Hertl completes natural hat trick in OT, Sharks rally past Flyers

Tomas Hertl completed a hat trick 24 seconds into overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Brent Burns had three assists for the Sharks (19-16-1). Adin Hill made 29 saves.
"I knew we needed to score some goals, so I tried to keep shooting," Hertl said. "They give me the puck and I try to stay strong around the net. All the pucks are around the net, and it's nice to see that I can help the team win some games with my goals."
James van Riemsdyk scored two goals for the Flyers (13-15-7), who have lost five straight games (0-3-2). Martin Jones made 44 saves.
"We came out [in the third period], we scored two quick goals, and I think that was pretty fortunate," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "Because honestly, if it wasn't for 'Jonesy,' we should have never been in that position. I think we were lucky to get a point tonight."
Hertl capped San Jose's comeback from behind 2-0 when he scored on the first shift of overtime. He dragged a loose puck past Philadelphia forward Cam Atkinson to break out on a 2-on-1, and his wrist shot deflected five-hole off the stick of defenseman Cam York.
"We had to have our best players, and he was ours tonight," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said of Hertl.

With San Jose captain Logan Couture missing his third game in NHL COVID-19 protocol, Hertl has tried to take on a leadership role.
"Even when we got down 2-0 ... the last couple games he's taken a huge leadership role and he's saying, 'Hey, all right we're still in it, we've got this, let's keep going, let's keep working, we're playing well,'" Boughner said. "So he was more than being a player in the game. He was pretty inspirational in the locker room and on the bench tonight."
Hertl tipped a shot by Timo Meier to make it 2-1 at 7:47 of the third, and he tied the game 2-2 at 14:29 when he used his strength to create space in front of the net and score off a Meier pass.
"This is a line (Hertl, Meier and Alexander Barabanov) that's been put together out of necessity," Boughner said. "Let's be honest, if 'Tommy's' line's not going tonight ... we're going to lose the hockey game. They took it upon themselves. They stepped up."
Van Riemsdyk gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 1:06 of the third period when he tipped a loose puck along the wall past Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, skated in alone, and scored with a wrist shot.
He tipped York's shot for a power-play goal that made it 2-0 at 6:47.

Those were the few positive moments for the Flyers in the third period, when they were outshot 20-5.
"In the third period when the game's on the line and things are tense, that's when your habits come out, and I thought that's when a lot of our bad habits came out," Yeo said. "We've got to continue to build the right habits here and continue to show the benefit of doing the right things and what happens and the consequences of doing the wrong things. The self-inflicted harm that we're doing to ourselves is something that we've got to get out of our system."
NOTES: Hertl also scored in overtime against the Flyers in San Jose on Dec. 30. ... He has five NHL hat tricks. ... Meier has scored seven points (one goal, six assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Sharks forward Jonah Gadjovich left the game at 14:28 of the first period because of an upper-body injury. Boughner said he would be reevaluated Sunday. … Defenseman Radim Simek was scratched before the game because of a lower-body injury sustained during a 3-2 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Defenseman Nicolas Meloche played in his place. ... San Jose center Nick Bonino entered NHL COVID-19 protocol Saturday, along with assistant coach John MacLean. ... York's assist on van Riemsdyk's power-play goal was his first NHL point. ... Jones played the previous six seasons for the Sharks. He signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia on July 28 after San Jose bought out the final three seasons of his six-year contract July 27. ... Atkinson has scored six points (two goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak.