Guentzel's hat trick puts Blue Jackets on brink of elimination (Video)
In the playoffs, Jake Guentzel has more goals (4) than the Chicago Blackhawks (0)
The 21-year-old rookie earned a hat trick in a wild 5-4 overtime victory by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The win gives the Penguins a 3-0 series lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Cam Atkinson scored eleven seconds into the first period, blasting the roof off of Nationwide Arena. Guentzel answered three minutes later burying his of the contest from a weird angle and while on one foot.
Two minutes later, Cam Atkinson scored again. One minute after that, Zach Werenski’s power play goal gave the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead.
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Bryan Rust’s two goal second period drew the Penguins even.
Midway through the third period Brandon Dubinsky got a little overzealous with his cross-checking and Guentzel drew a call. While on the power play, Guentzel played the puck off the boards, and got his geometry on, banking the puck off the inside pad of Sergei Bobrovsky.
Brandon Dubinsky would make up for his earlier penalty by tying the game with under five minutes to go.
The two teams traded posts and missed opportunities throughout overtime. Marc-Andre Fleury even made a stop with his head.
With a little less than seven left on the clock in the first overtime, Sidney Crosby: Went. To. WERK.
In the trapezoid, where Crosby is consistently dangerous to make a play or score, the captain played keep away from Columbus. Crosby held the attention of the entire team, leaving Guentzel all alone up in front of Bobrovsky.
Crosby gets the puck to Guentzel so quickly, no one on the Blue Jackets, including Bobrovsky, have time to react.
It’s the first hat trick by Penguins rookie in the history of the franchise. Considering the rookies they’ve had, it’s amazing the 2013 third round draft pick was the first.
We can only imagine what the reaction of Guentzel’s family was like. When he scored his first NHL goal in November, his family reacted as if someone just handed them a gigantic check for one billion dollars.
The Penguins have the opportunity close out the series in Columbus on Tuesday.
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!
