GAME RECAP: Penguins at Senators (01.20.23) | Guentzel Reaches 20 Goal Mark

The Penguins were looking to end their home-and-home series with the Ottawa Senators on a more positive note than the first matchup. Prior to the contest, the Penguins announced some injury updates: Tristan Jarry and Jeff Petry returned to the lineup, while Kris Letang was placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to December 28, and Jan Rutta was placed on injured reserve retroactive to January 14. This game marked the first time that brothers P.O and Mathieu Joseph would square off against each other at the NHL level. While Rickard Rakell extended his point streak to four games (3G-3A) with the game’s opening tally on the man-advantage just over midway through the 1st period. Petry earned an assist on Rakell’s goal in his return to the lineup. Only 43 seconds after Rakell’s tally, Jason Zucker took the puck away behind Ottawa’s net and tucked it in backhand up high behind Senators netminder Cam Talbot, making it 2-0 in favor of the home team. In the 2nd period, Jake Guentzel received a pass from Bryan Rust and put it top-shelf behind Talbot, extending Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-0. Brady Tkachuk had an answer, though, and with 65 seconds to play in the middle frame, got a puck past Tristan Jarry. In the final 20 minutes, Sidney Crosby sent a pass to Guentzel, who tried to go back to the captain—but instead, the puck ended up in the net. This was Guentzel’s 20th tally of the season, and the sixth season in a row in which he has lit the lamp at least 20 times. Per Penguins PR, Guentzel became the eighth player in Penguins history to record six 20-goal seasons, joining Sidney Crosby (15), Evgeni Malkin (13), Mario Lemieux (12), Jaromir Jagr (11), Rick Kehoe (9), Jean Pronovost (9) and Ron Francis (6). In his return to game action, Tristan Jarry turned aside a whopping 44 of 45 shots.

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