SAN JOSE, Calif. — Coach Bob Boughner on Friday sat down with both Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl, going over what he felt had been missing from each of their games of late and what he wanted to see from them over the of the regular season.
Boughner likely got the response he was looking for Saturday.
Meier assisted on Hertl’s goal early in the second period and scored one himself off a nice assist from Alexander Barabanov as the Sharks earned a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Fan Appreciation Night before an announced crowd of 17,562 at SAP Center.
Hertl’s goal came on a Sharks 2-on-1 after Meier stole the puck from Alec Regula in the neutral zone, carried it into the Blackhawks’ zone and fed Hertl, who buried it for his 29th goal of the season.
Meier’s goal, his 34th of the year, came off a Barabanov pass in front of the Chicago net and gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead at the 10:34 mark of the second period.
Nick Bonino and Jasper Weatherby also scored in the win and goalie Kaapo Kahkonen finished with 27 saves as the Sharks finished their homestand with a 2-1-0 record. San Jose plays the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday night.
Prior to Saturday, Meier had gone without a point in three straight games and Hertl had just one assist in four games.
Thursday against the St. Louis Blues, Boughner became agitated enough with both players that he moved Jeffrey Viel up to play with Hertl and Jonathan Dahlen, and dropped Meier down to play with Sasha Chmelevski and Scott Reedy on the fourth line.
“They weren’t helping us as a line together at all tonight,” Boughner said after the game, a 3-1 Sharks loss.
Boughner said he sat down with Meier and Hertl on Friday to go over what has happened in recent games.
“They realize they’re off,” Boughner said before Saturday’s game. “They need to be better and they take full responsibility for that.”
Boughner wanted Meier and Hertl, two of the Sharks’ bigger forwards, to spend more time below the tops of the circles, do a better job of protecting pucks and use the back of the net more often.
“They’re not getting in those positions because, one, they’re playing too wide in the neutral zone,” Boughner said. “They’re trying to hit each other east-west and they’re not cutting that ice and half and putting pucks behind people to make foot races.
“So simplifying their game in the neutral zone is what we talked about. Once they get below the tops of the circles, it’s holding on to pucks more. They’re both trying to do it themselves. I think they’re playing too much one-on-one hockey.”
Meier didn’t disagree.
“Sometimes you feel like it’s not going your way,” he said before Saturday’s game. “That’s what I felt like it was for me and Tommy the last couple of games. But if you’re not feeling it, sometimes you’ve just got to realize that and simplify your game and make adjustments.
“We have those conversations with each other and (Boughner) coach reminded us what we need to do.”
Weatherby gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at the 6:03 mark of the first period.
Chmelevski took a pass in the neutral zone from Brent Burns, carried the puck into the Blackhawks’ zone, created some space, and fired a shot on net that was stopped by goalie Kevin Lankinen.
Reedy got a stick on the puck that went to Weatherby, who tapped it past Lankinen for his fifth goal of the season.
