Guentzel showing intensity in his return from minors
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
RALEIGH, N.C. — Jake Guentzel’s first stint in the NHL lasted only a couple of weeks.
Just long enough for him to score three times in five games. And to learn a lesson that should serve him well for the balance of his career.
“To be at your best every day,” Guentzel said.
He was a healthy scratch for three games in a row before being sent back to WilkesBarre/Scranton early last month, and coach Mike Sullivan suggested he had been troubled by a decline in Guentzel’s focus and/or intensity.
That doesn’t appear to be an issue this time around.
Guentzel has played alongside Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist in the past two games, picking up a goal and an assist, and figures to be there again when the Penguins face Carolina tonight at PNC Arena.
Guentzel has scored four times in seven NHL games — that’s a 47-goal pace over an 82-game season — which is obvious testimony to his hand skills.
It also speaks to his willingness to operate in high-traffic areas. Guentzel is only 5 feet 11, 180 pounds, but every inch and ounce is fearless.
He scored the third goal in the Penguins’ 4-1 victory Wednesday night at Montreal by staking out a spot near Canadiens goalie Carey Price’s crease, then deflecting a Cameron Gaunce shot by him.
Which was perfectly in keeping with Guentzel’s philosophy of goal-scoring.
“Just go to the front of the net,” he said. “That’s where a lot of goals happen.”
Lots of goals seem to happen any time Guentzel is around. He has 21 of them, as well as 21 assists, in 33 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
And this is just his first full season of pro hockey.
“He’s a real good player,” Sullivan said. “And I think he’s only going to get better.”
Especially since he seems to have embraced the admonition to bring his finest game every time he reports to the rink.
“You have to be at your best to be at this level,” Guentzel said. “You have to learn from it.”
Locking it down
There’s nothing very flashy about defenseman Ian Cole’s game aside, perhaps, from his willingness to routinely sacrifice his body to block shots.
He doesn’t make end-toend rushes, doesn’t have a standing invitation to participate in the NHL’s hardestshot competition.
What he does do is to play a solid, heady two-way game, with the emphasis on sound defense. Cole, acquired from St. Louis for Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round draft choice March 2, 2015, not only has learned to recognize his limitations, but also to operate effectively within them.
“I think he has a better understanding of what his game is,” Sullivan said. “He’s playing within himself. He’s not trying to do too much.
“He has the ability to make outlet passes, he has the ability to generate offense off the offensive blue line. And what I like is that he’s doing it selectively.
“First and foremost, he’s a good defender. He’s a big body [6 feet 1, 219 pounds]. He’s a heavy body down underneath the hash marks in our zone.
“He’s a good shot-blocker, strong in front of our net. That’s his core competency. That’s what he brings to our team.”
Tip-ins
The Penguins spent Wednesday night in Montreal, then flew to North Carolina Thursday morning. Shortly before their flight departed, Sullivan canceled the practice that had been planned for Raleigh. … Evgeni Malkin’s next goal will be his 317th, moving him past Jean Pronovost and into fourth place on the franchise’s all-time list.