PensBurgh · May 30, 2021
Jake Guentzel, the playoffs, and what went wrong
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images During his first two years in the NHL Jake Guentzel scored 23 goals in his first 37 playoff games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
That is a lot.
That included a league-best 13 goals for a team that won its second straight Stanley Cup, and then 10 goals (and 21 total points!) in only 12 games the following postseason.
Almost all of those goals came at even-strength.
He had a shorthanded goal.
He had two hat tricks, a four-goal game in an elimination game, and seven game-winning goals (including an overtime goal!). There was no doubt as to whether or not he could perform in the big moments, or if he was a “playoff player.”