Hurricanes winger Jake Guentzel leaves Penguins’ ‘Sid’ for Canes’ ‘Fishy,’ forms new bond

The final scoresheet had Jake Guentzel with a goal and an assist.

Nothing new for Guentzel, a proven point producer in the NHL, except that the forward did it for the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time.

Guentzel’s goal Monday was a late empty-netter and the Canes’ last of the game. His assist came on a nice pass to Teuvo Teravainen for the Canes’ first of the game, a badly needed power-play goal after Carolina fell behind the New York Islanders 3-0 in Game 2 of their first-round series.

The Canes won at PNC Arena with a comeback for the ages, scoring the tying and go-ahead goals in a scintillating nine-second span late in the third period that had the arena at full tilt. They’ll go to Long Island with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after the pulsating 5-3 win in Game 2.

“The way we responded and came back shows a lot of character and tells a lot about this team,” Aho said.

The Hurricanes already had a lot of talent on this team before the NHL trade deadline in March. But they traded for Guentzel to have an impact in the playoffs, breaking the team’s unwritten rule — passed down from owner Tom Dundon — to avoid acquiring a player at the trade deadline due to become an unrestricted free agent. In other words, a “rental.”

Guentzel a perfect fit

Guentzel played for several years with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh and was a huge part of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup run in 2017, providing 13 goals in 25 games as a rookie. His trade to Carolina, after more than 500 games with the Pens, left Crosby visibly dejected.

“We sat next to each other, played together,” Crosby told the Pittsburgh media. “Obviously, when you win a Stanley Cup there’s always a unique bond when you do that together. Over the years, there’s definitely been a strong one there.”

Now, Guentzel shares a line with Aho at center.

Asked about similarities with Crosby, Guentzel smiled.

“Yeah, they’re both unbelievable playmakers,” he said. “Sebastian plays 200 feet and he’s so highly skilled. And he has a really good shot. It’s been fun to play alongside him, too.”

Guentzel has been the perfect fit with Aho and the Hurricanes. Again, perfect. His playing style and the Canes’ style immediately meshed.

“It’s kind of a new situation in a way to get a player like him at the trade deadline,” Aho said in an N&O interview last week. “With him, it’s pretty natural. He’s very smart. He fits in our system well. He plays the game the right way.

“I’m playing the game pretty much the same way as him, so the chemistry was kind of there right away. He seemed like he was very comfortable playing our game from day one. A smart guy like he is, he figured it out pretty quickly.”

Crosby could sense that, too, albeit now looking from afar.

“He’s got really good hockey sense and I think he can adjust to whatever game you want to play, whether it’s tight checking and you have to grind a little bit, or it’s up and down and you have to play a game off the rush,” Crosby said in Pittsburgh. “He can adjust to any style. Looks like he settled in nicely.”

‘It’s been pretty much fun’

Don Waddell was counting on that. The Canes’ president and general manager believed he had his team just right and primed for a Cup run after last year’s trade deadline. Then, power forward Andrei Svechnikov tore an ACL.

“It was a big loss last year,” Waddell said. “That’s one of those things when you talk about things you learn. We didn’t add a lot at the deadline and then lost ‘Svech’ to the injury.”

This year, Waddell made the major move for Guentzel just before the deadline while also taking a calculated chance on center Evgeny Kuznetsov, the former All-Star and Cup winner with Washington who was trying to overcome off-the-ice issues.

“We were looking to add to our team with impact players who have had success in the playoffs,” Waddell said.

In 58 career playoff games with the Penguins, Guentzel had 58 points. After Monday, he has two points in two games with Carolina. Make it 60 for 60.

Kuznetsov scored the first goal of the 2024 playoffs for the Canes – a power-play snipe in the 3-1 win in Game 1.

Aho, who players call “Fishy,” laughed when jokingly asked if Guentzel had made any reference or comment to him about being a lot like Crosby.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Aho said. “Sid is Sid. I don’t want to compare myself with him.

“It’s just with me and (Guentzel), we pretty much think the game the same, so it helps. It’s been quick. And it’s been pretty much fun.”