Dell shuts out St. John’s as Worcester wins 1-0

Worcester Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell made 20 saves for his first career AHL shutout as the Sharks defeated the St. John’s IceCaps (AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets) in front of 5,673 fans at the Mile One Centre Friday night.

The Sharks, who outshout the IceCaps 31-10 through 40 minutes of play, got on the scoreboard at 3:12 of the third period when forward Daniil Tarasov poked a loose puck from the right side of the crease past IceCaps goaltender Connor Hellebuyck seconds after Hellebuyck made a fantastic glove save on Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter’s one-timer attempt from the right circle. Sharks forward Chris Tierney picked up the secondary assist on the goal, which was Tarasov’s fifth of the season and upheld after an official review.

Though the IceCaps turned up their offensive pressure in the period by firing 10 shots on goal and pulled Hellebuyck inside the final 90-seconds for the extra attacker, they couldn’t get the puck past Dell, who has made 69 saves on 74 shots on goal in 220 minutes of playing time this season.

NOTES… Shots on goal were 42-20 in favor of the Sharks… The Sharks went 0-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill… Dell is now 1-1-1 with a 1.36 goals-against-average and .932 save percentage… Tarasov had a game high seven shots on goal and has a three game point streak (2-1-3)… With the assist, Tierney now has a four game point streak (0-4-4)… Sharks defensemen Dylan DeMelo and Matt Tennyson were the only Sharks to not have a shot on goal… The IceCaps have not scored a regulation goal since the third period of a 4-3 shootout win over the Binghamton Senators on Nov. 26 and have lost three consecutive games by a 1-0 score… This was the first of eight meetings between the Sharks and IceCaps this season… The Sharks are 1-0-0 against the IceCaps, 4-5-0 on the road and 10-9-2 with 24 points overall… The Sharks rematch the IceCaps Saturday afternoon (Dec. 6) at 6pm/et.

THREE STARS
1. Connor Hellebuyck – IceCaps (41 saves)
2. Daniil Tarasov – Sharks (1-0-1, GWG)
3. Melker Karlsson – Sharks

LINES
Tarasov / Tierney / Karlsson
Haley (A) / Hamilton / Hayes
Trupp / Oleksuk / Carpenter
Lerg (C) / Langlois / Burish

DEFENSE
Taormina (A) / Tennyson
Abeltshauser / DeMelo
Young / Fedun

GOALIES
Dell
Anderson

SCRATCHES
Blazek
Bonneau
Jones
Schwartz
Doherty (inj)
Emanuelsson (inj)