Well, it took them awhile, but the San Jose Sharks finally got their first win of the 2023-24 season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. With a 2-1 victory, the Sharks finally got a victory in their 12th game of the season, pushing their record on the year to 1-10-1 now. It was a meaningless regular season game at the end of the day, but it's clear that Tomas Hertl and the Sharks wanted to get in the win column after an awful start to the season.
Hertl is in the 11th season of his career, all of which he has spent with the Sharks, so he knows what it's like to play in some important games after they found their way to the Stanley Cup Final back in the 2015-2016 season. Despite that, Hertl said that there wasn't a game he wanted to win more in his career than the one the Sharks played in last night, which is pretty wild to think about.
Via Curtis Pashelka:
“Has Tomas Hertl wanted to win a game as badly as this one? ‘Yeah maybe in playoff time. … No, probably never.'”
Tomas Hertl and the Sharks are relieved to have picked up first win
After the Sharks traded Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins this past offseason, it was pretty obvious that they were going to begin rebuilding. But to endure the start they have isn't what anyone expected, and the Sharks were willing to do whatever they could to pick up their first win of the season, which they thankfully managed to do against the Flyers.
This doesn't mean that San Jose is going to shoot up the standings now and get hot, but ending their horrid stretch of losing meant a lot to this team based on Hertl's comments here. It could be a long season of struggles for the Sharks, but snapping their losing streak is a clear highlight in a season that likely won't be filled with many more.
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