. The Bruins were once they got the lead. Yeah, they'll drive them nuts. Yeah, yeah, the penguins will get their chances. They will have scoring chances tonight. The sabers are not some defensive demons. It could be an entertaining, you know, use this term again, high octane game, right from the start. Yeah, they really could. And this, you know, again, it's, it's a, not saying like, oh, this is a good matchup

4:10because there are good opportunity because it's bad team and you get, no, no, it's a good opportunity because I think it's a good matchup in terms of like how their systems face off against each other. Like you said, the penguins are going to have an opportunity to, to skate, to create, and to not create necessarily like on the rush or anything, but to go get the puck deep, going it over on the forecheck, establish a, a zone time, um, seeing that Blake was out, was back, uh, this morning, uh, that looks like he'll play tonight. Yeah, I see that question coming up in the chat already. Yeah, it looks like he's going to come back. Yeah, and that's, that's a, a big boost to just because he provides a lot of that. Like he just does. That's why he was missed whenever he was out in December. And he was missed team MVP Blake was, uh, if you're one of those people who does team MVP by which players most missed when they're out, they've now played 10 games without Lizott, they've won one of them. I mean, talk about valuable player.

5:13I mean, what, what, what constitutes value? I don't know. Those are such floods getting, getting wins. Those are the ones that, that, that connect Kevin Hayes playing to the penguins losing. Well, right. But the really big variable there is whenever Kevin Hayes has been in the lineup, it's been because it's because seven other guys are out. Exactly. Yeah, including like really, really important guys like Malkin and Crosby. Yeah, it's, and was not. But let's pin it on Kevin Hayes. Yeah. In goal tonight will be answer she loves on one end. And it'll be you go back to Luke and then on the other. The latter surprises me. She loves doesn't surprise me at all. But, but the Sabre's choice surprises me a little bit. Alex Leon has been really, really good for Buffalo. So he's their starter. I really thought, I don't know, they split. We're going to reach the point really in hockey where there's nobody anywhere that's got some true horse.

6:18You know, the Connor hella box and Andre Vasylovsky sort of and so forth. Did you know what ends up happening to them? If you forced them out like that, they become what Sergei Babrovsky's just become in Florida. They they weren't him out. Bob's got nothing, nothing in the tank back to back Stanley Cubs. D bronze every game and no backup. Bob's had no backup. Bob's got nothing left. No, seriously though, when you look at like some of the better teams and when you look at like, yeah, it matters. Like having a good number two goalie matters. Like it really does. I think I don't think it's an option. Yeah. And so I think it's a tandem. It's it's about a tandem. And you're going to see more teams do it the way, for example, the the Golden Knights did a couple of years ago, where you don't even know the goalie's name because it just just goes back and forth.

7:21And you know, you don't really really even necessarily identify the franchise with a goal tender. Let's talk about today, the blue line with the penguins have put together. Beginning with the newest guy, Sam Gerard, what's been your impression of him to date being fair? It's only been four or five games, four or five, I don't know what it is. I'm full three or games tonight will be his tonight will be Gerard's fifth. Early and from impressions of him, he's been paired with Chris Latang and what you got. I like the way he skates that's kind of the first thing that I see. I see a hustle, a hustle out of him that I like. I see a player that probably. It's I'm trying to think because it's going to sound like an oxymoron. He plays with confidence, but it's he's not confident yet in this system

8:26with his partner with the way the forwards play. If it doesn't make any sense at all, like I don't see a player who who looks like he's got, you know, that deer in the headlights look every time the puck's on a stick. He's been in the lead. Well, I know that. I know that, but what I'm saying, like it's not easy to get it to be acquired, to go play for a new team and then to just start playing with that level of confidence, to start playing great right away. I think it's especially for a defenseman. I think it takes a little bit of time. We saw that with Brett Kulak. Now Kulak never really got things going. He had his moments every now and then. But I know he hasn't been great, but I can see how it can work. That in my eyes, it's going to take some time. I look at his style of play and it's so based on interactivity and connectivity. He has to make passes. He's a passer first and foremost. And I don't care what your sport is.

