by Larry Leavitt

GLENDALE AZ–The San Jose Sharks have taken care of the business at hand with a win on Friday against Colorado. In the Colorado game the Sharks were sparked by the return of Tomas Hertl. Hertl’s return not only energized the fans but actually energized the players.

The injury to Hertl was not that serious to keep him out for a season because it wasn’t a fully blown ACL it was torn legaments in the knee and the surgery and recovery went well and everybody heals differently and there’s no time table on how somebody will feel. So they have to wait and see how much Hertl would have to put into working back to playing condition and how well his body recovers.

Hertl’s recovery from surgery and all of the work of trying to get him back into shape has been successful and once he started skating they watched how he reacted to that. There is a lot of unknowns to the next step and it wasn’t on the radar when Hertl was going to come back and how soon. It was a pleasant surprise and it was nice to see that big smile on his face upon his return last Friday.

The Sharks have played really well at home against the Anaheim Ducks this season it was a tough loss on Wednesday in Anaheim and they actually played pretty well in the Honda Center but when the Sharks get ready for these playoffs which is about to start the post season is a whole different animal.

To honest it was a little disappointing in the last five or six games previous to Friday night with the Sharks they didn’t seem like they were coming together as a team as they should be. In getting ready for the playoffs they got themselves into a lull and didn’t control some of the games they had lost. Having watched Friday night’s game it was really encouraging and Saturday even more so.

The Sharks brought a lot of energy in the building and a lot to the team and Sharks goalie Alex Stalock stopped some amazing shots against Colorado, the Sharks who are in the playoffs played a Coyotes team on Saturday that were not in the playoffs and in this game they didn’t want to get anybody hurt.

The Sharks are going to the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings and the Ducks are going to play Minnesota. Had the Ducks lost against the Sharks on Wednesday night the Sharks would have won the Paciifc Division and the Ducks would have played the Kings. The Sharks would have had to play the Minnesota Wild and the Ducks and Kings would have faced off against each other.

The Sharks winning gave them a much better advantage spending less time flying and traveling as they face the Kings in L.A. and the Ducks now will have to travel to Minnesota during the first round of the playoffs.

Larry Leavitt does commentary on Sharks hockey for http://www.sportsradioservice.com each week