Guentzel’s goal slump ends
offense from Guentzel would go a long way as they look to build on the rejuvenation that started when the calendar turned to 2018. The Penguins have 24 games left in the regular season.
It wasn’t just that Guentzel scored Tuesday, but how he scored that pleased coach Mike Sullivan most. His first goal was a power-play deflection off a Justin Schultz shot from the point, which put the Penguins up. 1-0, less than five minutes into the game.
“It’s definitely nice when you can get one early like that,” Guentzel said. “It makes you feel a little bit better throughout the whole game, so you just try and build on it and see where it goes.”
And he did, with a rebound goal off a Phil Kessel shot early in the second. Two goals, both from in close. Guentzel made his name playing on Sidney Crosby’s left wing last spring, but Sullivan said he’s at his best when he has just a little bit of a physical edge to his game.
“One of the things that really impressed us when we first called him up last year was how stiff he was on the puck,” Sullivan said. “For a guy that’s an undersized guy, he plays a stiff game when he wants to. When he plays with that little bit of edge and little bit of determination and conviction, that’s when he’s at his best. We certainly saw it tonight.”
Guentzel’s goals came in the first two periods Tuesday night, 40 minutes of hockey in which Sullivan admitted he thought the Penguins were outplayed.
But they came into the second intermission with a 4-2 lead. For a team that was the victim of some bad puck luck over the first half of the season — among other issues, they did have the worst shooting percentage in the league — the Penguins probably won’t apologize for having some bounces finally go their way. The puck seemed to find the back of the Senators’ net whenever the Penguins got chances in the first two periods, and the result was four goals on their first 11 shots.
They finished with a perfectly respectable 28 shots on goal, thanks to a 16-shot third period, but were held under 30 for the second consecutive game. If you throw out the dreadful performance in New Jersey Feb. 3, these two games mark the first times the Penguins have had fewer than 30 shots on goal since theirrun of strong play began inearly January.
But they won both games, and comfortably, at that.
“The last two, especially, we’ve been pretty opportunistic,” goalie Matt Murray said. “It’s not like we’re shooting the lights out, getting 40 shots or anything like that, but we’re scoring goals. Good teams find ways to win games in different ways. I think it’s encouraging that we’re doing that right now. We need to keep that going.”
Guentzel agreed with his goalie. Sometimes scoring gritty goals and winning less-than-perfect games is what it takes to keep a winning streak rolling, and that’s exactly what Guentzel and the Penguins did Tuesday. “I think whenever you can win ways like this, it gives you a little confidence,” he said. “I think we know our first two periods weren’t the greatest, but we came out in the third and did what we had to do.”