The Vegas Golden Knights center, Tomas Hertl, spoke about the inspiration that led him to eventual playoff success with the franchise after slumping earlier in the postseason.

Following the conclusion of Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he credited his former San Jose Sharks teammate Joe Pavelski for giving him timely advice.

Hertl, 32, revealed that Pavelski spoke to him in the earlier stage of the playoffs, as per the post from NHL insider Chris Johnston on his official X account.

“He was a great goal-scorer. He kind of called me and talked to me about what to do,’’ Hertl said after scoring the late winner in Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Gino Hard gave more of an account about the conversation between Hertl and Pavelski during the ongoing Stanley Cup Playoffs on X. They mentioned that the conversation lasted for 30 minutes, and it helped Hertl to end his goal drought in the very next game for the Golden Knights.

Notably, the Czech player didn’t score a goal for Vegas in nine straight playoff games in the Western Conference before getting two in two against the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. He had missed out on goals in all six games against the Utah Mammoth in the first round before the Ducks kept him at bay for the first three games.

Before the postseason began, Hertl didn’t score a goal in the last 20 games of the 2025-26 regular season. With that, he had arrived at the playoffs low on confidence, and it showed for quite a while until Pavelski intervened for him.

Moreover, after joining the Sharks as the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, Hertl played with Pavelski for the franchise from 2013 to 2019. After that, the American, who is now 41, moved to the Dallas Stars as a free agent and retired from the NHL two years ago.

As far as Hertl was concerned, he was traded from the Sharks to the Golden Knights on March 8, 2024, in an elaborate deal.

Golden Knights beat Hurricanes 5-4 with Hertl’s late winner in Game 1

With Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final tied at 4-4 deep into the third period, Tomas Hertl got the late winner for the Vegas Golden Knights at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC. He scored the go-ahead goal with just 3:24 left on the clock to help the Golden Knights beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on the road.

Hertl managed to put the puck in the back of the net past the blocker of the Hurricanes’ goaltender, Frederik Andersen. He had received a behind-the-back pass from fellow center Colton Sissons before unleashing a shot right around the hash marks on the ice.

The goal for the Golden Knights happened just 21 seconds after their goaltender, Carter Hart, made a stunning save off Canes forward Seth Jarvis.

Hart made a total of 23 saves from 27 shots for Vegas in Game 1, while his Carolina counterpart could only complete 18 saves from 23 shots. These two goaltenders were on fire with their show-stopping in the earlier rounds of the playoffs, but it wasn’t quite the case in the Stanley Cup Final opener.

Will the Carolina Hurricanes make it 1-1 in the Stanley Cup Final at home in Game 2 before traveling to Las Vegas? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Ankita Yadav