By Don Brennan
April 22, 2018
Jake Guentzel #59 of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores his fouth goal of the game against Michal Neuvirth #30 of the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wells Fargo Center on April 22, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Penguins defeated the Flyers 8-5 to win the series 4-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
When the defending Stanley Cup champions opened the playoffs with a 7-0 victory, it looked like they might sweep the Philadelphia Flyers right out the door.
The four straight, instead, turned out to be the number of goals scored by Jake Guentzel that lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a come-from-behind victory in a series that lasted six.
The Penguins will now face the winner of Washington-Columbus series that Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella guarantees will go the distance. The Capitals are up 3-2 with Game 6 in Columbus on Monday.
Guentzel’s outburst at Wells Fargo Center ranks up there with the great individual performances in not just the Penguins illustrious playoff history, but that of any team.
He is now one of only four players in NHL history to score a natural hat trick in a series-clinching game, joining Geoff Courtnall (1992),Tim Kerr (1985) and Reggie Leach (1976). He is also one of just three to score four consecutive goals in a playoff game, the others being Kerr (in that ’85 game) and Newsy Lalonde (1919). Only six other players have scored at least four goals in series clincher.
Along with all that, Guentzel reached down and saved the Penguins from having to play a Game 7 against a Flyers team that would have had all the momentum.
The Flyers were up 4-2 and seemingly in control when Patric Hornqvist started the rally at 13:35 of the second period, with assists from Guentzel and Sidney Crosby.
Then came Guentzel’s scoring spree.
First he deflected a point shot 54 seconds before the intermission to tie the score at 4-4. Then he finished off a 2-on-1 setup by Phil Kessel30 seconds into the third to give the Penguins a lead they would not relinquish.
He then provided the padding with a pair of goals 10 seconds apart in the 12th minute.
Guentzel, who has 38 regular-season goals in 122 games, has exactly half that number in 31 playoff matches. Only Mario Lemieux scored more (25) in his first 31 games of post-season play. Evgeni Malkin had 14 and Crosby had 13 in theirs.
Now known as clutch, Guentzel, 23, wasn’t even a full-time NHLer until midway through last season.
After being recalled by the Penguins, he found almost immediate chemistry with Crosby. He scored 16 goals in the final 42 regular-season season games, then exploded with nine goals and five assists to lead the playoff scoring race through two rounds.
Before the Eastern Conference final against the Senators, I asked Guentzel if he noticed a big change with the way the game was played at this time of year.
“Yeah,” he said, “there’s so much more tension. The crowd plays a big part in it. It’s different.”
Other young players might be a little intimidated playing in front of the maniacal Philly fans with their team facing elimination. Guentzel was so rattled he racked up five points.
Last spring he finished the playoffs with 13 goals and 21 points, and was a Conn Smythe candidate before the award went to Crosby. Today, Guentzel and Crosby are tied for the playoff scoring lead with six goals and 13 points.
And right now, at least, it looks like they’ll both be candidates again.
STARTS AND STOPS
Guentzel spoiled a heroic performance by Flyers centre Sean Couturier, who scored three goals and had two assists while playing with a torn MCL. Guentzel and Couturier became the first opposing players to pick up five points in the same playoff game … Flyers fans were livid that Guentzel was allowed to score the goal that put Pittsburgh up 6-4, and they had every right to be. Kris Letang should have been called for tripping Couturier along the boards only a couple of seconds earlier. Guessing on reasons why he wasn’t — Letang had just stepped out of the box and the refs didn’t want to give him two penalties, and Couturier appear to embellish his fall a bit. I didn’t say they were good reasons … Goalie Matt Murray is 10-1 in playoff games following a Penguins loss, but he wasn’t very good on Sunday. In fact, coach Mike Sullivan looked like he was about to replace Murray with Casey DeSmith after the Flyers went up 4-2 and might have had the Penguins not scored a little more than a minute later.
BETWEEN PERIODS
The Penguins were without Malkin, who suffered an unspecified injury in Game 5. This being the playoffs, there’s no indication when or if he’ll be back … The Penguins have now won nine consecutive playoff series, but they still have a long way to go for the record. Denis Potvin and the New York Islanders won 19 in a row from 1980-84 … Philadelphia’s best defenceman, Ivan Provorov, should not have been playing with the shoulder injury he suffered at the end of Game 5. He was a giveaway machine on Sunday, finishing the afternoon with a minus-4 rating that might have actually been flattering. Knowing he hurt the team, Provorov was in tears on the bench as the clocked ticked down … Remember the Sign Man at the old Spectrum? His legacy lived on with a placard held by one Philly fan Sunday: “Lets Take This Outside. To Broad Street.”
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Delivering the biggest hit in the most physical game of the series was Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who absolutely demolished Carl Haglin the shift after he was crosschecked in the back by Letang without a penalty being called. Haglin was bloodied by the clean check when he banged his head off the ice and did not return. Seeing his teammate go down, Kessel played the role of enforcer and tried to send a message to Giroux, taking two in the process. Later, Guentzel said it was “a big play by him,” because teams that win after one teammate sticks up for another always say that sort of thing … Working between the benches, analyst Greg Millen felt the wrath of the Philly fans after Bryan Rust‘s empty-netter completed the scoring. “I’m getting a beer shower down here,” said Millen … Of the three Calder Trophy candidates revealed Sunday, only one of the names was on my ballot. Matthew Barzal deserves the award, with 63 assists and 85 points for the Islanders, but I passed on Brock Boeser, who had 29 goals but only played 62 games. And I liked Tampa’s Yanni Gourde (25 goals, 64 points, plus-34) and Winnipeg’sKyle Connor (30 goals) better than Clayton Keller.
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