In Vancouver, Jake Guentzel had a hat trick and four points for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, in a 4-1 win over the Canucks.
“Bounces are going my way right now,” Guentzel said. “You go through stretches where you don’t get these bounces and for me, I’m just trying to shoot the puck as much as I can, and if it goes in or creates rebounds I’m just trying to be around the net and shoot as much as I can, and you never know what happens.”
Tristan Jarry made 22 saves in the Pens win.
“I just think he has a certain hockey IQ,” Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said of Guentzel. “He has a unique ability to find the soft spots, and when he plays with a guy like Sid, he usually gets the puck. But he gets there at the right time and I think that’s the genius of Jake’s game, and I also think that’s why Jake and Sid have been so complimentary in all the time they’ve been playing together. They think the game on a similar level, which is an elite level.”
Vasily Podkolzin scored the lone goal for Vancouver.
“When you lose, it’s hard,” coach Travis Green said. “Fans get frustrated. We get frustrated too. Our players, they’re mad when they lose, coaches are upset when they lose as well.”
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two points in the win.
The Penguins improved to 11-8-5.
“For some reason I like playing on the road,” Guentzel said. “It’s just a good challenge and obviously some lucky ones, so take them as they come.”
The Canucks dropped to 8-15-2.
“Obviously we ran into some penalty trouble there in the second,” Vancouver’s Bo Horvat said. “And it’s tough to play catch-up against that team.”
Thatcher Demko made 40 saves in the Vancouver loss. The Canucks dropped to 8-15-2.
“The only way to get past this is to get through it,” Canucks forward Tyler Motte said. “We’ve got to continue to look ourselves in the mirror and find a way to be better because we owe it to more people than ourselves.”
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