The Stanley Cup Final got off to a hot start on Tuesday night with a wild shootout between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, with the latter coming away with a 5-4 win.
It was a back-and-forth affair with Carolina scoring on the first shot of the series from Nikolaj Ehlers, who tacked on another later in the period for good measure.
But Vegas battled back to tie and then take the lead, and it was Tomas Hertl who potted what proved to be the game-winner.
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That was noteworthy because it was his second game-winner in three games.
What’s wild is that earlier this postseason, Hertl was in the midst of a 29-game goal drought.
Hertl’s former San Jose Sharks teammate, Joe Pavelski, was shocked to hear that stat during Game 3 of the Golden Knights’ series against the Anaheim Ducks.
“I knew he wasn’t producing a lot, but I mean, I didn’t know how much, I guess,” Pavelski told NHL.com. “Then I heard one of the announcers say 29 games, and I was like, ‘What?’ But then they said how many chances he’s been getting.”
So, Pavelski picked up his phone and called his former teammate.
“My old teammate called me, Joe Pavelski, and he actually helped me a lot,” Hertl said according to Sportsnet. “He’s a great goal scorer who has gone through a lot. He kind of called me and talked to me about just what to do, and I think the next day it was done; I got my first goal.”
Hertl scored in Game 4 against Anaheim, then again in Game 5.
Then came the game-winning goal in Game 3 against the Avalanche, and now another against Carolina.
This is one of those things you need if you want to win the Stanley Cup, but you just have to get lucky: you need guys to heat up at the right time.
Hertl is doing it, and so is center Brett Howden, who leads the team with 11 goals this postseason after scoring 12 through 58 games in the regular season.
Pavelski said he didn’t do anything special when he called Hertl, but sometimes a quick pep talk is all it takes.
“I didn’t do anything special,” he said. “I just reached out more or less just to check in as a friend. He was already playing good enough to produce more than what had gone in for himself. It was just reminders of a couple little things he could do, and he’s just been really good.”
