Graney: Knights need Tomas Hertl to produce to beat Colorado

We know there will be stars. The elite of the elite. NHL household names.

Jack Eichel. Mitch Marner. Nathan MacKinnon. Cale Makar.

This best-of-seven playoff series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche won’t lack for massive amounts of talent.

But often games in such a setting are decided by the depth a team owns. By what happens along the third and fourth lines. By what sort of scoring you can find among them.

By the kind of play you receive from someone like Tomas Hertl.

It has been a productive playoffs for the Knights’ third line, one coach John Tortorella has praised after recent games and again Monday.

It is centered by Hertl, who finally found his scoring touch in a previous series’ win against Anaheim.

He would score goals in Games 4 and 5 before the Knights closed things out in six.

His tally with 1:04 remaining in a 4-3 loss of Game 4 was his first since March 4, ending a run of 29 games.

Hertl is needed

Bad luck defined such a stretch. Hertl had the looks but just didn’t capitalize. Hit posts. Was inches from the goal line. Just couldn’t convert.

But if the Knights are to upset Colorado, depth scoring will be needed. Which means Tomas Hertl will be needed.

Which means he must continue finding a way.

“Definitely, you always want to bring something to the table,” he said. “For myself, I’m excited to score goals. It was nice to get on the board against Anaheim. It felt good. I just want to keep playing the same way. But the only thing that matters is that we win games.”

His linemates of Brandon Saad and Colton Sissons — who was swapped with Keegan Kolesar from the fourth line during the Anaheim series — have also been in tune with what Tortorella seeks most from them.

To hear the coach talk, it’s a line that has created more offense of late and been more consistent in its play with or without the puck.

They need to counter top lines at times — Tortorella isn’t overly concerned with matchups — and would get the ultimate test against the Avalanche stars.

“You can’t rely on just one line every single game in the playoffs,” Hertl said. “You need all four lines to bring something. It’s always nice if you can spread goals around the team. Against a very good team (like Colorado), that sort of battle becomes very important.

“Our line has been special the last few games. Scored some goals, keeping it simple, making plays in the O-zone, helping each other. I thought we played really well against Anaheim.”

His teammates have noticed.

They saw him struggle to score, become frustrated at opportunities lost, try harder and harder to find the net over that prolonged drought.

They also know such times can hamper any goal scorer at one point or another. They always believed he would break out of it.

“(Hertl) is a great player, very smart, unlucky for some time there,” forward Ivan Barbashev said. “For him to get a few goals (against Anaheim) was huge. In the playoffs, sometimes you can put too much pressure on yourself. He just kept going and played really good defensively. Hopefully, it stays that way.”

It won’t be easy. Not with what the Knights are now facing.

Colorado too knows the importance of spreading things around four lines. Few teams do so better.

They are the deeper side here and some believe by a country mile. It puts the onus even more on a line such as Hertl’s to keep up.

A good time

“Everybody knows they have been on top and are a really good hockey team with a lot of skill and speed,” Hertl said. “One of the best teams in the league. We just want to play our game and grind it out and slow down their speed.”

Depth will play a critical part in all of it.

Which means Tomas Hertl must show up and produce.

He seems to have found his way of late.

It’s a good time.