By Ivan Makarov

With the strong preseason and a three points in two games to start his rookie campaign in the NHL, Tomas Hertl was no longer a mystery around the NHL coming into the game against New York Rangers. But the show that he put on Tuesday night will be remembered for a long time in San Jose and beyond.

Four goals scored by the Sharks forward was the most ever scored by the rookie in teal as Sharks went on to win the game 9-2. The crowd gave Hertl a standing ovation and he couldn’t stop smiling while sitting on the bench.

“This is crazy. This is like a dream, ” said Herlt after the game. “Four goals! Never even in a Czech league have I had three goals. NHL.. It’s crazy!”

The most beautiful goal scored by Hertl was the one that will be replaying on TV networks and online for a while, as he put it between his legs and backhanded with a great move top shelf while on the breakaway.

“[That move] is something I don’t have in my bag,” said Joe Thornton, laughing, while talking about the goal. “It was awful pretty.”

San Jose played a great game from start to finish, and with the help of good bounces, things went their way and the score showed it.

The most telling goal about how it all went came about in the second period. It was 3-1, the Sharks were outhitting, out skating and out playing the Rangers by that point. Not that they really needed it this time, but the luck went their way once again as Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl picked up a puck that was stopped on the ice by opponents’ broken stick. With speed, Hertl broke through and with a nice move put it behind New York’s goaltender Henrick Lundquist to make it 4-1 and chase Lundquist out of the game only half way through.

All of 15 Sharks ended the game with points, including Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi. Five Sharks had multi-point games.  Hertl was not the only rookie who had a memorable night, as Matt Nieto scored a goal and recorded two assists on the third line.

Rangers’ Brad Richards opened the score  when his team was on 5-on-3 power play early in the game as Brad Stuart got penalized for elbowing and Sharks sent another player into the box for having too many men on the ice during that penalty. Richards was an open player at the top of the face-off circle and he beat Antti Niemi on the glove side.

Sharks were still killing a penalty when a counter attack chance turned into a goal when Marc Eduard Vlasic scored on a shot from high inside the zone, which seemed to have surprised Rangers all star goaltender Henrick Lundquist. Vlasic’s goal was his first of the season and tied the game at 1-1.

Three minutes later, Dan Boyle made it 2-1 as he slap shot the puck from the blue line right after the face-off win by Joe Pavelski inside the Rangers zone. Boyle was helped by Tommy Wingels who was screening Lundquist in front as he was skating by.

But it was in the second period when Sharks energy really picked up and they took over the game completely, scoring three goals in three minutes, making it 5-1 in their favor. Such outcome completely deflated the Rangers who were playing on the second night in a row after a game in Los Angeles against the Kings on Monday night.

A memorable performance by the Sharks rookie helped get the Sharks get to 3-0 on the season before they get on the road, as they play in Vancouver on Thursday night.

Game Notes

• Tomas Hertl became the youngest NHL player to score four goals in a game since March 30, 1988 (Jimmy Carson, Los Angeles Kings). In total, he is the 4th youngest player in NHL history to score 4 or more goals [Credit: Elias Sports].
• Tomas Hertl becomes the only player to score a total of six goals in his first three games as a Shark. Rob Gaudreau (1992-93) and Jan Caloun (1995-96) had four goals in their first three games as a Shark, the highest totals before tonight.
• Tomas Hertl’s four goals ties a Sharks franchise record for most goals in a game by a Shark (Owen Nolan, 12/19/95 @ Anaheim).
• Tomas Hertl logged 11:12 of ice time during tonight’s game. He becomes the fourth player since 1987-88 to log less than 11:30 of ice time and score four goals in a single game.
• Players who now have three game point streaks: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, and Logan Couture.
• Marc-Edouard Vlasic became the 12th Sharks defenseman to score a shorthanded goal (Last: Scott Hannan, 03/16/07 vs. Columbus) [Credit: Darin Stephens].
• Matt Nieto scored his first NHL point with an assist on a Dan Boyle goal, and followed that up with his first NHL goal at the 8:16 mark of the second period. Nieto finished the game with three points (1-2=3), a +2 rating, and the game-winning goal.
• Jason Demers set a career high in points as well as assists (0-3=3).