Simply hours after goalie Yaroslav Askarov received his fourth straight begin for the San Jose Sharks’ prime minor league affiliate, Tomas Hertl, a number of hours later and about 10 miles away, was spearheading a third-period rally for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Askarov made 26 saves for the Barracuda in its 5-3 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights at Lee’s Household Discussion board on Friday, and Hertl, proper subsequent to the Las Vegas Strip, scored a game-tying third-period power-play objective for the Golden Knights, who got here again to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4.
“It wasn’t our best game,” Hertl advised reporters afterward. “It wasn’t our best overall. We kind of struggled to get our game going. We had a couple of mistakes. You stay with it.
“Nobody asks how, but we just got two points.”
Lower than eight months after the Sharks despatched Hertl to the Golden Knights, each groups appeared to have gotten what they wished from the stunning commerce deadline day deal.
The Stanley Cup-contesting Golden Knights have a super No. 2 heart in Hertl, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound specimen who can win faceoffs, log large minutes, and play in all conditions.
Going into his first sport towards his former crew Saturday, Hertl, wholesome once more, has eight factors in eight video games, together with three objectives and two assists in Vegas’ final two wins over Los Angeles and Ottawa.
From San Jose’s perspective, by buying and selling Hertl, the Sharks created over $40 million in cap house from now till 2030. Additionally they used the belongings from the Hertl commerce to assist purchase Askarov, who has come as marketed and will grow to be the NHL crew’s No. 1 goalie as quickly as subsequent season.
After his efficiency Friday, Askarov is 4-0 with two shutouts and a glowing .954 save proportion.
In different phrases, issues appear to have labored out OK for each groups, though the present-day Sharks can hardly see that now after going 0-6-2 of their first eight video games.
The Sharks roster has undergone in depth modifications since Hertl’s final sport with the crew on Jan. 27. Solely six gamers who dressed for that sport towards the Buffalo Sabres are on the Sharks’ lively roster.
Nonetheless, Hertl stated he doesn’t like seeing the crew he spent over a decade with after they drafted him in 2013 battle out of the gate. On the Sharks’ all-time checklist, Hertl is seventh in video games performed (712), fifth in objectives (218), and sixth in factors (484).
“It’s tough,” Hertl stated. “I saw what is happening there (with no wins). It’s not easy. Obviously, if we didn’t play today, I probably would be with a lot of guys for dinner, but I will probably see them (Saturday) after the game.
“But I just want to play a good game, have two points, and enjoy the talk after the game.”
In a deal that was weeks within the making earlier than it was finalized on March 8, the Sharks despatched Hertl and 2025 and 2027 third-round picks to Vegas in alternate for heart David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round choice.
The Sharks then traded Edstrom and the Vegas first-round choose, plus goalie Magnus Chrona, to the Nashville Predators for Askarov, minor league ahead Nolan Burke, and a 2025 third-round choice initially owned by the Colorado Avalanche.
Burke is now with the Sharks’ ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder, and the Sharks have 4 picks within the first three rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Whereas wanting ahead to taking part in towards the Sharks for the primary time, Hertl additionally famous that Saturday’s sport shall be much less emotional than when he and the Golden Knights go to San Jose on Dec. 27.
Hertl began with the Sharks as a baby-faced 19-year-old and shortly endeared himself to the crew’s fanbase together with his uncooked expertise and magnetic smile. The most affordable tickets for that sport in the intervening time are round $80.
“Yeah, obviously, I’m looking forward to it,” Hertl advised reporters Friday after the Golden Knights beat the Senators 6-4 at T-Cellular Enviornment. “It’ll probably be different, still, when we play here, then in San Jose eventually.
“But I was there 11 years, so it’s a long time.”
