Sharks winger Tomas Hertl to miss Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final

After losing the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, the San Jose Sharks didn’t need any more bad news Saturday as they prepared for Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at SAP Center. They got more bad news, anyway, with the announcement from Coach Peter DeBoer that first-line left wing Tomas Hertl won’t play because of a lower-body injury Hertl suffered during Game 2.

Hertl, who plays with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, has one of the Sharks’ three goals in the Final; they lost the opener, 3-2, and lost Game 2, 2-1, in overtime. He has six goals and 11 points in 20 playoff games this spring, and he won’t be easily replaced.

“Next man up for us,” DeBoer said. “He’s arguably been maybe our best player through the first two games. Injuries are no excuse this time of year. We have somebody that will go in for him, will roll out there and be ready to play.”

The top candidates to replace Hertl on that line are Melker Karlsson and Dainius Zubrus.

“The one thing with those two guys is, you got a guy that will hound the puck and work for it. Those two guys pretty much take care of the rest,” DeBoer said. “I think we’ve got a lot of options there because of who we’re sticking them in with. I think it should be fairly seamless.”