TEMPE, Ariz. -- Stop me if you've heard this before: Hockey can be pretty weird. The script can be flipped pretty much instantaneously, and that goes for both ends of the spectrum.
That was the case for Jake Guentzel and the Penguins in their 4-1 victory over the Coyotes here at Mullett Arena on Sunday night.
Coming into Sunday night, Guentzel had gone eight games without a goal. Every single player who has spent time in the NHL has gone through stretches like that. Even the best scorers. More concerning than that eight-game streak, though, was that Guentzel hadn't scored a goal at 5-on-5 in 26 games.
As I uncovered in last week's Drive to the Net, Guentzel had been creating roughly the same number of chances and looks for himself as he had for most of his career despite the lack of goals. There were some subtleties in his shooting mechanics that I suspected were contributing to that lack of goals, but I figured it was only a matter of time before he started filling the net again.
Of course, just several days later he found the back of the net twice -- both coming at 5-on-5 -- in a span of about three minutes against the Coyotes.
With the Penguins trailing by a goal in the second period, Guentzel's first tally was a picture-perfect example of what to do when you really just need to bury one: Park your rear on the doorstep and wait for your opportunity to cash in.
Have a look:
While the Coyotes' attention locked onto Jan Rutta making a nice move around pressure, as well as Sidney Crosby working his way into the slot, Guentzel simply went to the backdoor and waited. It wasn't long before Crosby served him a pass on a gold platter that was quickly deposited into the gaping net.
It obviously served as a big goal for Guentzel to get back on the scoresheet, but it was just as big a goal for the team, as they came into the game losers of six straight and weren't exactly in the driver's seat against the Coyotes through the early stages.
Suddenly reborn, it wasn't long before Guentzel teamed up with Crosby and Bryan Rust for a pretty goal off the rush for his second of the night and 17th of the season. It gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead, and they never looked back.
The goal:
Guentzel gained the blue line and promptly dropped the puck off for Crosby as he cut right through the heart of the Coyotes' coverage on his way to the side of the net. Upon arrival, he quickly found the puck back at his feet, but Karel Vejmelka had come across to cover. Showing off his hockey IQ, Guentzel smartly pulled Vejmelka out of his crease by hanging onto the puck until there was net to shoot at.
Once the net opened up, Guentzel cashed in.
"It's a funny game like that," Guentzel said after the game. "You can get them in bunches. Nice to get the first one, great play by Sid. Then a nice play by Sid and Rusty on the second one."
Was there anything different about his game on Sunday than at various points throughout his slump?
"I just think it went in the net," Mike Sullivan would say. "Jake plays the game hard. He’s been fighting it a little bit, as you know, but we believe in him. He’s a real good player, he’s a great goal-scorer, and we felt it was a matter of time. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to score. When he doesn’t, he feels it more than anybody. The fact that he scored a couple times tonight should be a big boost of confidence for him."
Guentzel played 21:28, and during that time he attempted 10 shots, six of which were on goal, and four of which were high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick. This came after attempting 11 shots against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas Thursday night. Per historian Bob Grove, it was the first time Guentzel attempted 10 or more shots in consecutive games since Jan. 11-12, 2019, doing so on the road against the Ducks and Kings.
Now that his juices are flowing once again, it should come as no surprise at all if Guentzel continues getting back to his usual self over this upcoming stretch.
GETTY
Penguins players celebrate a 4-1 victory over the Coyotes Sunday night at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins definitely played a much more inspired first period than they did on Thursday in Las Vegas, but it wasn't until Guentzel scored his first goal in the second period that they really started to command the game.
"I was most encouraged by the third period," Sullivan said, "because I didn’t think we gave them much, and I thought we were playing on our toes."
Carrying a lead, the Penguins surrendered only three shots against in the third period while firing 12 of their own.
• Jason Zucker scored an absolutely filthy goal in the third period to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead and all but put the game out of the reach for the Coyotes. I broke it down in a Freeze Frame.
• Casey DeSmith did not have a stellar beginning to his temporary role as the team's new No. 1 in the crease, but he played a really solid game Sunday, stopping 23 of 24 Coyotes shots. Two of those saves that occurred in the same sequence really stood out to me. The Penguins had yet to even the score, and had he been beat here, the game likely would've unfolded much differently.
"This is one of Casey’s more solid games," Sullivan said. "We gave up a couple of really good looks in the second period, against our power play in particular. … Those are the timely saves that you need to win games, and he gave it to us tonight."
