DeBoer returns to the drawing board
Hertl injury means coach must adjust lines once again
SAN JOSE >> Sharks coach Pete DeBoer is back at the white board, drawing up new line combinations to absorb the potential loss of a top forward.
Tomas Hertl, who left Saturday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers with a head injury, missed practice Monday, forcing DeBoer to go back into the laboratory and rejigger his lines after he had
just found a working formula in the wake of Joe Thornton’s reintegration into the lineup.
DeBoer labeled Hertl’s status as “day to day.” He doesn’t think the injury is serious.
“I mean, you never know with those things,” he acknowledged. “You can always have setbacks, but it doesn’t look like it right now.”
Hertl left Saturday’s game at 7:36 of the second period after his head collided with the shoulder of Flyers defenseman Christian Folin in the offensive zone. DeBoer doesn’t think the hit to the head was intentional and worthy of discipline from the league.
“I talked to Tommy, Tommy took the blame for it himself. He thought he shouldn’t have made that type of move there,” DeBoer said. “When I looked at it, I thought the guy stepped into him. I didn’t think it was high. Those things happen. It’s a contact sport.”
With Hertl sidelined Monday, Kevin Labanc filled his spot on the Logan CoutureTimo Meier line where he finished the Flyers game. DeBoer kept Couture, Joe Pavelski and Thornton on separate lines, a three-pronged attacked that propelled the Sharks to victory in the last two periods Saturday.
The Sharks struggled to find the right line mix in losses to the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets last week after Thornton rejoined the lineup Tuesday. His move to third line center in the second period Saturday gave the Sharks the multi-line attack they had lacked earlier in the week.
On Monday, Thornton skated with Barclay Goodrow and Marcus Sorensen on the third line. Antti Suomela, Rourke Chartier and Melker Karlsson filled out the fourth line while Evander Kane and
Joonas Donskoi skated with Pavelski up top.
“It’s part of what we deal with,” DeBoer said in reference to Hertl’s injury. “You know that that stuff’s right around the corner. There’s no sense in wasting energy being frustrated by it. You’ve got to test your depth and it’s an opportunity for somebody else.”
But losing Hertl on an extended basis would be a significant loss.
On Saturday, DeBoer acknowledged that the HertlCouture-Meier line has been the only combination that has worked consistently this year. Couture is riding a career-best ninegame points streak and Meier set a franchise record by opening the season with 11 goals in his first 14 games. Hertl is a key ingredient to making it happen because of the space he creates for his linemates.
“During this stretch, this line has been as hot as any line I’ve been on,” Couture
said. “I think back to when Patty (Marleau) was here, he had a bunch of goals to start a season, but I haven’t seen a player score like Timo has. He’s been on fire.”
• During his first year in San Jose, DeBoer provided a glimpse into his coaching strategy. He said the art of coaching is knowing when to turn the screws and when to loosen them because a team or player is fragile.
With that in mind, it isn’t surprising that DeBoer went out of his way to praise Labanc on a question about Meier on Saturday night.
Labanc struggled mightily during the Sharks’ three-game trip to Nashville, North Carolina and Orange County last month, leading to his demotion to the fourth line in games against the Anaheim Ducks (Oct. 28) and the Rangers (Oct. 30).
Labanc was trying to do too much after recording only two points in eight games on a line with Pavelski and Kane. He made the problem worse by turning the puck over.
So after scoring a goal Thursday and setting up two Saturday, it makes sense that DeBoer would deliver a positive message through the media. The Sharks will need a confident Labanc on the ice against the Minnesota Wild tonight if Hertl isn’t able to go.
“Young guys struggle with the ups and downs of that confidence maybe a little more,” DeBoer said. “Those lulls last a little bit longer. That’s part of learning to be a pro is getting yourself out of those things quickly. On our end, we’ve tried to work him through it.”
• Another benefit of Thornton’s move to the third line is that it should ease the burden on Suomela’s shoulders.
Suomela has a promising career ahead of him, but expecting him to play a third line center role on a Stanley Cup favorite as an NHL rookie is a big ask. Teams that go far in the playoffs tend to create serious mismatches on the third line. Is Suomela really going to tilt the ice against the depth of the Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins?
With his most-recent line dance, DeBoer is improving the Sharks matchups in a couple of ways. He’s giving Thornton more favorable matchups against depth forwards while also allowing Suomela to play a more realistic role elsewhere in the lineup. Suomela could make the Sharks a dangerous four-line team if he’s slotted into the fourth-line center position, considering how well he has played on the third line. Another option, would be to move him up to Thornton’s wing, giving the third line even more offensive creativity.
Either way, it looks as if the Suomela-at-third-linecenter experiment is being abandoned for now.
“It’s a big role,” DeBoer said. “The coach’s greatest tool is competition. If you’re playing third-line minutes, we need production. You can’t have one goal after (13) games.
“You need to produce and get some things done or the next guy’s going to get an opportunity.”