Game 1 hero Jake Guentzel an out of nowhere star for the Penguins
PITTSBURGH — Penguins winger Jake Guentzel was such an unknown commodity that his own captain hardly knew who he was before the season began.
“I heard some of the scouts and some of the people who were involved in the (prospect) camps talking about him, but didn’t know a lot about him as a player,” Sidney Crosby said of the 22-year-old.
Now the one-time stick-boy for Phil Kessel and little-known prospect from an unlikely hockey outpost has become an out-of-nowhere star for the Penguins. His fourth game-winning goal of the playoffs, coming Monday against Nashville in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, equalled an NHL rookie record and pushed the Penguins closer to a second straight crown.
A former third-round pick, Guentzel joined the Penguins in November from the American Hockey League and scored twice in his first NHL game. He finished the year behind only Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine in goals and points per-game among rookies.