Coaching change has produced a big opportunity for Dell to prove himself
COLUMBUS, OHIO >> It wasn’t long ago that Sharks goalie Aaron Dell had no idea when his next start would come.
There was no sense in him guessing either.
“Sometimes I thought I would get another chance and I didn’t,” Dell said, “and other times I didn’t think I
would and I did.”
Perhaps few Sharks players have benefited more from the coaching change — from Pete DeBoer to Bob Boughner — than Dell. He now knows there’s a good chance he’ll keep starting if he plays well. If he slips up, he knows Martin Jones will once again take the crease.
So after Dell stopped 36 of 38 shots in the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and was the game’s number one star, Boughner decided go back to him for today’s game with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Jones, who allowed just one goal in each of his last two starts, will be in net Sunday against the Washington Capitals.
“It felt like sometimes I didn’t really get as much of an opportunity with (DeBoer),” Dell said Friday. “He kind of liked to ride his top guy a lot. At that point, we were kind of just changing up anything just to see what was happening. I’m excited to play and hopefully I can keep playing a lot.”
“I’m pretty happy with both (Jones and Dell),” Boughner said. “(Dell) had a good game (Thursday) and
we want to keep him rolling. Both of them will get action this weekend.”
Regardless of who has been in net, the Sharks haven’t won consecutive games since they beat Los Angeles and Arizona on Nov. 29 and 30, respectively.
“I think that Deller has been provided an opportunity here,” said Boughner, who was in his second season as an assistant under DeBoer in 2016-17 when Dell was a rookie. “Knowing that it’s a challenge to be in the net every night, to keep the net every night, I think that’s important.
“More than anything, for him, he’s just dug in. He’s found a way to win games and make big saves at the right time.”
Since Boughner replaced DeBoer on Dec. 11 and Evgeni Nabokov took over from Johan Hedberg as the Sharks’ goaltending coach, both Dell and Jones’ individual numbers have improved.
Jones was 12-12-1 with a .891 goals-against average through 26 games, which included a stretch in November when he started seven straight from Nov. 5-19, going 6-1-0.
Dell was firmly in DeBoer’s doghouse at that time, and for good reason. After he stopped just 23 of 28 shots in a 5-2 Sharks loss to Vancouver on Nov. 2, Dell had a 2-3-0 record and an unsightly .878 save percentage.
Since Dec. 14, though, Dell is 2-2-1 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average. Jones is 1-3-0, but has a .904 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average, having allowed just two goals combined in games against Philadelphia on Dec. 28 and Detroit on Tuesday.
Both Jones and Dell have seen the benefits of a much tighter defensive structure under Boughner. Still, they have to make the saves when needed.
“You have to give (Nabokov) some credit for that,” Boughner said. “I think he’s worked hand in hand with both of those guys. Both of their games are going in the right direction.”
In other words, the Sharks are again in an era where there is no true number one goalie. Perhaps the last time the Sharks were in a situation like this was during the 2005-06 season, when Nabokov and Vesa Toskala almost equally shared time in the net. Nabokov played 45 games that year and Toskala played 37.
“It’s going to be gameto-game and week-toweek and who’s playing well,” Boughner said. “I’m not anointing anyone the number one at this point. I need both of them down the stretch and Deller right now, he’s winning games for us.”
Perhaps adding to the intrigue of the next few weeks and months is Dell’s contract status. He is without a deal for next season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, He might even be a trade piece if general manager Doug Wilson wants to see by the Feb. 24 NHL trade deadline.
“I try not to think about it,” Dell said of his expiring contract. “Gives that extra added pressure that you don’t need. Whatever happens, happens. I just have to play my game and I’ll worry about that when it comes.”
• Joe Thornton said Friday it was special to get a text from Hall of Fame player Adam Oates after the Sharks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime the night before. Thornton assisted on Brent Burns’ goal with 2:58 left in overtime, giving the Sharks a 3-2 victory on Thursday in their second game of a five-game road trip. The assist was the 1,080th of Thornton’s career, moving him past Oates into seventh place on the NHL’s all-time assist list.
“I watched him growing up,” Thornton said of Oates. “He was just one of the best, obviously, ever. I got to know him over the years and just an incredible guy, too. It’s special when you pass a guy you get to know and one of your idols growing up. Very exciting.”
Thornton felt the same way in April when he tied and passed Steve Yzerman on the NHL’s all-time assist list. Thornton wears No. 19 in honor of Yzerman, who had 1,063 assists in a 22year Hall of Fame career.