Sidney Crosby has his lethal backhander.

Evgeni Malkin owns a trident missile of a one-timer from the right circle.

Jaromir Jagr, now a spry 49 years old, probably could still score 20 goals with his signature wrister.

And Mario Lemieux? He was capable of finding offense by using just about every splinter in his stick.

As for Jake Guentzel, well, he is not quite in the same mesosphere as those icons, but he is one of the more accomplished scorers in franchise history. He owns a handful of the Penguins’ postseason scoring records, and his 134 regular-season goals is 20th all-time among the franchise’s career goal-scoring leaders.

But he doesn’t necessarily have a signature shot like those listed above.

Though, on Saturday, he might as well have filed for a trademark for putting a puck off a random Vancouver Canucks defender and seeing it deflect into the net.

“Obviously, some lucky ones go off (defensemen’s) skates or whatnot,” Guentzel said to media in Vancouver on Saturday. “Just kind of take them as they come.”

In recording his fourth career hat trick during a 4-1 road win against the Canucks, Guentzel found success after all three of his shots first made contact with an opponent wearing a blue jersey.

To be clear, all three goals made contact with a piece of equipment adorned by an opponent wearing a blue jersey, including the jersey itself.

Guentzel’s first goal came at 2:19 of the second period. After Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin boomed a one-timer from the left point, former Penguins forward Tanner Pearson blocked the shot from the high slot and caused it to deflect to the right circle. From there, Guentzel leaned down and swatted another one-timer that glanced off the left skate of Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and deflected past goaltender Thatcher Demko.

Guentzel’s second score was recorded on a five-on-three power play at 17:13 of the second. Off a feed from Crosby, Guentzel stroked a one-timer. This time, the puck struck off Ekman-Larsson’s stick and in.

Finally, during another five-on-three power play, Guentzel completed his hat trick at 18:23 of the second. Off another pass from Crosby, Guentzel, in the high slot, released an off-balance wrister that surged through the back of Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn’s jersey as if it were a plume of smoke and beat Demko’s blocker.

By the end of the night, Guentzel had four points and extended his scoring streak to 12 games.

All without the type of offensive acumen that manifests itself into a highlight that might get retweeted a few thousand times.

“He’s not a guy that jumps out at you with blazing speed,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters in Edmonton earlier last week. “He’s not an imposing presence physically. He’s just a hockey player. His hockey IQ might be his greatest strength. His competitiveness might be his second-greatest strength. For a guy that’s not as big or as strong as some of the other guys on the ice, he plays the game with so much courage in just his willingness to go to the hard areas to score.”

“He’s a really smart player, first of all,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said after Saturday’s game. “He knows where to put himself on the ice. For his size, he’s a guy that goes into the tough areas, traffic. He’s great in front of the net on our power play. He does everything really well. He’s a pure goal scorer. His shot is lethal every time he has the puck in a good area.”

That approach has made Guentzel’s the team’s top scorer with 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 23 games.

“Just the bounces are going my way, I think, right now,” Guentzel said. “You go through stretches where you don’t get these bounces.

“I’m just trying to be around the net and shoot as much as I can. You never know what happens.”

Follow the Penguins all season long.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)