Crosby likes being reunited with Guentzel on Penguins' top line

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Sidney Crosby said he enjoyed being reunited with Jake Guentzel when the Pittsburgh Penguins opened training camp in Phase 3 of the NHL Return to Play Plan on Monday.

Crosby played center on a line with Guentzel at left wing and Conor Sheary at right wing, a line Pittsburgh used when it won the Stanley Cup in 2017. The Penguins likely will use that line again when they face the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of a best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifier series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Aug. 1.

"We're pretty familiar with each other," Crosby said. "We had a chance to skate in those small groups [in Phase 2] for a while, so we should be familiar. We had some fun together. We tried to prepare as best we could, but at the same time, we had a short period of time here to get ready. So hopefully that'll help moving forward."

Pittsburgh was 40-23-6 (.623 points percentage) in the regular season and will enter the Qualifiers as the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference against the No. 12 seed Canadiens (31-31-9, .500) in one of eight best-of-5 series. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Aug. 10.

Crosby and Guentzel have not played together since Nov. 9 in Crosby's last game before he had core muscle surgery Nov. 14.

By the time Crosby returned with four points (one goal, three assists) in a 7-3 win against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 14, Guentzel had missed six games after having shoulder surgery Dec. 31. Guentzel, estimated to need 4-6 months to recover, was sidelined the rest of the regular season before it was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

The pause gave Guentzel enough time to heal and participate in limited voluntary workouts as part of Phase 2 and training camp. Before the surgery, he was named to the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game with 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists) in 39 games.

After Crosby's surgery, Guentzel played left wing with center Evgeni Malkin. Guentzel had 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 22 games without Crosby, but coach Mike Sullivan decided to put those two back together and move left wing Jason Zucker to the second line with Malkin and right wing Bryan Rust on Monday.

"Jake's worked extremely hard to get himself to this point, and he looks really strong," Sullivan said. "We're excited to get him back in the lineup for obvious reasons. The reason we put him with Crosby is because we think they have a certain chemistry that has been really productive for us for quite some time."

Crosby said he has been impressed by Guentzel since each returned to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago.

"It always takes a little bit of time, but he's looked really good in the skates," Crosby said. "He looks really comfortable, strong. I think the fact that he has been able to skate for a good chunk of time here will definitely help, but he looks really good. For somebody who had as much of a layoff as he did, I think he's done a great job of rehabbing and making sure that he's ready to go."

With Guentzel back, Crosby said he thinks the Penguins have a good chance to win the Stanley Cup for a third time in five seasons.

"You have a career, or a short window in your career, to be able to [win the Cup]," Crosby said. "Anytime you get an opportunity to play, play for the Stanley Cup, you want to try to take advantage of it. It's not easy, but certainly, it's a great feeling. We've felt it before and we know what it takes. We've got a great opportunity. I think that's your goal every year and we're in a position to compete for it. We have to find a way to get it done."