Hertl scoring ‘big goals’ for Golden Knights since call from Pavelski

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Joe Pavelski was home in Wisconsin watching Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks on May 8 when he was shocked to learn on the broadcast that Tomas Hertl had not scored a goal in 29 games.

"I knew he wasn't producing a lot, but I mean, I didn't know how much, I guess," Pavelski told NHL.com in a phone interview Wednesday. "Then I heard one of the announcers say 29 games and I was like, 'What?' But then they said how many chances he's been getting."

Pavelski and Hertl played together for the San Jose Sharks from 2013-19. In that span, Pavelski watched Hertl score 116 goals in 405 games. They became close and stayed in touch after Pavelski left to go play for the Dallas Stars.

After hearing about Hertl's drought, Pavelski called his friend and former teammate out of the blue the next day.

"I didn't do anything special," Pavelski said. "I just reached out more or less just to check in as a friend. He was already playing good enough to produce more than what had gone in for himself. It was just reminders of a couple little things he could do, and he's just been really good."

Hertl clearly took Pavelski's words to heart. He scored in Game 4 against Anaheim on May 10, getting what he called "King Kong" off his back.

He scored in Game 5 against the Ducks, too, goals in back-to-back games after none since March 4.

Hertl then scored the game-winning goal in Game 3 of the conference final against the Colorado Avalanche on May 24, and his latest came with 3:24 remaining in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, a 5-4 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

Hertl's goal was the difference in Vegas taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 2 will be played here on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"We overcomplicate it," Pavelski said. "That is a big part of it. Some of the conversations are that things get overcomplicated. You don't need to know how you're going to score your next goal; you just need to know that it's going to come and you need to work, that certain things can happen a little quicker when you get the puck.

“You're just pretty pumped when you see it go in. It was nothing he didn't already know because he's a good player. Just some really simple things. I'm not going to get into it that much details-wise, because he just went out and executed and produced."

Hertl publicly thanked Pavelski in his postgame press conference Tuesday, bringing up the 30-minute phone conversation they had May 9, saying it helped to hear from a now-retired player who scored 476 goals across his 1,332 regular-season games.

“We’ve been pretty close,” Hertl said. “He was a great goal-scorer. And you know, he’s been through a lot. And he kind of called me and talked to me about just what to do.”

Hertl and Pavelski have been communicating regularly since. Pavelski said he sent Hertl a text after the game on Tuesday.

"Hertl was one of those guys who was a fun teammate to be around with his 'fun must be always' quotes and stuff,” Pavelski said. "He's a happy guy and a good teammate and he works hard, and he's cheering for you. Obviously, guys go separate ways playing on different teams, but it's super fun following people that mean something to you. We have that. There's always guys checking in and seeing how it's going. It's easy to forget when it's not going good to check in as well. Those are probably the more important times to do it.

“The one big message was more or less, 'Hey, you're going to play an important role on this team going pretty far. It might not feel like it, but if you can get going, you're going to have your chances and they're going to need you at some point.' He's had some big goals, well, right from that point."