Guentzel, 'recharged' by All-Star fun, takes No. 2 in accuracy shooting

LAS VEGAS -- Tristan Jarry said that he was "kind of bummed" when the initial All-Star Game rosters came out last month.

He was happy to be a two-time All-Star, of course.

He just thought there was a notable omission on the list -- Jake Guentzel.

The oversight was rectified when Guentzel earned his way onto the Metropolitan Division team via the "Last Men In" fan vote.

"I really wanted Jake to come," Jarry told me on Friday.

Guentzel's inclusion in the All-Star Weekend is certainly merited. 

Guentzel's 23 goals at the time of the All-Star break lead the Penguins and are tied for 10th in the league, and his 46 points rank first on the team and 19th in the league.

Had he not missed time due to injury in December or COVID at the start of the season he'd be on pace for a 47-goal, 94-point season in 82 games.

He should have been an All-Star in 2020, when he was named to the roster then suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season that same day. 

Guentzel said Friday that when he was walking around the city and seeing all the All-Star Game signs around town, that's when it set in that he's an All-Star.

Guentzel was selected to participate in the accuracy shooting challenge in Friday's skills competition, and he said that his mindset going into it was to "just have fun, whatever happens, happens."

Guentzel came just shy of winning the event. He hit his four targets in just five attempts, earning a time of 12.017. Only Carolina's Sebastian Aho bested him in the event with a time of 10.937.

"He did awesome," Jarry said of Guentzel afterward. "I think he only missed one, but it was high-glove, so."

Guentzel said that he didn't prepare specifically for the accuracy shooting -- "No prep, just go in. You kind of wing it." -- but that doesn't mean that he wasn't preparing for this in a way all season.

Guentzel has attempted 83 high-danger shots this season, which come from the area of the ice just out to the middle of the slot, about where the accuracy shooting takes place. Most of his wrist shots or snap shots come from that area of the ice, and he tends to finish on them too. This heat map from HockeyViz shows the areas from which Guentzel takes wrist or snap shots this season, with blue showing the likelihood he is to score from that area relative to the rest of the league. The darker the blue, the more likely he is to score from there:

"For me, it's just making sure I'm getting my shot off as fast as I can," he said of his success from those areas this season.

Guentzel's smile stayed on his face almost the entire time he was speaking with the media after the skills competition, and spoke about how it was just nice to have this mid-season break to get away from the game and have fun for a few days. 

He thinks it'll give him a boost for the remainder of the season, too.

"I think it just recharges us and gives us new battery for the second half," he said of being at the All-Star Game. "This comes at a right time and we're excited for the second half. This is a good spot to refresh and recharge and go back at it."

MORE FROM THE EVENTS:

• The skills competition is mostly about having fun, and it really was. You could tell how much of a good time the players were having. Jarry summed up the atmosphere best at the end of the night.

"It's fun, there's hot dogs in the room," he said. "It's kind of like pond hockey out here. So it's lots of fun."

The delivery of the line was hilarious. I don't think he was trying to be funny, but he did stop and laugh after he realized how funny it sounded. Guentzel needed some time to compose himself:

UPDATE: The Penguins shared this video Saturday morning of one of the members of the PR staff giving a challenge to use certain words in their postgame, which makes this even more funny:

• The fastest skater competition was up first. Connor McDavid went into this with the opportunity to win his fourth fastest skater title and surpass Mike Gartner for the most of those titles in league history, but he fell short. Blues forward and first-time All-Star Jordan Kyrou won with a time of 13.550 seconds, and McDavid placed fourth with a time of 13.690. Evgeny Kuznetsov came in last with a time of 14.599.

• The save streak was the next event. The way it works is each division has two goaltenders competing on either side at the same time, and the streak is the combined streak between the two of them. Toronto's Jack Campbell and Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy won it for the Atlantid Division with a top streak of nine saves. Tristan Jarry and Carolina's Frederik Andersen came in last with a top streak of two.

• The third event was a new one unique to this year, the Fountain Face-Off. Players were put on a boat and taken out to the middle of the Bellagio Fountains and had to hit five targets in the quickest amount of time. The top two finishers moved onto a head-to-head final. Nashville's Roman Josi (11.855) and Columbus' Zach Werenski (15.163) made it to the final round, then Werenski won it by a margin of over 20 seconds in the final round. Retired Team USA forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, who scored the gold-medal winning shootout goal in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, was a guest in the event and nearly made it to the final with a time of 16.253.

