Jake Guentzel is 22 going on 2, judging by that baby face and boyish enthusiasm in pinballing all over the rink.
But in paying particularly close attention to him Tuesday night all through the Penguins’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Flames — my goodness, there wasn’t much else to watch — it’s safe to say that, if he sticks in the NHL for good this time, it’ll be because of poise well beyond his years.
And he really, really should stick.
It’s been impossible to miss the productivity the past year since he turned pro out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, whether he was tearing it up in Wilkes-Barre or now that his first 15 NHL games have brought five goals, four assists, a 31.3 shooting percentage and, on this night, the tying goal with 4:54 left in regulation.
It's been equally impossible to miss all the trust he's built up with Mike Sullivan and staff, maybe the most visible sign coming in the third period when Sullivan sought a spark and whipped up a top line of Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and ... Guentzel.
“Jake’s a good player. He’s a solid two-way player," the coach would say, speaking the word 'solid' in that especially convincing way that he does. "He’s pretty good on the wall. He has good awareness in his own end zone. I think it helps that he can play center and wing. He’s got a pretty good perspective of the roles and responsibilities within our concept. He’s just a heads-up player. I think the only thing Jake needs to do is just play more games.”
Yeah, he does. Right here.
I had a good talk with the kid afterward and, as always in our conversations, he approaches it all as smartly and cautiously as you wouldn't expect from someone who's otherwise so fast.
Is he feeling more comfortable in the NHL now?
"I wouldn't say that. I've got some great players around me. They make things easy for me."
Is he allowing himself to enjoy it, at least a little?
"It's fun when you win."
Well, how about that big goal, then?
"Ian Cole made a great play to jump in there like that and get me the puck."
OK, kid. You win. Let's get to the breakdown to show why this young man's a keeper, not just for the future but for the right here, right now:
The above sequence is nothing special. Or at least it shouldn't have been. Guentzel approaches the Calgary blue line, pushes the puck to Chris Kunitz to his left and, really, the Flames were just fine with a firm four-man box in the area.
But watch, after Kunitz returns the puck toward Guentzel, how he takes one swooping stride to smoke the defenseman, T.J. Brodie, to get behind the net by the breadth of an Alberta plain. He gets there so soon that he makes a pass from the other side to Eric Fehr for two quality scoring chances.
Others participated. Guentzel orchestrated.
I like this one even better:
Kris Letang opens this one by rifling a pass through the neutral zone to Guentzel approaching the middle of the Calgary blue line. Recalling Sullivan's citing Guentzel's ability to play center, he recognizes, as any natural center-man would, that he's surrounded by three Flames, so he one-touches the puck over to Kessel. That's old school center play there: Get it in the middle, then move it.
Guentzel's anything but done. As quickly as he moves the puck, he changes direction himself, whirling to support the rush. It's a seamless motion. And because of that, when Kessel gets lined up for a hard hit by Mark Giordano, he still has Guentzel offering an option skating right by him. A little push, and the puck is right back on Guentzel's blade.
Total time elapsed: Two seconds.
Now, look back up there again, and watch Guentzel's head once he's regained the puck. It swivels instantly to the left. The Penguins have just gained the zone, and that's where all his mates are. Good passers see the ice when they pass. Better-than-good passers scan it well beforehand and take a mental snapshot.
Guentzel is pressured by Matt Stajan, as the Flames again are in almost ideal position. So he cuts hard on the skates, sees Letang at center point and, respecting the traffic in his way -- and probably Sullivan's frequent admonitions to the entire team about turnovers just inside the opponent's blue line -- he saucers the puck to a highly skilled player he's sure will settle it. Letang does that and continues the attack.
Again, others participated. Again, Guentzel orchestrated.
There's dirt under those fingernails, too:
That's Brodie up there again. It's hard to know what might have set him off. Maybe it was Guentzel torching him earlier in the first period. Maybe it was that Brodie really should have the easiest of outlets, given the distance between Guentzel and him at the start of that forecheck, but Guentzel got in there to poke, anyway. Maybe it was that extra shove Guentzel gave in continuing to battle for what was now a 50/50 puck.
Whatever it was, that's Brodie up there taking not one but two crosschecks at a 5-foot-10 forward, then heading to the box to feel shame.
How about some power play?
It's the second unit, but the newbie makes the most of this, too. Seeing point men Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz criss-crossing, he glides back and opens an avenue for Schultz to pass his way. And seeing a lane, he glides forward again, chin up, and shoves a sharp shot-pass to Fehr that winds up just wide.
If that's a goal, that pass is all the buzz.
He orchestrates.
Let's further demonstrate:
Sullivan's defensive model covers 200 feet, meaning the forwards are expected to fight to get the puck back as hard as they fight to keep it. The Flames are a mess on this breakout, and Guentzel, rather than watching from afar, overtakes them easily, flicks the puck in the same motion to Nick Bonino because Bonino's facing the attacking zone and, after Bonino's pass to Kessel results in Kessel getting cut off, there's Guentzel again soaring down the left side for ... hey, that was an ambitious pass, but it was still kind of cool.
And none of it happens without the orchestration.
Oh, yeah, the goal. Almost forgot.
But first:
Guentzel didn't really orchestrate his goal. That was, as he credited, a bold move by Cole. But the play began with Guentzel collecting the puck and center red on his off-wing and, rather than trying something excessively fancy, backhanding the puck into the left corner of the Calgary zone.
You won't count on one hand the rest of this NHL season the number of players who backhand to the opposite corner from that spot on the ice. Not so much because it's physically challenging, but because the thought process is uncommon.
See Bonino pressuring Dennis Wideman?
Yeah. That's what the kid saw, too.
And on that same possession, we all saw a point salvaged:
It's funny, but that short-side shot might not have cracked the top handful of Guentzel's impressive stuff on this night.
“He’s a very smart player," Cole said. "He’s an undersized player, but watch him on the walls down low. He’s still good at reading defensemen, getting into defensemen’s bodies and still making plays. For someone who's undersized, he plays a strong game. He’s fast. He creates plays. You saw how he’s able to bury it when he gets the opportunity. He’s played great for us. I think he’s a big part of our team moving forward.”
That's forward, as in right here, right now.
