The Pittsburgh Penguins need Jake Guentzel to get back on track in a certain area of the game.

The 2023-24 season is going to be important for the Pittsburgh Penguins as a whole, but also for one of their elite goal scorers in Jake Guentzel.

Heading into the final year of his contract with the Penguins, Guentzel is looking to rebound from a self-proclaimed lackluster season.

Guentzel wasn’t happy with his 2022-23 season, but he still led the team in goal scoring with 36.

Being the Penguins goals leader is nothing new for Guentzel; he’s led the team in goals in three of the last five seasons hitting 40 tallies twice.

In seven games so far this season, however, Guentzel has gotten off to a cold start.

Not from an overall production standpoint, Guentzel does have eight points in seven games and is a key feature on the Penguins first line, but something has been missing.

Of those eight total points, Guentzel has found the back of the net just once; an early third period goal against the Calgary Flames that would go on to be the game winner.

One goal in seven games is a stark contract to the start he had last year when he put up eight goals and 13 total points through 10 appearances.

The Penguins themselves have been slow off the blocks to start the season, as well, and maybe there’s a correlation between Guentzel’s lack of early goal scoring and some early losses.

Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Reilly Smith have been carrying much of the goal scoring load to start the year, but the Penguins have still been getting out-scored in certain areas and at crucial times.

The 4-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche put the Penguins back into a good spot overall, but they still need Guentzel to find that goal scoring spark.

Guentzel hasn’t been bad so far, he’s fighting for a new contract and has looked great, he’s just off to a cold start in one of his most important talents.

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