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Hertl has career night vs
Rangers Rookie scores 4 goals in 9-2 goal
bonanza
If you missed the Sharks game on Tuesday night,
you may want to forget splurging on lottery tickets because this isn't your
week. If your name is Tomas Hertl, you may want to double down on any bets
you're placing. The young Czech had the game that most NHLers can only dream
of, scoring four goals en route to his first career hat trick. The crazy part
of all of this is that Hertl's offensive outburst didn't even account for half
of the Sharks scoring, as they pulverized the visiting New York Rangers 9-2 at
SAP Center.
* Call Hertl's 4th goal the goal of the year for San Jose,
and possibly for the entire NHL. Hertl took a Jason Demers feed and swooped
past the Rangers defense on his way to a breakaway chance. The rookie pulled
the puck back between his skates, then lifted a backhand shot with his stick
blade trailing him, flipping from behind his left leg. The puck popped past
Rangers goaltender Martin Biron catching the top shelf of the net.
*
Call him economical. Hertl logged the fewest number of shifts of any Shark
skater (16) and the thir least amount of ice time (11:12).
* It took
Hertl two games to record his first NHL goal and multi-goal game. The hat-trick
came in his 3rd career game. Hertl (19 years, 330 days) is youngest player
since Jimmy Carson (19 years, 254 days in 1988) to score 4 goals in a game.
* Owen Nolan was the last Sharks to score four goals
in a game.
* Rick Nash left the game in the 1st period after taking an
elbow from Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart. Stuart was penalized on the play,
which was followed shortly thereafter by a bench minor for too many men. The
Rangers scored on the ensuing 5-on-3, when Brad Richards sent a shot from the
high slot through traffic.
* The Sharks defense got in on the
goal-fest, recording the first two tallies for San Jose. Marc-Edouard Vlasic
rifled home a shot on a short-handed chance shortly after Richards goal, and
Dan Boyle gave the Sharks the lead for good. Justin Braun also got in on the
act, scoring his 2nd goal in as many games late in the 3rd period.
*
Lost in the shadow of Hertl's glory was rookie forward Matt Nieto's 1st career
NHL point and goal. Nieto assisted on Boyle's goal, the scored one of his own
8:16 into the 2nd period. Nieto cut down the slot and redirected a Tommy
Wingels pass from the left side. Nieto slipped past former Sharks Dominic Moore
on his way to the front of the net.
* In addition to his highlight
reel goal in the 3rd period, Hertl scored a pair of goals in the 2nd period,
and the goal that launched a thousand hats in the 3rd period. Hertl redirected
a crossing pass from Andrew Desjardins at 9:19 of the 2nd and then slipped a
breakaway chance through Biron's pads three minutes later. That second goal was
setup by a fluke bounce, when Derick Brassard tried carrying the puck into the
Sharks zone, but the puck hit a broken stick, deflecting to Joe Thornton.
Hertl's 3rd goal came on the power play ala a 6 foot shot from the goal mouth
after a deflection bounced on to his stick.
* Logan Couture channeled
his inner Toronto Blue Jay (Couture's favorite baseball team) swatting a puck
out of the air after Marleau bounced a slap shot off the end boards. The puck
floated back over the top of the goal to the crease where Couture ripped a hard
line drive that ended up in the back of the net.
* The biggest failure
of the night for San Jose came courtesy of the equipment staff, who failed to
position a recliner and adult beverage in the Sharks crease for goaltender
Antti Niemi. The netminder faced a paltry 20 shots. New York was held to single
digit shots until midway through the game.
* Biron was peppered for
five goals, but he was a substitute after starter Henrik Lundqvist was yanked
by head coach Alain Vigneault.
* As a team, the Sharks finished with a
combined +29 on the evening. Six players finished with +3's. Fifteen Sharks
players registered at least one point; five players had multi-point nights.
* Marc Staal was a painful -4 for New York.
* Hertl's mother
was in the audience. It was extremely touching to see her soaking in her son's
monster night from the confines of the upper deck, dolled up in her Patrick
Marleau jersey. Yes, Hertl's mom was sporting a teal #12 sweater. Gotta love a
mom who dishes out a dose of come-uppance. Don't let the big night get to your
head kid.
* If you think 9 goal games are rare, this was the 6th time
San Jose pulled off the feat in their brief history.
* Hertl becomes the only player to score a total of
six goals in his first three games as a Shark. Rob Gaudreau (1992-93) and Jan
Caloun (1995-96) had four goals in their first three games as a Shark, the
highest totals before tonight.
* Jason Demers three point night marked
the first time in his career that he's scored more than two points in a game.
Key Quotes:
* Tomas Hertl: "This is a dream. The first
three games, this is all crazy. Four goals...I never in Czech [Republic] scored
four goals. So [do it] in the NHL, this is crazy."
* Tomas Hertl :
"It's crazy. These fans are very good. In the Czech Republic I didn't see 3,000
fans at a game. In the NHL, it's 17,000. It is very crazy. I love the NHL. I am
very happy."
* Matt Nieto: "To get my first goal I could not be
happier. I thought the team played well tonight. I think some of it has to do
with our fans that we get. The fans have been great so far, we have been able
to play really well in our home building. We are on the road in Vancouver
[Thursday], so hopefully we can keep the momentum going."
* Rangers
Head Coach Alain Vigneault: "San Jose was on top of their game. They were on
top of their execution. The score could have been three or four to one after
the first period. So tough to understand at this point how we can play so well
last night and play like this tonight. So we have 48 hours before our next game
and we'll come up with some answers."
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
NYR |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
SJ |
2 |
4 |
3 |
9 |
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1st period - 1, NYR,
Richards 3 (BRassard, Stepan), 3:27, (pp). 2, SJ, Vlasic 1 (Pavelski), 4:23,
(sh). 3, SJ, Boyle 1 (Nieto, Pavelski), 7:56. |
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2nd period - 4, SJ,
Nieto 1 (Wingels, Pavelski), 8:16. 5, SJ, Hertl 3 (Desjardins, Demers), 9:19.
6, SJ, Couture 2 (Marleau, Irwin), 9:39. 7, Hertl 4 (Thornton), 12:32. |
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3rd period - 8, NYR,
Dorsett 1 (Boyle, Stralman), 8:22. 9, SJ, Hertl 5 (Demers, Kennedy), 9:02,
(pp). 10, SJ, Hertl 6 (Demers, Niemi), 12:05. 11, SJ, Braun 2 (Nieto, Wingels),
15:53, (pp). |
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1st period - Stuart, SJ
(elbowing), 2:32; Bench, SJ (too many men), 3:03; Pavelski, SJ (high sticking),
19:11. |
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3rd period - Boyle, NYR
(roughing), 8:42; Boyle, NYR (unsportsmenlike conduct), 8:42; Asham, NYR
(slashing), 15:22. |
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Shots |
Saves |
NYR - Lundqvist |
26 |
22 |
NYR - Biron |
21 |
16 |
SJ - Niemi |
20 |
18 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
NYR |
7 |
8 |
5 |
20 |
SJ |
15 |
23 |
9 |
47 |
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Referees: Jackson,
St Laurent. Linesmen: Grandt, Wheler. |
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