Tomas Hertl’s hat trick stuns Flyers as they drop fifth straight game
It was the Flyers and Sharks, though it felt like the Phantoms and Barracuda, taking to the ice on Saturday night. Despite a strong effort from James van Riemsdyk, Tomas Hertl answered right back with all three goals in San Jose’s 3-2 overtime victory.
For the first forty minutes of this one, there wasn’t a whole lot to write home about. Both Martin Jones and Adin Hill were stellar in net as they stopped a combined 49 shots in the first two periods. That ended up being just two more then the total numbers of shots that the Sharks ended up putting on net.
It was clear from the first period that both teams were missing a lot of key players. They weren’t able to generate much, despite the fact that the Flyers had 15 shots and the Sharks had 13. Even with that many shots, there wasn’t a whole lot that seemed dangerous in most of them.
The second period saw a bit more energy, though it was the Sharks who came out with more to start the period. It took awhile for the Flyers to get going, but they found their legs in the latter part of the period. It continued to be a goaltending duel between Jones and Hill as they once again stopped every shot they faced in the second.
Finally, the action opened up in the third period. And James van Riemsdyk, who had been buzzing the entire game, was able to get the Flyers one the board just over a minute into the third period. Making a nice chip play against the boards, JVR was able to get past a Sharks’ defender and came streaking in on Hill. He went high glove on the San Jose goaltender and there was finally a goal in this game.
He wasn’t done yet, though. Cam York, who had a strong game once again, made a nice play to get a shot on net on the Flyers’ second power play. It was deflected on the way in by van Riemsdyk as it was up his stick, off the back of Mario Ferraro and flew over the head of Hill as it bounced in. That was two shots and two goals in the third period. A pretty good ratio, right?
Well, the Flyers would only get three more shots after that as the Sharks controlled the territorial battle from there. They threw 20 shots at Jones and were just overall the better team. It was also the Tomas Hertl show as he essentially single-handedly brought the Sharks back into the game.
Exactly a minute after the Flyers went up 2-0, Hertl broke Jones’ shutout bid and got the Sharks on the board. A play that started all the way behind the San Jose net ended with Hertl on the end of a slick pass from Timo Meier. Meier fought off the contact on his way in and threw a pass to the front of the net as Hertl was crashing in front of Jones.
It looked like the Sharks would get even on a power play later in the period. But it was Joel Farabee with the shorthanded opportunity. He tried to deke out Hill, but the Sharks’ goaltender stayed with it the whole way. The play ended with Farabee in the net and not the puck. Unfortunately, that doesn’t count.
Hertl would get his second of the game with about five minutes left in the period. Brent Burns, wherever purposeful or not, shot a puck that bounced off the boards and was corralled by Meier. He then threw it towards the front of the net where Hertl was able to fight the bodies in front and tip it past Jones.
It’s tough to keep your team in a game when you’re consistently getting tested like Jones was in the third. The Sharks outshot the Flyers 12-3 after Philadelphia took the 2-0 lead. It only took one shot in the overtime period for Hertl to complete the comeback and the natural hat trick.
While Morgan Frost had won the original faceoff and the Flyers got the first shot in overtime, it was a turnover at the line that allowed Hertl to come in on the 2-on-1 with Meier. York was caught slightly flat footed as it looked like he was originally going to cover Hertl. Instead, he took away the passing lane which allowed Hertl to come in and bury his third of the came.
While Philadelphia gained a point in this one, they were extremely fortunate that they even got that one. They certainly looked like a team who missed its star players, especially in the overtime period. But it was the meltdown in the third period that did them in. Jones did all he could and was really the only reason the Flyers ended the night with a single point.
After a scheduled day off on Sunday, the team will get to work ahead of their matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. There is a chance they could potentially get some players back into the lineup. Claude Giroux and Ivan Provorov should be out in the coming days while Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim hit their fifth day on Tuesday.