9:28It involves passing. It involves a teammate. Whether it's football, soccer, anything. You have to know what the other guy is going to do to an extent. And you can tell right now he's just so hesitant all over the ring. And it does not suit him to be hesitant because he's not a big guy. If he's in a 50-50 battle for the puck, he's probably going to lose it. And right now, I see a lot of things that I don't like. Whereas when they brought in Elias Saloviov, he's just an immediate impact. And I mean that in the literal sense. Big, strong dude. You're not skating up my wing. And was able to get a lot of things done without having necessarily be that interactive, interconnected type of player. Guys, our friends at the most southwest grill are offering the most value meal. That includes the junior burrito.

10:29That's 10 inches of pure flavor. Two ounces of most famous queso. A regular drink. And they don't tell you this on the thing here. But you also get the, they throw the chips into the bag. It goes along with the queso. This isn't even that much more value. You get chips in queso. I wouldn't mention the chips. Yeah, mention the chips. Chips definitely come with this. And it's all for $9.95. We're going to have to text them after this to find out what's up with omitting the chips. The chips feel left out. That's where I'm, that's where I'm going after, uh, after I leave here. I'm stopping by the mose right there. Because I mean, I, my wife texted me earlier. She's got my hurt order. You caught her wifey. You just showed me that. Yeah. She's wifey in my phone. Yeah, she sent me her, uh, she sent me her, uh, her, uh, her order and everything. Yeah, that's my wifey. That's my wifey. Oh, you wifey. Oh, man. She's just, she's just staring at you.

11:31Do you have her as the boss in your phone? No, no. Oh, yeah, I know what, yeah, okay. Anyway, it's the most value meal. It's $9.95. Go take advantage of that. Here at the market square location downtown or at any of the other dozen places you can find the most southwest grill. So, uh, Ben Kendall's grandparents were here. That's actually really cool. Yeah. And we didn't know that we were doing the double shot of Pirates Show and she's entertaining these people and they're like, well, we're Ben Kendall's grandparents. They made her cry. In case you're wondering where he got it from, his grandparents are here tonight. And apparently they are the nicest people on earth, followed closely by young Ben himself. What a story he's been. Oh, really underappreciated. Yeah. I really believe that.

12:31No, sir, because he didn't show up with the, the big pedigree and the hype and everything. To compare a little bit to the Pirates, you know, Paul Schienes comes whenever I'm not saying he's Schienes, but he's 18. Yeah, and he's doing a lot of great things. Younger than either Schienes or Connor Griffin. And he shows up and he's just doing all this stuff and it's crazy, crazy what's happened to him. Anyway, we're really, we're really grateful that the, that the Kindle clan stopped by. And that's pretty cool. Rest of the defense, the rest, the rest of the back end. To me, it's going to be in a state of flux for as long as this takes. Meaning the, the latang Gerard thing. They're going to stick with it. They're not giving up on it. They're not going to pull the plug. They're not just going to throw Slough you up out there because it didn't work for four games. They see this player as someone who is an established NHL or who is a top four guy. And just like they did with Kulak,

13:33they're going to let him play. Yep. So beyond that, slipping purposely below that, you've got this mix now of Ryan Shea and Connor Clifton. No, Shea, his work has been beyond reproach. But what have you thought of Clifton? I like Clifton. I like the energy that he can bring. He's got energy. I like the energy that he can bring. I like the fact that he can help give the team a boost with just a hit. I want to see a little more. And I've been talking to you about this. Since I think the beginning of the season, he's of the six, the weakest in terms of breaking the plug out of the zone. Yeah. And he is. Yeah. And that's there are, it doesn't happen all the time, but there are times where for just a split second, he hesitates with the puck while I'm trying to break it out. And it can easily turn into disaster.

