No Tomas Hertl.

The forward won't be in the San Jose Sharks' Game 5 lineup Thursday, head coach Peter DeBoer announced. Hertl remains day to day.

The forward's status has been the topic of much conversation after the Sharks refuted a report out of the Czech Republic that the 22-year-old is done for the Stanley Cup Final with a lower-body injury.

Hertl has a goal in two games. But if the Sharks prolong the series, they'll do so without him.

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns knows all about desperation.

And according to the bearded one, it's about time he and his mates got desperate. Burns dropped the money quote ahead of Game 5 on Thursday morning:

The Sharks trail the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Final, and are hoping they're not the only team flying to San Jose late Thursday night.

Burns has two assists through four games, while averaging 26:22 in ice time per game. He sits third in playoff scoring with 22 points in 22 games. He's part of the Sharks' core that needs to get going in order for San Jose to have any hope of climbing out of its hole.

Needing to win four games in a row, the Sharks better be as desperate as ever.

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Jeff Blashill's got his staff.

The Detroit Red Wings announced the hiring of John Torchetti as an assistant coach Wednesday, with the 51-year-old agreeing to a two-year deal. He'll work with the club's forwards and oversee the power play, which ranked 13th in the league this past season at 18.8 percent.

Torchetti was interim head coach of the Minnesota Wild in 2016, taking over after Mike Yeo was fired. He went 15-11-1, and his club was eliminated in six games by the Dallas Stars in the first round.

Torchetti's had two other stints as an interim head coach, and has a career 30-30-4-2 record. He won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.

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Sidney Crosby is the talk of the hockey world Thursday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain, all-world superstar, and arguably the face of the NHL is on the verge of his second Stanley Cup, his club one win against the San Jose Sharks away. So it's obviously time to reflect, especially since it took seven years and a devastating concussion to get back to the Cup Final.

"In (2009), you felt like it was something that might be an annual thing," Crosby said of his first Cup victory, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Sam Werner. "And it's not that easy."

Crosby was only 21 when he lifted the Cup; he was "Sid the Kid," the youngest captain to win a Stanley Cup in NHL history. Then the injuries and playoff defeats - three in the first round and two in the second round - began.

"The concussion was tough," Crosby said Wednesday, writes the Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur. "I mean, at (23), when you feel pretty good and you miss a year of hockey, it's not ideal, but everyone goes through different things. I think that’s probably something that has given me more appreciation of certain things after going through that. At the time it’s really tough, trying to get back into things is tough, but once you get over it I think you try to take the positives from it. That’s what I try to do."

Crosby, no longer a kid at 28, says he appreciates the game more today because it was taken away from him.

Back in 2009, Crosby wasn't on the ice in the latter stages of Game 7 against the Detroit Red Wings. A knee injury kept him on the bench, and he watched. While he was reduced to a cheerleader, he lifted the Cup.

"It's not the way you think about it or the way it kind of goes on in your head, but that being said it worked out that way," Crosby said, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "I think I look back with just as fond memories as I would if I finished the game."

Crosby's looking to create some new memories Thursday.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates left town for a one-day trip to Denver on Wednesday night, and manager Clint Hurdle left a simple message for his squad with respect to their travel attire, writes Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

JEANS OKAY.
PENGUINS JERSEY.

Most of the team was more than happy to oblige.

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen went with an Evgeni Malkin jersey, while Josh Harrison was rocking a Sidney Crosby number.

The Penguins are looking to win their fourth Stanley Cup on Thursday night, but their first ever on home ice. The Pirates were the last team to win a title in Pittsburgh, way back in 1960. It's been a while.

David Freese could care less, though. He grew up in St. Louis, so his allegiance belongs to the Blues.

"I asked if I could wear a Blues jersey, and I got the look," Freese said.

Gerrit Cole to the rescue. The starter isn't making the trip due to his scheduled start Friday, so he loaned Freese his Ian Cole jersey.

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"The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" has been roasting NHL players throughout the playoffs, so it was only right that the program took one last shot before the end of the season.

Wednesday night, Fallon took aim at San Jose Sharks forwards Logan Couture (who he previously anointed "Sexy Gilbert Gottfried"), Melker Karlsson, and Patrick Marleau, as well as Pittsburgh Penguins defensemen Ben Lovejoy, Justin Schultz, and Ian Cole, along with forward Oskar Sundqvist.

Marleau is never going to live down that photo.

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"The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" has been roasting NHL players throughout the playoffs, so it was only right that the program took one last shot before the end of the season.

Wednesday night, Fallon took aim at San Jose Sharks forwards Logan Couture (who he previously anointed "Sexy Gilbert Gottfried"), Melker Karlsson, and Patrick Marleau, as well as Pittsburgh Penguins defensemen Ben Lovejoy, Justin Schultz, and Ian Cole, along with forward Oskar Sundqvist.

Marleau is never going to live down that photo.

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The AHL's Lake Erie Monsters are one win away from a Calder Cup championship, and the hope is it means big things for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the not-too-distant future.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen assigned a slew of young players to the minor-league affiliate at the end of a disappointing season for the parent club, and it's played out as well as he could have hoped.

"When we sent our guys back down at the end of the season, this is what we were hoping for," Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. "What you're seeing now, is the best-case scenario. We hoped they'd go deep and have a great experience."

What's most encouraging is that it is indeed the prospects leading the way, meaning a wave of young talent - a group includes of Oliver Bjorkstrand, Zach Werenski, Sonny Milano, Kerby Rychel, and Anton Forsberg, among others - is nearing shore.

The AHL team is drawing comparisons to the 2013 Syracuse Crunch, a championship club made up of many players who contributed to the Tampa Bay Lightning's recent string of success.

"In 2013, we lost to Syracuse in the second round, and you could just tell there was something different about that team," Kekalainen said. "Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat ... those guys were a notch above everybody else and they were ready to be part of the NHL."

Success at the AHL level guarantees nothing, of course, but a monster effort from even a couple of these prospects could make a big difference.

Finding room on a roster in need of a few salary dumps may be an issue, but the GM doesn't appear to be sweating that.

"It might take a little while, but we'll make it happen. If somebody deserves to play in the NHL, they're going to make it."

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