Tri-State Hockey Podcast · The Nation Network

Episode 23: Hischier Wins, Palat Plays, Rags Fans Respond

January 30, 2026·1 hr 29 min·5 clips

The show opens loud. Johnny Lazarus has Arthur Staple and Mike Rupp with him, and the first thing they are dealing with is the stack of voicemails coming from Rangers fans, Islanders fans, and Devils fans all at once. Schaefer is the spark. The Islanders' number one overall pick said he would beat the Rangers every time they play, and the club is 4-0 in the era of their number one draft pick, which gives the Islanders side plenty to celebrate while the other side listens and grinds its teeth. Staple wants one rumor cleaned up. He says he does not think the Islanders are trading Matthew Barzell, and the room treats that as something worth shutting down before it turns into a bigger mess. The Devils get some love too. After their win last night, the tone around New Jersey sounds a little giddier again, and the panel circles around whether that feeling is real or just the latest bounce in a crowded race. The Metro stays messy. They keep moving between the Islanders, Devils, Rangers, and Penguins, trying to sort out who is actually good, who is just hanging around, and who is going to fall off if the table starts to shake. The Penguins become the team to watch. One stretch of the conversation leans toward the idea that Pittsburgh is the club to chase, because if it dips, that opens the door for somebody else to move up. Numbers start to matter. They talk about a team that is generating offense at a high clip, has a fantastic power play, and is getting above-average goaltending, while still carrying defensive numbers that leave room for a bad spell to turn into a real slide. Stuart Skinner gets a spotlight of his own. The discussion pauses on his recent run, because the save percentage and goals-against numbers are the kind of thing that make everyone stop and double-check the screen. The panel keeps thinking out loud. They ask whether the Islanders are good, whether the Devils are for real, and whether the Penguins are the team that can be run down if someone else can string together a little run. Coaching speculation creeps in. Johnny Lazarus raises the awkward look of Mike Sullivan going to New York, the Penguins falling down the standings, and Dan Muse going to Pittsburgh, and that opens another round of what-it-means hockey talk. The show never pretends the answers are neat. It lets the uncertainty sit there, then keeps pushing on roster roles, team identity, and the kind of pressure that builds when every fan base thinks the standings are telling a different story. It closes by thanking the callers and producer Vick and leaves the next recording day to be figured out.

As heard by us

Fan heat and playoff pressure keep the conversation feeling real.

Tri-State Hockey Podcast captures the playoff chase as a messy, good-humored argument, with Rangers frustration, Islanders swagger, Devils hope, and Penguins unease all sharing the same frame.

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Why you'd press play

You want the caller heat left fully intact and the hockey noise turned up.

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