Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Tomas Hertl scored his first career NHL goal against the Phoenix Coyotes tonight, and it was a beauty. After playing an outstanding opener against the Vancouver Canucks and earning an assist, he came out flying in game two of the regular season. Through one period of play he already has two markers, and is the youngest San Jose Shark to score two goals in a game since Patrick Marleau.
The 19 year-old picked up the puck in the neutral zone and realized that the Desert Dogs were in the process of making a very sloppy change. He picked up steam across the blue line, shook off two stick checks and extended the puck away from the backcheckers. With the biscuit on his backhand, he made no mistake with the shot.
To check out the clip, hit the jump here.
Hertl is bidding for a hat trick in just his second career NHL game and has been flying all over the ice for San Jose through the first period. He’s still back checking hard and, most importantly, appears to be having a blast out there. As the Sharks commentators have mentioned several times, the kid always seems to be smiling.
He’s lighting it up both on and off the ice right now and seems to be having the time of his life. The Sharks appear to have a gem in Hertl, and his first goal was pretty special.
Here’s a link to his second goal from the first period as well, in case you wanted to check that out too.