14:34That being said, I like the energy that he brings. I like the way that he hits. I like the physicality that he brings. And I do like some of the things that he can do in the offensive zone as well. From the blue line, getting the puck to that from the point. So I like him. And I like him being on the ice. I like him being being a part of the six defense when they're trining out there right now. But I think when you're looking at trade deadline, and you're looking at potentially upgrading spots, I think you could get better at a third right. Right. Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with that. I will say, regarding this group on the back end, that if it weren't for the penguins losing that game the other night, in Boston, you would have seen and been talking about still just a virtuoso formance from number 65. You understand, guys, now he was great. His goal was the least of it.

15:35Yeah, no, for real. It was okay. He's played great from the right point. Yeah. He ended up with six shots on goal 12 attempts. Think about that for a second. Think about the amount of time that you're manning that point and you're doing it in the offensive zone that you can generate 12 attempts. The passes that he made, the skating that he was doing, there are times when that dude, I swear, something goes in his head where he remembers what it was like as a child in Sweden where you could just control the entire rink and he gets like that. That's what happened to him the other night. I don't know if it's because it was in Boston and he played with the Senators for so many years or everybody's kind of trying to pick up a little bit now with sit out. You're seeing Gino the way he's flying. Yeah, yeah, stars will do that. One of the things that I really didn't like on Carlson God here and then of course last season

16:38was that people talked about Carlson as if he was some impossible contract to move and that, this is a star. You're saying this is a three-time Norris trophy winner. This is a first ballot Hall of Famer. And I just love that Pittsburgh gets to see and appreciate this player. Had his best and that's where he is right now. He is. I don't care what his motivation is. I don't care if it's because Mike Sullivan's gone. I don't care if it's because he was getting ready for the Olympics or whatever. I just enjoy watching it and I've always enjoyed watching him play, including when he was in Ottawa and San Jose. Oh, no. He's been so much fun to watch for so long. I remember the 2017 Eastern Conference Final when the penguins were playing against Ottawa and that and how much of a factor he was and yeah, and so when you go and you look and you pull up the numbers, it's like you carried them there. Him and Craig Anderson really did. No, for real that he did. I mean, he was unbelievable.

17:39They never, the senators never let him off the rink. No, no. Now you can say what you, they had other guys, Daniel Officer and Jason Spetzel, of course, they had real-life players on that team. And Anderson was like having his last to run. They shouldn't have gotten as far as they did. They did because of him. His average, if he had to guess what his average I'm on ice is for his career career, it's got to be, it's got to be over 26. It's actually not. What is it? 25 oh nine. It's still crazy. It is. That's not, I look at that. I'm just, I'm like, because like this year, he's averaging 23 and a half minutes. Yeah. That's for a coach who doesn't necessarily want his guys getting extended. And he's 35. But when he's skating, when he's skating like this guys, yeah, this is the way I used to think of young Carlson and Ottawa. He skates about a foot off the rink. Yeah. Where he, he's up here somewhere.

18:40And if you think the other night of the Boston game, where he gets the pocket center point, he purposely waits for one of the Bruins to bite on him. Mm-hmm. Dude comes forward. Carlson does the deep around him. Dude has no choice. Just reaches out his right arm and calls him down. That's the kind of game that Carlson was having that he could take what for other people would be a big risk for him, isn't, because he will undress you. Yes. There's a website that tracks the most arcane things in hockey. One of them is successful deakes. Like where you just, you line up. It's you and another guy. Yeah. And you beat him. Yeah. Okay. You marry him right out of his jock, okay? Carlson led the NHL. He's a defenseman. He led the NHL in successful deakes. Each of the past two seasons. Yeah.

19:41He's, he's super talented. He's like I said, a first bow to Hall of Famer. The things that the little little things that he does so well get so overlooked. And which is what makes him a great player. You've pointed it out before how he can let go of shots from the point and know exactly where he needs the puck to go for it to create the most habit. Yeah. Over who's kneecap. Exactly. And put it where he wants to put it. Yeah. He is he's special. Now there's only one of that guys. He's special. Guys, we love our new coffee in the office. We do. It is freshly ground here by the boss in our big new machine that they sent us. Well, right, because they sent you the grounds too from defer. Well, that's the great, great thing about that machine. That's a local roast three right up right up the road here in the strip district that defer also has coffee shops.

