Just a few hours after goalkeeper Yaroslav Askarov won his fourth consecutive start for the San Jose Sharks’ top minor league affiliate, Thomas Hertl, about 10 miles away, spearheaded a third-period rally for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Askarov made 26 saves for the Barracuda in their 5-3 win over the Henderson Silver Knights at Lee’s Family Forum on Friday, and Hertl, just off the Las Vegas Strip, scored a third-period tying goal on the power play for the Golden Knights, who came back to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4.

“It wasn’t our best game,” Hertl told reporters as the Golden Knights improved to 5-2-1. “It wasn’t our best overall. We kind of struggled to get our game going. We made a few mistakes. You stay with it.

“No one asks how, but we just scored two points.”

Less than eight months after the Sharks sent Hertl to the Golden Knightsboth teams appeared to have gotten what they wanted with the shocking trade deadline day deal.

The Stanley Cup-contending Golden Knights have an ideal top-six center in Hertl, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound specimen who can win faceoffs, log big minutes and play in all situations .

Heading into his first game against his former team on Saturday, a healthy Hertl has eight points in eight games, including three goals and two assists in Vegas’ last two wins over Los Angeles and Ottawa.

From San José’s perspective, by trading Hertlthe rebuilding Sharks created more than $40 million in cap space by 2030. They also used assets from the Hertl trade to help acquire Askarov, who came as announced and could become the goaltender No. 1 goaltender for the NHL team starting next season. .

After his performance on Friday, Askarov is 4-0 with two shutouts and a sparkling .954 save percentage for the Barracuda.

In other words, things seem to have gone well for both teams, even if today’s Sharks can barely see it now. after going 0-6-2 in their first eight games.

The Sharks roster has undergone significant changes since Hertl’s last game with the team on January 27. Only six players dressed for this game against the Buffalo Sabers are on the Sharks’ active roster.

Still, Hertl said he doesn’t like seeing the team he spent more than a decade with after drafting him 17th overall in 2012 struggling out of the gate. On the Sharks’ all-time list, Hertl is seventh in games played (712), fifth in goals (218) and sixth in points (484).

“It’s tough,” Hertl said. “I saw what happens there (without a win). It’s not easy. Obviously, if we weren’t playing today, I’d probably be with a lot of the guys for dinner, but I’ll probably see them again (Saturday) after the game.

“But I just want to play a good game, score two points and enjoy the discussions after the game.”

In a deal weeks in the making before it was finalized on March 8, the Sharks sent Hertl and 2025 and 2027 third-round picks to Vegas in exchange for center David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round selection .

The Sharks then traded Edstrom and Vegas’ first-round draft pick, along with goaltender Magnus Chrona, to the Nashville Predators for Askarov, minor league forward Nolan Burke and a 2025 third-round selection originally owned by the Colorado Avalanche.

Burke is now with the Sharks’ ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder, and the Sharks have four picks in the first three rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft.

While looking forward to playing the Sharks for the first time, Hertl also noted that Saturday’s game will be less emotional than when he visited San Jose with the Golden Knights on Dec. 27.