Jake Guentzel is fresh off his first regular season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a campaign that ended as one of the best in franchise history by a player in their first season with the team.
Only three games into his first playoff run with the Lightning, the 30-year-old forward continues to produce. As he has for his entire career, Guentzel is once again showing his extra postseason gear which was part of the reason Tampa Bay was eager to sign him to a seven-year contract last summer.
Guentzel finished with a goal and two assists in the team’s 5-1 Game 3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday, earning the primary assist on the game-tying goal late in the first period before also flashing his hockey senses to score the 3-1 goal that added a cushion for Tampa Bay 21 seconds into the third period.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper commended Guentzel’s hockey IQ and ferocity during his postgame media scrum on Saturday.
“He’s a big-time player. You don’t have to be 6-foot-4 and 220 (lbs.) to be a star player in this league, and he proves it,” Cooper said of Guentzel. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the size of your physical stature, but it’s the way you think the game and the size of your heart. It can take you a long way.”
Guentzel has continuously played his best hockey when it matters most across his NHL career. He scored 13 goals during his first Stanley Cup Playoffs experience as a rookie in 2017, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup.
Guentzel now has 40 goals across 72 career playoff games, an average of 0.56 goals per game. That ties him with Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl for the seventh-highest goals-per-game average in NHL history, trailing only Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (0.57) and five Hockey Hall of Famers.
Mario Lemieux tops the list, as he averaged 0.71 goals per game across his 107 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Guentzel’s goal on Saturday was his 40th career playoff goal, third-most among active U.S.-born players in the NHL behind only Patrick Kane (51) and Chris Kreider (48).
“He’s a gamer,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said of Guentzel. “We’ve obviously played against him a bunch and seen it in the postseason as well when we played against him. He rises to the occasion in the big games, and yesterday was just another example of what he can do…He’s been a huge addition for us and a tremendous guy to be around and an absolute gamer on the ice.”
Guentzel slipped the puck through Florida’s Sam Reinhart in the high slot late in the first period on Saturday before firing a shot on net. The puck hit Brayden Point before beating Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game with 2:45 remaining in the period.
Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli on Sunday also used the word “gamer” to describe Guentzel.
“Just the way he plays and his willingness to do whatever it takes. It seems like the bigger the game, the better he plays,” Cirelli said.
Cirelli also noted Guentzel’s ability to find open ice, just as the latter did for the 3-1 goal on Saturday.
Guentzel snuck to the left post to bury a backhand pass from Nikita Kucherov 21 seconds into the third period, providing some breathing room for the Lightning at Amerant Bank Arena during 4-on-4 hockey.
“He’s just so good at finding those areas and he’s a guy that goes to the net, he’s in the right spots. He’s a gamer. He’s been there, he’s done that,” Cirelli said. "He knows what it takes, and he does it just shift after shift.”
Guentzel co-leads the Lightning in playoff scoring (Kucherov) this season with four points, and his 11 shots on goal also lead the team.
With Tampa Bay aiming to even their First Round series on Monday, Guentzel remains central to the push. That bodes well for the team during Guentzel’s favorite time of the year.
“There’s really nothing better than the Stanley Cup Playoffs and being able to play in them,” Guentzel said. “You can’t take it for granted, and I think if you don’t get up for these games there’s something wrong with you.”
“It’s just the best time of year to play.”
