SAN JOSE — The Sharks got another glimpse at the offensive skill set that Tomas Hertl possesses in their 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. They also got a rare look at another side of their promising young center’s on-ice personality.
His angry side.
Hertl was one of four Sharks players to finish with two points in San Jose’s win at SAP Center, their fourth in 10 tries at home this season. But he also had some snarl to his game, getting into a couple shoving matches and otherwise throwing his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame around.
“It was one of the better games he’s played this year,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said of Hertl. “You just saw the intensity. That’s what it takes.”
Some of Hertl’s testy disposition on the ice was partly related to being benched for the entire third period of Wednesday’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Another part was the frustration of not having scored in 19 straight games, or in any game at home this season.
In any case, the Sharks liked what they saw, and want to see more.
“I think when Tomas plays that way, he’s very hard to handle,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “It has nothing to do with fighting. He’s got a power forward type of body. Just winning those battles and using what God gave him a little bit more.”
It was a huge bounce-back game for Hertl and linemate Tommy Wingels, who was also benched for the third period Wednesday. Wingels’ first-period goal opened the scoring and snapped a 14-game goalless drought. Hertl scored less than four minutes later, as the Sharks took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
It set the tone, and provided the type of answer DeBoer was looking for from his third line.
“Knowing their character and how much they care and the conversations we had, I felt we were going to get a positive response,” DeBoer said of Wingels and Hertl. “If you were to tell me I was going to predict they’d scored two goals in the first period, I wouldn’t have predicted that. But I knew it would be a positive response.
“There’s too much character with those guys, they care too much and did a great job.”
“It was a good rebound game for us,” Wingels said. “We kind of showed ourselves and showed our teammates what kind of line we can be.”
Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic also had two points each for the Sharks, with Vlasic getting his first goal of the season. Goalie Martin Jones finished with 25 saves to improve his record this season to 12-6.
The Sharks went 2 for 2 on the power play, with Joel Ward and Patrick Marleau scoring 50 seconds apart in the second period.
The Sharks called up Dylan DeMelo from the Barracuda to take Braun’s roster spot. DeMelo did not play Saturday against Calgary.
Clowe isn’t retired, but was advised by doctors in September to end his playing career as he had four concussions the last two seasons. He will remain on injured reserve for the New Jersey Devils for the last three years of his contract.
“Clowey, he was a warrior,” Wingels said. “When you come into the league, there are certain guys that you’re impressed with right away, how hard they work on the ice, their battle level. Certainly from day one, that was Clowey. He set the tone.
“It’s obviously unfortunate how things have progressed with his career because of the injury. But he was a guy who really certainly set an example for me.”
For more on the Sharks, see the Working the Corners blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks. Follow Curtis Pashelka on Twitter at twitter.com/CurtisPashelka.