Fans in the San Jose area have long been fans of San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, the young Czech forward burst onto the scene in the 2013 - 2014 National Hockey League regular season and has been doing nothing but scoring big goals for the team since. That being said though Hertl really took things to the next level this season recording 35 goals, by far the most of his NHL career, and 39 assists, by far the most of his NHL career, for a total of 74 points, nearly 30 points more than his previous career high.
No goal Hertl has scored during his Sharks career, at least no goal he has scored up until this point, is going to hold a candle to the massive goal he scored on Sunday night. Hertl and his San Jose Sharks were facing elimination on Sunday night and they had to do it in one of the most hostile buildings in the National Hockey League, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. If there was anyone in the building who was not nervous however it may have been Hertl who after the 5th game in this series was feeling extremely confident.
During a post game interview following Game 5 Hertl stated flatly that he and his Sharks would win Game 6 and force a Game 7 back in San Jose because in his mind the Sharks are the "better team." Hertl did not use the word guarantee when saying they would be back for Game 7, but his tone and his choice of words left no doubt about the fact that he was indeed calling for a Game 7 in San Jose, one that he would go on to make happen.
Thanks in large part to an incredible bounce back performance from Sharks goaltender Martin Jones the Sharks went all the way to double overtime in Game 6 and for a moment it looked as though Hertl's guarantee would come up short. Facing elimination in double OT the Sharks took a bad penalty and gave the Golden Knights a power play late in a game where fatigued was clearly becoming a factor. But that is when the magic happened.
Facing certain doom on the penalty kill Tomas Hertl did something no player in the history of the National Hockey League has ever done, and scored a shorthanded goal in double overtime to win the game. Now that ladies and gentleman, is how you honor a guarantee.
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