There are quite a few reasons that Jake Guentzel shouldn't be one of the NHL's most consistent goal-scorers.
They seem like pretty good ones, too.
He isn't physically imposing.
He isn't particularly fast.
He isn't blessed with an overpowering shot.
All of that is noteworthy; none of it is enough to offset the qualities that have allowed Guentzel to become a reliable goal-producer.
Not when he complements his talent with exceptional instincts and intangibles.
"His competitive spirit and his hockey sense are his greatest attributes," Mike Sullivan said after the Penguins' 3-2 shootout loss to the Red Wings Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. "He just has real good hockey sense. He's a hockey player."
Guentzel scored both of the Penguins' goals against Detroit, giving him a team-leading four multiple-goal games this season.
That pair also pushed his 38-game total to 23, which is a 50-goal pace when projected over 82 games.
Predictably enough, Sidney Crosby was his primary collaborator on both goals.
Guentzel scored his first during a power play at 5:54 of the second period, collecting the rebound of a Crosby shot from the right point after it caromed off Evgeni Malkin and sweeping the puck past Detroit goalie Calvin Pickard:
He and Crosby teamed up again 27 seconds into the third, when Crosby, who was along the left-wing boards, threw a pass to Guentzel at the hash marks, from where he buried another shot behind Pickard:
"He knows how to get to the right areas," Sullivan said. "And Sid gets him the puck a lot of times when he gets to the areas."
Crosby has long been one of hockey's most accomplished set-up men, and no one benefits from that more than Guentzel.
"You know he's going to find you, wherever you are," Guentzel said. "I just have to be ready for it. He can find you at different times. I'm just trying to get open in the soft areas. He's just a world-class passer."
Guentzel is 5 foot 11, 180 pounds, or roughly the same size as Brian Boyle's left leg.
But even though his physique isn't ideal for operating around the net, where Guentzel spends so much time and does so much damage, his fearlessness is. Couple that with Guentzel's instinctive ability to locate the vulnerable spots in an opposing defense, and trying to neutralize him becomes a daunting challenge.
"He's really good at using his body, even though it isn't the biggest," Mike Matheson said. "At the end of the day, if a guy gets body position on me in front of the net, it's hard to move him, regardless of how big he is. I think he's really good at that. He's really good at finding the puck on his stick, whether it's for tips or getting open. He kind of just has that knack for knowing when to push off the defenseman and create a bit of separation for himself, and that's hard to play against, as a defenseman."
The area around the net isn't as dangerous as it was in the days when defensemen were free to emboss opposing forwards' spines with the name of their stick manufacturer, but it still is pretty hostile territory. That doesn't deter Guentzel, though.
"He's not scared to go to the net-front," Casey DeSmith said. "He got both of his goals (against Detroit) from directly in the slot. He gets a lot of his goals like that, whether it's rebounds or tips. He's just a guy who's willing to pay the price to go to the dirty areas and get sticks on pucks."
And put pucks in nets, which he does about as well as anyone in the game.
No matter how large or fast they might happen to be.