• The power play went 0-for-6, most notably failing to capitalize on a four-minute opportunity, as well as a 5-on-3 opportunity afterward. It seemed as though they just weren't looking to shoot enough, but Sullivan reassured me there were a couple of looks that could have wound up in the back of the net. He then shed some light on his coaching philosophy regarding the power play, and how to navigate stretches in which it just won't go.
"Todd (Reirden's) working with them, we're all working with them, trying to give them some insights," Sullivan said. "I thought they had some pretty good looks tonight. It didn't go in the net, but they had three or four real high-quality looks. Jake had one that he missed the net on that seam pass ..."
"Would've been his hat-trick goal," I said.
"That would've been great," Sullivan responded with a smirk. "He just missed. That was one. Geno had a backdoor chance. There were two or three real high-quality looks that they just didn't quite execute on. Usually if those guys get those types of looks, the puck's gonna go in the net."
OK, now it's time to get philosophical. It was very thoughtful on Sullivan's part.
"The power play, there's always a fine line," Sullivan said. "You don't want to over-coach it, because my experience has been, sometimes if you're not careful, you can get in the way of their instincts. These guys are elite players for a reason. They think the game way better than you and I do. And so, sometimes we try and stay out of their way a little bit."
• Crosby recently went four games in a row without a point. Naturally, he's followed it up with consecutive two-point games, recording a goal and three assists in that span. He's moved back into a tie for the second-most 5-on-5 points in the NHL this season with 30. I'll kindly remind you how ridiculous that is for a 35-year-old. Then again, we're talking about a top-five player of all-time here.
• He'll be fine, but Rickard Rakell's been somewhat quiet lately, at least compared to what he's brought to the table for most of the season. He hasn't scored in eight games, and in one of those games had his only zero-shot performance all year. He attempted just one shot Sunday.
• Jeff Carter made a really nice play at the end of the game to intercept a pass in the defensive zone before scoring an empty-netter for his seventh goal of the season:
• During 5-on-5 action Carter played fewer minutes (8:07) than everyone on the team not named Danton Heinen. Those minutes went surprisingly well, as the Penguins out-attempted the Coyotes, 9-1, with him out there en route to controlling 90.3% of the expected goals. He needs to be shifted to the wing when a viable No. 3 center option emerges, but a reduced load is a nice start.
• The Penguins' record now sits at 20-13-6. Their .590 points percentage ranks fifth in the Metropolitan Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference.
• "It was really fun," Zucker said of playing at Mullett Arena. "For me, coming from a college hockey background, it's really fun to play in some smaller buildings. It was a cool experience. It's an awesome crowd and it's fun to see."
• "Awesome," Guentzel responded when I asked how the Mullett Arena ice was. "It's one of the better ones that we've played on. It was great, the puck moved well. Overall a great experience."
• Thanks for reading and following along on this road trip. It was an incredible experience, and none of it would've been possible without all of you.
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DANNY SHIREY / DKPS
Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mullett Arena:
1. Jake Guentzel, Penguins LW
2. Sidney Crosby, Penguins C
3. Barrett Hayton, Coyotes C
THE INJURIES
• Jeff Petry remains on long-term injured reserve with an injury to his left arm/wrist. He has been skating with Ty Hennes, but has not re-joined the team for practice yet. He is eligible to be activated from LTIR at any time.
• Ryan Poehling has been dealing with a nagging upper-body injury and did not play. His status remains day-to-day.
• Josh Archibald and Tristan Jarry have been back in Pittsburgh rehabbing lower-body injuries. There's no timetable for their returns as of now.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Drew O'Connor - Teddy Blueger - Brock McGinn
Marcus Pettersson - Jan Rutta
Brian Dumoulin - Ty Smith
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel
And for André Tourigny's Coyotes:
Nick Schmaltz - Barrett Hayton - Clayton Keller
Lawson Crouse - Nick Bjugstad - Dylan Guenther
Nick Ritchie - Jack McBain - Christian Fischer
Travis Boyd - Zack Kassian
Shayne Gostisbehere - Jakob Chychrun
Patrik Nemeth - Troy Stetcher
Juuso Valimaki - J.J. Moser
Josh Brown
THE SCHEDULE
Monday is a travel day for the Penguins. They'll be back at it on Tuesday against the Canucks, 7:08 p.m., at PPG Paints Arena.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
