Inside The Cage: Big Man Hockey

Tomas Hertl is playing what might be described as "Big Man Hockey" these days.
That's the term he coined to deflect attention from himself after another masterful playoff game on Wednesday that resulted in a 4-0 win for the Sharks to tie their best-of-seven second-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights at two wins apiece.
Hertl found the back of the net for a second straight game to become San Jose's playoff goal-scoring leader with five. And the powerful and versatile forward has one point in seven of his team's eight games this postseason.
"He's been one of our best guys here in the playoffs," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.
Hertl has picked up against Vegas where he left off against Anaheim during San Jose's first-round sweep of the Ducks. He had goals in each of the final three games in that series after contributing an assist in Game 1. Held off the board in the second-round opener, Hertl has used his big body to create all kinds of problems for the Golden Knights' defense ever since.

"He's a talented player," linemate and Sharks center Logan Couture said. "He's big and strong. You really can't teach that size. When he's playing well he's hard on pucks, he's strong and he's tough to play against. He's been great for us."

Drafted 17th overall in 2012, the Czech native of Prague bolted on the scene by scoring four goals against the New York Rangers in only his third NHL game on Oct. 8, 2013 to the delight of a sellout crowd at SAP Center. At age 19 and 330 days old, Hertl became the youngest player to record a four-goal game since Jimmy Carson did in 1987-88 with Los Angeles at the age of 19 years, 254 days old.
But injuries, including a pair of serious knee ailments, during his formative seasons stunted his arrival to stardom. Healthy for the recently-completed regular season, Hertl, 24, scored a career-high 22 goals and matched his best for points in 2015-16 with another 46 this season.
"It's not been easy. I had a great start, but the next couple of years were pretty hard for me," Hertl said. "I shook it off. Everything is behind me and this season has been really good so far. I don't have knee issues any more, and I hope it stays like this so I can just play hockey again."
"He pushes himself," DeBoer added. "This is a proud athlete who would have got to this level earlier than this year if he had been healthy. He's had some really bad luck with some really bad injuries. He's healthy, he's playing at another level and I still think he's got another level, too."

In the playoffs he has achieved a higher level. Hertl has not only displayed his touch around the net, he's been a force in all areas of the game. Hertl has excelled on special teams, displayed a physical side and has been dependable in the faceoff circle. Along with right wing Mikkel Boedker and Couture, Hertl helps to comprise San Jose's most versatile, dangerous and trusted forward line.
"They get tough assignments," DeBoer said of Hertl and his linemates. "They play against other team's top lines on a lot of nights. Other nights they get the other team's top defensemen so it's not easy minutes. He's comfortable playing those hard minutes."
Against Vegas in Game 4, Hertl got his stick on a loose puck Marc-Andre Fleury couldn't freeze in the crease, and punched it past the Golden Knights' goalie to give the hosts an insurmountable 3-0 lead 5:35 into the second period.

Hertl wasn't done, though. He helped to snuff out any Vegas final-period comeback attempt by drawing a pair of penalties - a hook from defenseman Nate Schmidt 59 seconds into the third and a trip from blue liner Braden McNabb at 11:16. It was on that resulting power play that captain Joe Pavelski potted his second goal of the postseason just 27 seconds into the advantage to put the icing on the shutout win.
"He's been pretty consistent all year," Pavelski said of Hertl. "The biggest thing I've seen is he's put himself out there. He hasn't just sat in the corner, scored his goals and contributed. He's wanted to help lead the way. We've seen that right from the start this year, and it's only gotten stronger."
Besides his three points in the last three games, Hertl is putting together a nice stat line against the Golden Knights, who are scratching their heads at this point on how exactly to contain the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder. He has 13 shots on goal, two blocks, eight hits, three takeaways, no giveaways and a 40-33 won-loss record in the faceoff circle in the series.
"He's a smart player, he goes to hard areas and makes it easy to play with him because he works so hard and holds on to pucks," Couture said. "For me, I try to feed him the puck down low and get myself open. As a line we're creating when he's holding on to pucks and making plays.
"He's an important piece for our team."