San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl on Thursday revealed the painful reason why he had to miss one of the team’s games earlier this week.
Hertl said after the Sharks’ 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden that he had a kidney stone and needed a surgical procedure on Monday to have it removed.
“It was a pretty (crappy) situation,” said Hertl, who turned 30 on Nov. 12. “It was pretty painful, but I felt good for tonight, so I jumped in.”
Hertl did not participate in the Sharks’ morning skate in Boston but came out for pregame warmups and was later inserted into the lineup once coach David Quinn knew the forward was good to go.
“We thought there was a chance he could play,” Quinn said of Hertl.
Hertl had 22:08 of ice time with one shot on net, as he and linemates Mike Hoffman and William Eklund were each -2 for the game. The Sharks fell to 0-10-0 on the road this season.
Still, the Sharks are glad to have Hertl back, as he leads the team with 16 points, and is tops among all forwards in average time on ice (20:56 before Thursday),
Hertl played in Saturday’s game between the Sharks and Vancouver Canucks, picking up two assists. But Hertl didn’t take part in the team’s morning skate before they played the Washington Capitals, with Quinn offering few details as to why he was absent, only saying he was day to day with an ailment affecting his midsection.
The Sharks won the game 2-1.
Per mayoclinic.org, kidney stones are hard deposits made of minerals and salts that form inside your kidneys and can be caused by diet, excess body weight, some medical conditions, and certain supplements and medications. Often, according to the website, stones form when a person’s urine becomes concentrated, allowing minerals to crystallize and stick together.
According to the National Institute of Health, kidney stones are common — and on the rise. Per the institute, about 11 percent of men and six percent of women in the United States have kidney stones at least once during their lifetime.
SMITH HURT: Sharks winger Givani Smith was unable to play in the third period Thursday after he fought Bruins forward Trent Frederic near the end of the second period.
It was not immediately known if Smith would be available to play Friday for the Sharks in New Jersey against the Devils.
Frederic challenged Smith after the San Jose forward hit Bruins forward Brad Marchand from behind into the boards to the right of the Sharks’ net. Smith, though, was reacting to Marchand’s rough treatment of William Eklund earlier in the game.
Smith was called for boarding for the hit on Marchand, but the Bruins did not score with the man advantage.
THE OTHER SMITH: Will Smith, the Sharks’ top prospect, attended Thursday’s game. Smith, a Boston native, is a freshman at Boston College and has six goals and 19 points — 10th in the country as of Thursday night — in 14 games.
Smith was selected fourth overall by the Sharks in June, becoming the franchise’s highest-drafted player since defenseman Brad Stuart was selected third overall in 1998.
Boston College (11-2-1), ranked No. 1 in the country, plays Northeastern in a home-and-home series that starts Friday. Forward Cam Lund, selected 34th overall by the Sharks in 2022, has 10 points in 11 games for Northeastern.