Sharks Locker Room: Heartbroken Hertl, Karlsson on Difference Between San Jose & Good Teams

The San Jose Sharks snatched defeat from the jaws of victory…again.

Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, Kaapo Kahkonen, and head coach David Quinn spoke after the Sharks’ devastating 4-3 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

After getting out to an early 3-1 third period lead, San Jose surrendered the tying goal with 2:05 left, then the game-winner 1:10 into OT in another heartbreaker.

Tomas Hertl, on the up-down emotions of the game:

It’s really tough. I think we played a pretty good game, especially the first 40, and we scored in the third, [it was] 3-1, and feel comfortable…We should win this game, and again, we just didn’t finish our job. This one really hurts.

Hertl, on if he’s ever experienced a San Jose Sharks season like this with so many close games that the team can’t finish:

Honestly, I don’t think so.

It’s nothing [about] what [they] do, it’s always us. A little mistake, and we just keep shooting our foot.

Hertl, on what Sharks need to do to finish tight games with a win:

We have to just keep playing the same way, but it seems like we always get a little scared [when the game gets tight].

Erik Karlsson, on officials changing initial Joel Farabee major for boarding Kevin Labanc to a two-minute minor:

I didn’t really see it. I saw it in slow motion after. Yeah, it’s in the numbers. But the ref told me that he didn’t think it was as hard as it looked…it seems like he’s okay.

Karlsson, on what Sharks need to do to close games:

We’re trying not to give them anything, and we end up giving them stuff anyways. That’s something that good teams are really good at, and teams that don’t win that much are not. It’s something that we have to get better at. Playing with leads is sometimes harder than chasing that extra goal to try and tie the game up. We got to figure out how to how to play in those situations.

Kaapo Kahkonen, on his overall performance:

Great. I’ve been feeling better every game now, every day for the last few weeks.

David Quinn, on Timo Meier taking a long empty net shot that went for an icing right before the Flyers’ game-tying goal:

You don’t want to take that opportunity out of someone’s hands, especially someone like him. So if he feels like he can get it done, he gets it done. Especially with that much time left.

Quinn, on Kahkonen’s performance:

Good. He played very well.