Dell, luck crucial in Sharks’ victory
Aaron Dell had just finished making seven saves to help the Sharks kill off a third period elbowing penalty to Evander Kane. But minutes later, at another critical juncture of Friday’s game at Winnipeg, Dell was helpless.
Neal Pionk sent a shot toward the Sharks’ net that glanced off a body in front. Dell was down and out as the puck bounced onto the stick of Kyle Connor, who put it off a goal post with 20 seconds left and a wideopen net right in front of him.
“I think the knob of my stick went off of (Connor’s) shaft. That might have helped a little bit,” Dell said. “That’s what I’m going to say, anyway.”
Dell finished with 29 saves, including 17 in a wild third period, to help the Sharks top the Jets 3-2.
Down 2-1 after two periods, the Sharks (25-28-4) got goals from Melker Karlsson and Timo Meier 89 seconds apart in the third to help win their third straight road game. The Sharks entered Friday with a 1-22-0 record when they’ve trailed after two periods.
Marcus Sorensen also scored for the Sharks, who wrap up their quick twogame trip this afternoon against the Minnesota Wild.
“We needed a big performance by Dell and he was our best player tonight, by far,” Sharks interim coach Bob Boughner said. “(The Jets) had a lot of opportunities, especially in the first period. Even though they only registered three shots, they missed the net on a few of them and Deller made some saves.”
For the season, Dell is 8-5-1 with a .914 save percentage in 15 road games. He led the Sharks to victories over playoff contenders Calgary and
Edmonton last week, stopping 58 of 62 shots.
“He was great,” Kane said of Dell. “Made a lot of big saves in tight, did a great job scrambling and icing some pucks for us. He’s been playing well for quite a long stretch of time, and we definitely counted on him.”
Other takeaways from Friday:
1. PENALTY KILL COMES THROUGH IN THE END >> Of Dell’s 29 saves, 13 came on the penalty kill against a Jets team that entered Friday with four powerplay goals in its past three games. Kane was given a questionable interference penalty at the 6:33 mark of the second period, and the Jets took advantage as Connor scored on a between-the-legs shot from in close at the 8:21 mark to tie the score 1-1.
But Dell and the Sharks went on to kill a high-sticking penalty to Stefan No- esen later in the second period and the call on Kane with 6:43 left in regulation time.
In their 6-2 loss to Calgary on Monday, the Sharks were shorthanded six times and allowed three powerplay goals.
“They ended up getting one on the first (power play),” Dell said. “But after that, as well as the 6-on-5, we were lights out on the PK.”
2. MEIER CONTINUES RESURGENCE >> Meier’s goal at the 6:47 mark of the third period was his 19th of the season and extended his point streak to four games.
Meier has three goals and three assists in the last four games as he’s clearly found some chemistry with linemates Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc to help creep toward the career-high 30 goals he scored last season.
“He’s picked his game up in every area,” Boughner said. “He’s been way more physical. His attention to detail defensively is better, and I think he’s getting some offense off of it.”
On his goal Friday, Meier pounced on a rebound after Brent Burns’ shot toward the net and tapped it past Connor Hellebuyck, who, up until the third period, had stopped 23 of 24 shots.
“He’s playing heavy, he’s skating,” Kane said of Meier. “He’s a big powerful guy with a good scoring touch. When he goes hard to the net, he can finish. That was another example of that tonight.” 3. DEPTH CONTRIBUTIONS >> Sorensen’s goal snapped a personal 25-game goal drought as his line with Alexander True and Dylan Gambrell got the Sharks on the scoreboard.
True, in his fourth NHL game, took a pass from Gambrell and carried the puck from behind the net to the front. Sorensen, stationed in the crease got a stick on and tapped it in for his sixth goal of the season and his first since Dec.5 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
In the third period, Karlsson took a pass from Joel Kellman and beat Hellebuyck from in close to snap a 26-game goal drought. The Sharks will take whatever offense they can get from the depth of their team, as Karlsson and Sorensen have combined for 10 goals this season, a year after they combined for 29.
“It is a team win,” Boughner said. “We got scoring from our depth guys, we had a couple guys go down a bit during the game, and we responded pretty well. I was happy with the overall effort and the team sticking together.”