20:45Sure, you've been in one. There's one up there in the strip and there's one now here downtown on Penn Avenue. Really cute place by the way. To find out how to get defer coffee into your office, into your office, go to defer.coffee slash office. It doesn't have to be downtown. Anywhere in the region, they'll hook you up. defer.coffee slash office. By the way, this is how you spell defer. Not to be confused with Conor Doer. Of iron is what it means. Yeah, we actually, we looked that up that one. Yeah, it's got some class to it. Pure Pittsburgh company too, guys. Penguin's versus Sabers is tonight. Let's take some, let's take some stuff here from our members and put it up on the screen here for you to see what we got

21:45before we sign off here. Cody says with the roster limit going away in a couple of days, boatload of cap space. But we be seeing the penguins carry a lot of extra players like a mat Dumba and a Phillip Hollander wouldn't healthy. Hollander, of course, is not healthy. Dumba is a perfect guy to have up and around. You still don't want to take too many guys. You don't want or need a taxi squad this time of year. However, Cody, with the upcoming road trip, the five-gamer, the weird one that starts in Raleigh. It starts in Raleigh, and in between it's mostly out in the west in the mountains. You might see an extra righty along. You might see an extra lefty along. Somebody gets sick at the hotel that day. You don't want to, you know, that kind of stuff. You're going to have an extra body around. Especially in these road locker rooms, you don't need to. You don't need to be crowding them. They're already cramped enough here. Also, the trade deadline might impact that too.

22:45If they add another forward, if they add another defenseman, who, you know, whatever it is. This is a time of year where you start looking at that stuff too. Like right now, they just made a really, really minor move. Emil Pien, I can never do this thing. Pien, Nini, Emmy. I think that's actually it. I think you got it. Which is promoted from Wheeling, the Wolfsberry. The Wolfsberry already had nine defensemen. So like, who's being traded from Wolfsberry? This is just that time of year. Oh, we've got 24 hours until this is up. Michael Bubrics has expected the sabers to go after Avery Hayes. Other teams have done so lately. Ah, I don't know. They're going after him to prevent him from scoring, dude. Remember those two goals he got in Buffalo are still the only two goals he has in the NHL. Uh, I think Avery has a better chance of going after them. And I think that's what you're actually seeing. He takes people off. I love players like that. No, you're side. Well, that's also how I play too. I was always that guy who you're jerk.

23:49I'm a jerk when I play hockey. People have played hockey with me. No, I'm a jerk when I play hockey. You're the kind of guy you like me on your team. You hate me playing against you. And those guys are the Avery Hases of the World are good to have on your team, man. They're really good to have on your team. Well, don't forget. There's always one question that rises above all others when it comes to the NHL, which is how did this affect the Leafs? Jackson, well, he actually have one of those here from James. How did the Leafs get a first for law? Correct the answer. Who cares? Talk about any relevant. If it wasn't, if they weren't such an easy, convenient target, them and their fans and everything, they'd be like the Atlanta Falcons. I mean, that's low. Yeah. Not that the Falcons are the worst team in the NFL. There's just the least relevant.

24:50Are they? Come on. Don't say Jacksonville. Yeah, at least Jacksonville has a second home in London. Yeah, they're probably. Like the one team that you just had a nice little run. Yeah, but every time they have a nice little run, it's just like, yeah, well, you know, we should save the football for the football show. How about we do that? Heading on up to the arena, penguins versus sabers. If you're coming down here, be warned that the weather is really comfortable. Okay. It's 62 degrees out there with a feels like temp of 62 degrees. You'll enjoy everything about this experience. That 708 PM face off against the sabers. See you guys tomorrow on this program.