The Pittsburgh Penguins employ Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel, but apparently the key to beating them is to stop Jake Guentzel.
Guentzel was at it again Saturday, opening the scoring in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final and quieting - briefly - the raucous crowd in Nashville.
The goal - which came before the first period was three minutes old - was Guentzel's 13th of the postseason, good for tops among all goal-scorers (with no other player even in double digits). It also puts him one tally away from tying Dino Ciccarelli's rookie playoff record of 14 (and one point away from tying Ciccarelli's and Ville Leino's rookie playoff points record of 21).
There's more: Guentzel's goal was his 50th of the season when taking into account his 21 goals in the AHL, 16 in the NHL regular season with Pittsburgh, and 13 in the postseason. And he's done it in only 95 games. Yeah.
There's more, still:
Jake Guentzel: first with goal in first three games of a #StanleyCup Final since Red Wings’ Steve Yzerman, 1997 vs Flyers (via @EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/OvQwzNL27P
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 4, 2017
Guentzel has four goals in the series. The Predators have four goals in the series.
It's becoming increasingly likely that the 22-year-old from Omaha, Neb., may win the Conn Smythe Trophy. You can't make that stuff up.
Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.