PREGAME: Head Coach Lane Lambert speaks with Everett Fitzhugh before game against Penguins (11/22)

Everett Fitzhugh's conversation with Kraken head coach Lane Lambert ahead of the Nov. 22nd matchup between the Seattle Kraken and Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thanks Mike. With Lane Lambert, looking at tonight, the Pittsburgh
Penguins got off to a pretty hot start. They've cooled
down a little bit after a five nothing lost here
at home last night. Anytime you have Crosby and malk
It on the ice and the tang on the ice,
you know it's going to be a dangerous team. What
do they present to this group that the crackit are
gonna have to overcome this evening?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, they you know, they've got speed. They play fast,
they play north, they try and stretch out and at
the end of the day, they don't need a lot
of opportunities to hurt you.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
You know, I didn't look this.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Morning, but you know there's well over two thousand points
between two of them, and you know, it's just a
situation where they're they're.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Coming off of five nothing loss.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
You know, they came back from you know, from the
Global series time change, all that first came back. I
expect them to be a lot better than they were
last night, and we're gonna have to be good. We're
gonna have to stay above them, keep them off the
score sheet as best we possibly can, and stay out
of the penalty box. Their power play is first in

(01:09):
the league over thirty percent. There's just so many weapons
there that it's hard. It's hard to pick which one
to take away.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
The defensive structure never changes from team the team. But
this team, the crackt I mean, have had an ability
to shut down the badards, the McDavid's, the top players
in this league. What is it about this group that
sometimes can render these superstar players ineffective? And what do
they have to do here tonight to do the same

(01:36):
thing for a Crosby and.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
For a balcon Well, you know, you've got to give
credit to the team for embracing the structure of what
we're doing first and foremost.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
And then you know, when you're playing against.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Those types of players, you've got to have the right
people on the ice as best you possibly can. Give
Chandler Stevenson a lot of credit, give Mattypineer's a lot
of credit their lines, and give our deep you know,
a lot of credit with you know, Dunn and Larson
and play an etraordinary amount against those those guys. But
we feel like we've got three solid D pairs and

(02:10):
we actually have two guys that aren't playing in the game,
you know, with Mahara and Flurry that we.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Feel are really good as well.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
So you know, I think they've done a good job
of recognizing that we do need to shut.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
Those guys down.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
I think, once again cracking on the other night, proving
it's not how you start, but how you finish a
three goal comeback to take down Chicago three, to just
take us through an up and down game for your group.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, you know, like I've said all year long, it's
never as good as you think it is, and it's
never as bad as you think it is. I thought
the first period was a bit of a back and
forth period. You know, they had some chances uncharacteristic that
we gave up a couple of slot attempts, but we
also had some chances on them. Right, So then the

(02:57):
second period, you know, for whatever reason, and.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
We come out and.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
You know, our our team has to understand the importance
of puck management, especially in second periods, the longer changes.
You know, we just turned the puck over a few
too many times and they end up coming back and
you know, getting a couple of goals on us, and
we've got to start periods better. You know, we've had
too many times this year where we've been scored on
and you know, the first shift or the first two

(03:25):
minutes or three minutes of the period, and it's just,
you know, it's something we've got to correct. Give our
guys credit. I thought the third period.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
We came out and dominated them.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
And you know, started to shoot the puck, started to
get traffic bodies to the net, and we gave ourselves
an opportunity to come back and win the hockey game,
which we did.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
But we can't keep doing this. This is not a
formula for success.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well was that message in between period two and three.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
It was pretty short.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
It was just a matter of trying to have our
guys understand that that's not good enough and we've got
a lot more to give, and if you give it,
you've got.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
An opportunity to win a hockey game.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Oscar Fisker Mulgarn had an assist in his first NHL game.
What did you make of his night?

Speaker 3 (04:08):
I thought he played well.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
You know, obviously, like you say, he got a point
in his first game. That's a huge you know, I
guess weight off your shoulders, but certainly I thought he
managed the puck. I thought he used his speed and
I thought he did some smart things defensively, so you know,
as we go forward here, you know, we look to
try and see if we can get him a little
more ice time.