No Pucks Given | Pittsburgh Penguins Podcast · Pittsburgh Hockey Now

[FULL EPISODE] Shootout Hell, Trade Strategy, & Playoff Outlook

·43 min·2 clips

Dan Kengurski opens with a quick run through the weekend's Penguins news and notes. Shelly Anderson was back in Pittsburgh, Caleb Jones is finally healthy after an early-season injury path and gets sent down, Rutger McGroarty is reassigned, and Yona Koppenen is recalled, which Dan frames as a pretty straightforward move. The bigger topics are still ahead. One is the playoff outlook. Another is trade-deadline chatter. The main one is shootouts, and he makes it clear this has become a real issue, not just a one-night annoyance. Vince Communal joins the discussion, and the conversation settles into immediate hockey talk around a season-long problem. They dig into how shootout losses keep landing on the same sore spot. They talk about the difference between getting to overtime and actually finishing the job. They note that good goaltending is required just to reach a shootout, which makes the losses sting even more. The discussion also looks back at Tristan Jari and the long stretch of shootout frustration around him. That history matters here because the show treats this as a pattern, not a fluke. There is also a brief detour into the goaltending rotation, with the sense that someone eventually has to take the crease and own it. Dan and Vince also float the idea that alternating starts could help manage workload and keep shooters from getting too comfortable with one look. The episode does not pretend to have a neat solution. It stays practical. The trade talk is handled the same way, with Dan keeping it tied to what the team is dealing with right now. The whole thing closes with a friendly thank-you to Vince, a reminder that he will be back around the platform, and Dan's usual ask that listeners keep downloading on their preferred podcast app.

As heard by us

A Penguins conversation that pulls shootouts, roster churn, and deadline talk into one practical breakdown.

The episode centers on shootout frustration, then broadens into playoff talk, trade-deadline chatter, and the practical question of who is actually available.

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Why you'd press play

If the Penguins' shootout mess has you grinding your teeth, start here.

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