Carpenter’s overtime goal and Dell’s 30 saves lead Worcester to win

A day after having their seven game winning streak snapped, the Worcester Sharks moved back into the fifth seed of the AHL Eastern Conference Calder Cup Playoff standings by defeating the Portland Pirates (AHL affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes) 1-0 in overtime Tuesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena.

Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter scored the game-winning-goal at 2:03 of overtime for his 12th goal of the season (and team leading fifth game winner) while goaltender Aaron Dell made 30 saves for his 15th win of the season, seventh win in a row and fourth shutout.

Dell’s biggest save of his 30 came inside the final two minutes of the second period when he stopped Pirates forward Brendan Shinnimin on a shorthanded breakaway attempt.

After the Sharks killed off the remaining 41-seconds of defenseman Matt Taormina’s penalty to start the overtime session, Carpenter won the game when he dug the puck out of the left corner, deked around two Pirates defensemen while skating down towards the left circle and beat Pirates goaltender David Leggio with a snap shot from the left hash mark in the slot.

NOTES… Shots on goal were 30-25 in favor of the Pirates… The Sharks went 0-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill… Dell is now 15-5-2 with a 1.80 goals-against-average and .935 save percentage… Dell tied Alex Stalock’s team record set in 2009-10 for most shutouts in a season… Sharks defenseman Joakim Ryan picked up his first professional point with the primary assist on Carpenter’s goal while forward Eriah Hayes had the secondary assist… Sharks forward Micheal Haley dropped the gloves against Pirates forward Eric Selleck at 14:44 of the third period… Sharks forward Jimmy Bonneau joined coaches Roy Sommer and Ryan Mougenel behind the Sharks bench… This was the seventh of eight meetings between the Sharks and Pirates this season… The Sharks are 4-2-1 against the Pirates, 18-14-3 on the road and 40-24-6 with 86 points overall… The Sharks wrap up their five game road trip on April 10 when they travel to play the Providence Bruins at 7:05 p.m./et.

THREE STARS
1. David Leggio – Pirates (24 saves)
2. Aaron Dell – Sharks (30 saves, Shutout Win)
3. Ryan Carpenter – Sharks (1-0-1, Overtime GWG)

LINES
Goldobin / McCarthy (A) / Tarasov
Ciampini / Carpenter / Hayes
Haley (A) / Oleksuk / Coetzee
Schwartz / Trupp / Doremus

DEFENSE
Taormina (A) / Tennyson
Ryan / Doherty
Young / DeMelo

GOALIES
Dell
Grosenick

SCRATCHES
Bonneau
WIllows
Emanuelsson (inj)
Langlois (inj)
Parkes (inj)