Tomas Hertl has himself a career-best revenge game in Golden Knights' 7-2 demolition of the Sharks

It's no secret that Tomas Hertl's been hot lately. Between being named to Czechia's Olympic roster and posting multiple multi-point games, the man's been rolling no matter what linemates he's had.

However, he took things to a different level against his former team, recording his first-ever five-point game amidst Vegas's second consecutive 7-2 victory over their supposed rivals. On a night where the Golden Knights flexed their strengths at all ends of the ice, let's take a look at the best parts.

Tomas Hertl goes nuclear in his first true revenge game

Since joining the Golden Knights at the 2024 trade deadline, Hertl has faced off against the Sharks on seven occasions. In the six prior games, he'd done fairly well, with four goals and three assists over that span. However, his best performances over that span were a pair of two-assist games.

On Sunday, he took things to a new level. After providing the primary assist on Pavel Dorofeyev's first-period power-play goal, Hertl then struck with a PPG of his own midway through the second period, knocking in a rebound from the aforementioned Dorofeyev.

Over the next two periods, Hertl added another two primary assists, helping on Zach Whitecloud's late-second-period strike and Shea Theodore's empty netter (side note: Theodore now has goals in back-to-back games since returning). To cap everything off in what was already a blowout, Hertl added insult to injury late in the third, getting his second goal on a one-timer from Dorofeyev yet again:

Those two have chemistry for days. Seriously, look at their Corsi and Fenwick together versus apart, among other stats. Anyways, that final goal gave Hertl his fifth point on the night, tying the franchise record for points in a game and marking his first career five-point outing. In short, he finally had a true revenge game against his former squad.

In terms of other notes on offense, Dorofeyev and Mark Stone both posted three-point nights of their own, with the latter losing his six-game goal streak but extending his point streak to eight games. Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin also contributed multi-point nights to the beatdown. The power play also remained hot, potting two goals on four attempts. Not bad for what's usually been a problem area for Vegas!

Carl Lindbom proves steady in his return to the NHL

Sunday also saw the return of Carl Lindbom, filling in for an injured Carter Hart in his first NHL start since the end of November (also against San Jose). While the injury means we can't guarantee this'll be permanent, he looked much-improved in this game. He made a multitude of big saves against the likes of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.

Both of his career wins have now come against the Sharks, but needless to say, this one was a bit better, given the goal support he got and the lack of a nearly-blown lead. MoneyPuck says he performed about as expected, which, given parts of his first tenure, is good to see. Here's to hoping he continues to hold up in his second shot at the bigs.

As noted in the subtitle, Vegas has also now swept the Sharks for the third consecutive season. San Jose hasn't beaten Vegas in any form since an overtime victory on March 30, 2023, and hasn't won in regulation since November 15, 2022. Again, is it really a rivalry at this point? For a cherry on top, the Golden Knights also ended Macklin Celebrini's 13-game point streak, adding just a bit more pain for a Sharks team that'd won three straight entering the game.

Next up, another semi-rival in the Kings on Wednesday night. Let's hope the guys in gold make it five!