Guentzel answering all the calls
He’s key constant during injury siege
Less than 24 hours before the Penguins officially announced they would have to replace Sidney Crosby on the ice for a significant period of time, there was another question: Who replaces him in the dressing room?
For 15 years, each time Crosby visited Madison Square Garden, the Penguins’ captain found a familiar home in the same locker, the one on the right side of the room, right about in the middle.
But while the rest of the Penguins traveled to New York earlier this month, Crosby went to Philadelphia for a second opinion on his sports hernia. On game day, where the No. 87 jersey typically hangs, there was the No. 59 of Jake Guentzel.
It didn’t seem like much at the time. But looking back on it about two weeks later, after Guentzel has gone on an absolute tear that included a four-point performance in the Penguins’ 8-6 win against the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday, that locker room scene feels like an apt metaphor.
No one can replace Crosby, but Guentzel is one of the players doing a darn good job of trying.
“I think Jake has been terrific,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s just a great hockey player. I don’t know how else to say it. He’s not a guy that wows you with speed or finesse or size or strength. He’s just a real good hockey player. He’s smart. He knows where to go. He finds the quiet areas and he can finish. “
If you’re feeling bold,
you can take that a step further. There is a legitimate argument to be made that through the first quarter of the season, the Penguins’ team MVP isn’t Crosby. It isn’t Evgeni Malkin. It’s Guentzel.
The stats back it up. After his four-point surge Wednesday, Guentzel is now a point-pergame player with 25 points in 25 games. That leads the team. He’s also scored 14 goals, finding the back of the net six times in the past six games. That also leads the team.
Sure, part of that is because Guentzel has remained healthy and Crosby and Malkin haven’t. But that’s also the point here. As the old football-guy saying goes, the best ability is availability. That’s especially true on a team that’s endured so many injures to so many key players, including Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist, Nick Bjugstad, Justin Schultz, Alex Galchenyuk, Jared McCann — the list is so long it’s hard to keep track.
Guentzel, however, is one of six Penguins who has played all 25 games, maybe a stat even more significant for an injuryplagued team. And he’s done so while playing with a physical edge that you wouldn’t expect out of someone listed at 5-feet-11 and 180 pounds.
“I have so much respect for how much courage he plays with,” Sullivan said. “He goes to all the battle areas. The net front. Below the goal line. He takes cross checks. He takes physical abuse. He pays a price to go to those areas. But that’s how you score in this league.”
After Malkin went out with an injury during the second game of the season, Crosby and Guentzel helped to elevate the top line. In the first six games that Malkin was out, from Oct. 10 to Oct. 18, Guentzel put together a six-game point streak that helped the Penguins go 5-1 during the initial stretch without Malkin.
Now, with Crosby out, the Penguins have inserted Guentzel on Malkin’s left wing. In the seven games they’ve played together, Guentzel has recorded 11 points, including six goals.
Guentzel’s twitter handle is @jakenbake20. But this season it’s been Jake n’ Sid. Jake n’ McCann. Jake n’ Geno. The roles keep changing. Bodies in and out of the lineup.
But Guentzel remains one of the few constants keeping a changing team photo in focus.
“When you lose one of the best players in the world, everyone has to step up to fill those minutes and just to be better,” Guentzel said. “I think we’re all doing that right now.”
The Penguins have begun to answer the question about how they’ll replace Crosby as his rehab continues. But when he returns? Does Malkin give Guentzel back? Or, with as productive as the Russian superstar has been with Guentzel on his left wing, does Malkin keep Guentzel on his line for good?
After being faced with so many tough lineup decisions because of injuries this year, having to decide which star center gets to play with Guentzel sounds like one the team will be happy to answer when the time comes.