• Only four shooters participated in the hardest shot, and Victor Hedman won with a speed of 103.2 miles per hour.

• Remember when the breakaway challenge used to be strictly a trick shot competition? The breakaway challenge returned to the skills competition for the first time since 2016, and it was completely prop/costume-based in this one, with some skill and trick shots being mixed in. I know some fans thought it was corny, but I thought it was great in person. It was a lot of fun, and that's the whole point. The goaltenders were Manon Rheaume (the first woman to ever play in an NHL preseason game when she did so with Tampa in 1992 and 1993) and actor Wyatt Russell (who played the antagonist in the sequel to Goon and previously played goalie at the University of Alabama Huntsville).

You can watch the full thing below:

The highlight was Anaheim's Trevor Zegras, who isn't even an All-Star but was brought in by the NHL just to participate in the skills competition. His attempt (at 3:10 in the video above) was unreal, dressing up like a character from the movie Dodgeball, coming in blindfolded while mascots threw dodgeballs at him, and he still had such an impressive move. He said afterward that he was "devastatingly scared" during the attempt because he legitimately couldn't see a thing.

Guentzel, for what it's worth, told me Zegras' attempt was his favorite of the bunch.

Just from listening to Zegras talk, he's such an interesting player, he shows more personality than a lot of other players. His vibe is so unique, he calls most everyone "dude," even his coaches. And he's incredibly skilled, scoring not only a Michigan goal this season but a Michigan assist from behind the net too. If he were in bigger market than Anaheim he'd probably be one of the most popular players in the league. 

• The "21 in '22" event was the second outdoor event unique to this year, it's essentially blackjack combined with accuracy shooting. I thought it was an interesting concept, but it kind of dragged a little in practice:

• Accuracy shooting was the final event, with Guentzel's time of 12.017 coming just shy of Carolina's Sebastian Aho's 10.937 for first place. Guentzel hit all four targets in just five shots. Lamoureux-Davidson and Deryk Engelland served as passers for the event.

• The full results for each player in each event can be found here.

• Players each picked a song to play during their skills event. Guentzel, naturally, chose "Milkshake" by Kelis, because of his Jake's Shake promotion with The Milkshake Factory. Jarry chose Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa.

• Tom Wilson was booed constantly throughout the event, from the pregame introductions, his shots in the save streak contest, and his hardest shot attempt. He seemed to love it, and smiled and waved on the videoboard when he got booed. I saw some suggest that the treatment was just Vegas fans upset over the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, but Kuznetsov didn't get booed at all. This was just about Wilson.

• Most of the league's mascots were here. I don't know where the Hurricanes' pig Stormy was. I heard the Capitals' eagle Slapshot was in COVID protocol. Gritty normally has secret service/handlers following around, but they weren't with him here so he went rogue. I saw him challenge a Sharks fan to a fist fight, steal a mans hat, and then twerk on the glass all in a matter of about 30 seconds. He's the best thing to ever come out of Philadelphia. 

• I checked in with Jordan Eberle to ask about what it's been like having Brandon Tanev as his teammate in Seattle.

"Turbo is a lot of energy," he said with a smile. "I mean, he brings a lot of energy on and off the ice. I think the fans respect the way he plays and I love watching him go out there and hit, score goals and just bring energy. He's definitely a guy we miss in our lineup this year. Fans and people see the stuff he brings on the ice, but off the ice is where he creates a lot of energy and a lot of laughs."

• I also spoke with Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin about his former teammate Evan Rodrigues, and Dahlin seemed genuinely happy to see Rodrigues have the success he's had this year, as long as it's not against Buffalo.

"E-Rod, he's having a great run," Dahlin said. "He deserves it for sure, he's a very hard-working guy too. I didn't like the game he had against us and he scored a couple, he was having a great night. But I'm super happy for him and for his family too. I really want him to keep going."

• Gary Bettman spoke before the skills competition. You'd think that when he has ample time to prepare to respond to a question he knows is coming, he'd be able to avoid sticking his foot in his mouth. More on that here.

• There was a Penguins fan in front of the press box in a Brent Johnson jersey. The picture I tweeted of it drew rave reviews: