Takeaways: Sharks win brings closure to tumultuous week
SAN JOSE — Aaron Dell made the last of his 33 saves and swept the puck over to Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The Sharks defenseman then reached down and picked it up as the horn sounded on the Sharks’ 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
A keepsake for Vlasic, perhaps, from his 1,000th NHL game Saturday?
“No, it was for Bob (Boughner),” Vlasic said of the Sharks’ new bench boss. “I’ll just pick up a random puck and tell everybody it’s from the thousandth game. Nobody will know the difference.”
It was a lighthearted moment at the end of a tumultuous week, as the Sharks ended their six-game losing streak and got their first victory for Boughner, who took over on an interim basis Wednesday after Pete DeBoer and three assistant coaches were let go.
Dell finished with 33 saves, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier both scored and Evander Kane and Logan Couture each had a goal and an assist as the Sharks finally got a chance to exhale after a difficult few days.
“It’s a special thing for (Bob). Glad we could all be a part of that for him,” Dell said. “Hopefully he had to get one eventually. Glad it was this one.”
Takeaways from Saturday night.
Aaron Dell seizes the moment: Dell was given a chance to play Saturday after Martin Jones allowed five goals on 29 shots in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers two days prior.
SEASON PASS DIGITAL OFFER
If you have not already, we strongly encourage you to sign up for a digital subscription, which gives you access to all content on the Mercury News and East Bay Times websites. With your support, we can continue bringing these stories — and much more — to your screens. Here’s where to sign up for the season pass: Mercury News, East Bay Times.
Dell will get another chance to start Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes after an exceptional effort against the Canucks in which he stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second period and 14 more in the third.
The game would have had a much different outcome had it not been for Dell, who stopped quality scoring chances by J.T, Miller, Tanner Pearson and Brock Boeser within the first six minutes of the third period. The stops on Pearson and Boeser came after Sharks giveaways.
“He was our best player,” Boughner said. “He made some key saves at key times and kept us in it when we were starting to take on water.”
Staying with him?
“Absolutely. This is a competition. Both guys are good goalies. Jonesy’s going to get a chance to work with (new goalie coach Evgeni Nabokov) for a few days, which is an advantage for us.
“Dell goes in net next game and Jones continues to work with Nabby, so we can get his game to where it needs to be.”
After Thursday’s game, Jones had a 4-5-0 record, an .895 save percentage and a 3.22 goals against average in nine games since Nov. 20. In that same time frame, Dell is now 2-1-1 with a .919 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six games.
Dell stops the one timer to keep the Sharks ahead pic.twitter.com/B0en8VjqcM
— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 15, 2019
Dell credited some of his recent play to the work he did with Sharks goalie consultant Adam Francilia in the summer, and again in early November. During that time a little more than month ago, Dell was sitting for an extended period after DeBoer had lost confidence.
Dell’s last start before Saturday was Dec. 5, when he made 27 saves in the Sharks’ 3-2 loss to Carolina.
“I felt good. I felt my reads were pretty on,” Dell said. “That makes a big difference. The work with Adam Francilia I did on the control really came into play on the last couple that I played.”
After Saturday, the Sharks (16-17-2) were five points back of a playoff spot. For the Sharks to get back in the mix in the Western Conference, they’re going to need to get a goalie to get hot. Dell’s getting his chance, as he’ll make consecutive starts for the first time since Nov. 23 and 24 of last season.
“Not my call. I just want to try and help the team win,” Dell said of starting Tuesday. “If that’s how it goes, I’ll go. But it’s Boogie’s call in the end.”
Hertl and Thornton rediscover chemistry: Boughner made a counter-intuitive move as one of his first orders of business earlier this week, as he moved Joe Thornton up to play center on the second line with Tomas Hertl and Kevin Labanc on his wings.
Hertl had been the second line center for the entire season when he was healthy, and Thornton had a little bit less responsibility as the third line center.
It’s worked well so far. Hertl is moving better after dealing with an ankle injury in recent weeks is and playing more free and easy. Thornton’s got points in the last two games and seems to have picked it up a notch since the coaching change.
Hertl had three shots on goal and scored for the second straight game, this time off an assist from Thornton at the 10:50 mark of the first period.
“Those guys have been our best line when it comes to possession down low,” Boughner said. “(Thornton’s) hockey IQ and his smarts, he’s been around a long time. He’s using the back of the net a little more, playing below the circles, that’s an advantage for him.
“Tommy’s that big guy, they complement each other because (Hertl) can create space for Jumbo and (Labanc’s) got the hands, got the finesse. It’s been a good combination and I think they’ve been our best line the last two games.”
Thornton’s play to set up Hertl was vintage, as he took control of the puck to the left of Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom, went to his backhand to get the puck past a prone Tyler Myers and over to Hertl for a fairly easy goal.
Is this 2013 all over again?
“Our line had chances to score more than one. We had three or four that were right there,” Hertl said. “I really like playing with him. He’s strong on the puck. He holds it, makes space and creates scoring chances. Made a great play to me. It’s working, so hopefully we can continue.”