PITTSBURGH _ On Sunday, Jake Guentzel looked like a healthy scratch, the odd man out with Patric Hornqvist seemingly ready to return from an upper-body injury.
On Tuesday, Guentzel was a feel-good story after scoring the winning goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
By Wednesday night, Guentzel emerged as the clear-cut favorite for the Conn Smythe Trophy, the result of his two-goal effort in the Penguins' 4-1 win against the Predators at PPG Paints Arena.
Guentzel, who has produced 12 goals in 21 postseason games, scored the Penguins' first two goals of the game, both on rebounds, before Scott Wilson and Evgeni Malkin scored 15 seconds apart to turn this one into a rout.
The Penguins have a 2-0 series lead, as it shifts to Nashville for Game 3 on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
The offensive effort by Guentzel made up for a tough night on the power play. The group failed to score on six chances, mustering just two shots on goal in 10:58.
How ridiculous has Guentzel's postseason been?
Figure, only one rookie _ Dino Ciccarelli in 1980-81 _ has produced more goals; he had 14.
Guentzel has five game-winning goals.
His goal and point (19) totals are the most ever for an American-born rookie.
His five game-winning goals are more than all of the Penguins' rookies since the start of the 2000 playoffs have produced _ combined.
Guentzel scored on a long, juicy rebound of a Bryan Rust shot just 10 seconds into third period, the quickest goal to start a period in Penguins playoff history.
Among Penguins players, Guentzel is easily the quietest. Sometimes his answers don't take 10 seconds. But that could be a good thing.
Faced with a possible benching, Guentzel pressed on. Frustration may have been inevitable, but it was never apparent. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan and Guentzel had several conversations about the amount of hockey the kid has played, all positive, all with a go-out-and-get-'em sort of ending.
The Penguins were happy Monday in Game 1 with how they played defensively against Nashville. That optimism probably will not continue after Wednesday's effort.
Nashville threw 32 shots on Matt Murray in the first two periods and had out-attempted the Penguins, 53-32, during the opening 40 minutes. In the second, Murray made a couple of crucial saves _ on Filip Forsberg when he kept on a two-on-one and a Roman Josi blast from the point.
A few actual blasts marked the rest of the period.
Cody McLeod barreled into Murray, but it turned out he and Trevor Daley actually clicked skates. Matt Cullen shouldered into Mattias Ekholm after Ekholm took a couple of extra whacks at Cullen. Sidney Crosby delivered a hard hit on Yannick Weber.
Murray had another strong playoff performance at home. Entering this one 4-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage these playoffs, Murray stopped 37 of 38, bailing the Penguins out whenever their defense struggled.
The teams traded goals and dirty hits in the first period, with Matt Irwin beginning the festivities by boarding Cullen at 5:18. Nothing was called, but Irwin delivered the hit while staring at Cullen's numbers, then took an extra whack with his stick while Cullen remained on the ice.
Nick Bonino, after blocking a P.K. Subban shot with his left ankle in the first period, appeared to be injured but returned for the start of the second period.
Perhaps as retaliation for the Cullen hit or perhaps in response to Subban clubbing Crosby during an earlier sequence, Chris Kunitz picked up two minutes for cross-checking Subban's head into the boards at 9:36.
The game stayed scoreless until 12:53, when Predators rookie Pontus Aberg torched Olli Maatta on a rush up the left wing and waited an extra beat before lifting a puck over Murray's glove.
The Penguins tied the game at 1 on Guentzel's 11th goal of the playoffs at 16:36. Four seconds after a penalty on Josi _ he cross-checked Conor Sheary four times _ expired, Guentzel backhanded the rebound from Sheary's shot past Rinne.
In the third period, after Guentzel pushed the Penguins ahead, 2-1, Scott Wilson converted a feed from Phil Kessel, and Malkin kept it going, scoring on a determined rush for a 4-1 Penguins edge at 3:28 into the period.
After the Malkin goal, Predators coach Peter Laviolette turned to backup Juuse Saros, another dreadful performance for Rinne against the Penguins in the books; in four career starts in Pittsburgh before Wednesday, Rinne was 0-4 with a 4.71 goals-against average and an .831 save percentage.
Now, if the Penguins can stay on the right side of history _ 45 of 50 teams that have had a 2-0 lead in a Stanley Cup final have gone on to win the series, a 90-percent certainty _ Guentzel figures to join Malkin, Crosby and co-owner Mario Lemieux as Penguins players who've won the prestigious award.
