Jake Guentzel Plays 100th Game With Lightning

Last week, Jake Guentzel skated in his 100th game as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s been a winding road for him to get here — traded first from Pittsburgh to Carolina, then moved again 28 games later (17 regular season games, 11 playoff games), after the Hurricanes’ season was ended in the Conference Finals by the Florida Panthers for the second time in three years.

Since joining the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s found a team that feels like an almost perfect fit. His IQ, patience, and timing have sparked the Lightning offense in ways that were obvious almost from his first shift.

Guentzel’s chemistry with his new teammates didn’t take long to show. He slides into scoring pockets, keeps plays alive and sees the next pass before it develops. It’s the kind of hockey sense that rubs off on a whole roster — and the kind that comes from years beside Sidney Crosby.

Still, it’s important to remember that Guentzel didn’t simply inherit his greatness from Sid. He arrived in Pittsburgh as a mature, driven player, and his breakout role in the Penguins’ 2017 Stanley Cup win showed that he was built for big moments long before he came to Tampa.

A New Dimension to Tampa Bay’s Offense

With Guentzel in the lineup, the Lightning look different — more dynamic, more patient, and more willing to attack the high-percentage areas of the ice. He doesn’t overpower teams; he outsmarts them. He moves defenders out of space, draws coverage to the wrong lane, and threads pucks to open teammates in spots that shouldn’t exist. On the power play or at five-on-five, the common thread is the same: movement, spacing, and giving the puck to the open man.

His first full season in Tampa Bay showed the organization and its fanbase everything they had hoped to see. Guentzel hit 80 points in 80 games, scoring 41 goals and proving he could help carry the scoring load without sacrificing playmaking.

Through his first 100 games as a Bolt, he has put up 101 points — 53 goals, 48 assists, and a +18 rating. For a player of his size, he handles every situation: top-line minutes, special teams, defensive-zone matchups, anything the coaching staff throws at him.

Back to Back Dramatic Games for the Bolts

A season and 20 games into his Lightning career, he already has three hat tricks. His most recent came in his 99th game as a Bolt on Nov. 18, in a 5-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. The moment was partially overshadowed by two of the league’s brightest young stars, Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, both scoring their own hat tricks on the same night. Even wilder, it was the second hat trick of the season for both rookies, making them the only players in the league to reach that mark at the time.