CRANBERRY, Pa. -- These are high times, so to speak, north of the border. Marijuana is now legal -- that became official Wednesday -- and, oh, all seven Canadian-based NHL teams are .500 or better.
Far out, eh?
The Penguins, fresh off overtime and shootout losses in their last two games against the Canadiens and Canucks, respectively, were set to travel to Toronto after their hourlong practice Wednesday at the Lemieux Sports Complex and, Thursday night, they'll face the 6-1 Maple Leafs. And then the 2-2 Oilers in Edmonton, the 3-2 Flames in Calgary and followed by a rematch against the 4-2 Canucks.
And if the 2-1-2 Penguins are to find success or at least gain traction through their 10-day trip across Canada, it might be an American leading the way.
Jake Guentzel is tied with Phil Kessel for the team lead with four goals. Moreover, Guentzel has been the most consistent producer with his four goals spread out over five games. That's a playoff-like pace for the Omaha-born, Minnesota-raised forward, as he has proven himself to be a primetime player, scoring 23 goals in 37 career playoff games, including a 10 in 12 playoff contests last spring.
He seems to have carried that momentum into this fall.
"Just shooting the puck," Guentzel told DKPittsburghSports.com after Wednesday's practice. "I think sometimes you've got to ride it as much as you can. Goals just come your way sometimes, but shooting the puck is the best thing you can do."
He certainly hasn't been shy about letting it fly. His 15 shots and 26.7 shooting percentage are second-best on the Penguins. In Tuesday's loss to Vancouver, he had a two-on-one break with Sidney Crosby early in the first period. Instead of deferring to the best player of his generation, Guentzel took the shot, firing it under the arm of Vancouver's Anders Nilsson:
That goal came with Guentzel playing right wing on the top line with Derick Brassard on the left. Though it had been effective in creating a few chances, the line was not kept intact at Wednesday's practice, as Bryan Rust was bumped up to the right wing with Guentzel returning to the left.
Rust certainly knows how position changes go. He's been the Penguins' most versatile forward, moving from left wing to right and first line to fourth. The biggest adjustment, he says, is in the defensive zone and learning to be a little better on the backhand.
That shouldn't be too difficult for Guentzel, who says he worked extensively over the summer on his shot, forehand, backhand, tips, deflections and redirections.
"A lot of different ways to score," Guentzel said. "Just got to be around the net."
And being around the net has been his forte since coming into the NHL in November of 2016. When on top of his game, Guentzel goes to the high-scoring areas despite his smallish size.
It certainly hasn't hurt that he's played almost exclusively with Crosby, who remains a premiere playmaker. While Sullivan hasn't been shy about mixing and matching his lines, the only duos that have had any continuity are Guentzel with Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin with Kessel.
With Guentzel and Crosby it's sort of the chicken vs. egg argument, or as it's also known locally: Antonio Brown vs. Ben Roethlisberger. Who makes who better?
Rust says the answer is both. Look again at Tuesday's goal: It was unassisted.
"They both feed off each other well, and use each other to create success," Rust was saying. "The ability to have that give-and-take relationship, and have it be equal, definitely helps both of them."
Heading into Thursday night's showdown against Auston Matthews and Toronto, the key for Guentzel will be continuing to build off his strong start. For reasons even he can't fully explain, Guentzel has been -- at least to date -- just an average goal scorer in the regular season with 42 markers in 127 games. Like many natural goal-scorers, he's been prone to streaks and slumps.
For example, his best run last season was eight goals in nine games between Nov. 11 and Dec. 1. He then went 19 games with one goal. But it should be noted that 2017-18 was also his first full season the NHL.
The hope is that with age the 24-year-old is starting to find consistency in his game. That, Sullivan said, is just part of the natural maturation process.
"One of the biggest challenges is the grind of the schedule and the ability to bring it night in and night out, and there's going to be nights where you don't feel at your best and your body is sore and you still have to find a way to be effective and help our team win," the coach said. "I think Jake, especially, in this early part of the year, he's worked hard on his conditioning and he's working hard everyday on his daily habits to bring that element of consistency to his game."
• Jusso Riikola was the only player not on the ice for practice. Sullivan explained that it was a "maintenance day."
• Jack Johnson and Olli Maatta, who each played 49 seconds of power play time in Tuesday night's loss to the Canucks, manned the points on the second unit in practice. Riikola played 46 seconds on the man-advantage vs. Vancouver.
• Who will be in goal tomorrow night, Matt Murray or Casey DeSmith? Sullivan wasn't saying, of course. That won't be known until after Thursday's morning skate -- maybe not even then -- but he did allow that who the opponent is will weigh into his decision. "We do, but at the end of the day every team in the league is good, every game is hard and that's just the nature of the NHL," Sullivan said. "We believe in the group that we have."
• Sullivan mixed some things up Wednesday. Here were the lines and pairs:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Simon-Brassard-Hornqvist
Cullen-Sheahan-Sprong
Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Oleksiak
Johnson-Ruhwedel