SHARKSPAGE

Dell, WorSharks blank IceCaps 1-0 as Tarasov scores lone goal of game

The Worcester Sharks are still having a bit of an issue putting the puck in the net, and after dropping a 4-2 contest in Portland Tuesday night made their way up to St. John’s, Newfoundland and in the first of a two game set on The Rock managed to score just one goal when Daniil Tarasov knocked home a lose puck, but rookie goaltender Aaron Dell made that goal stand up with several huge saves down the stretch as the WorSharks defeated the IceCaps 1-0 at Mile One Centre on Friday night.

Worcester Sharks forward Daniil Tarasov got credit for the game's only goal scored just a
split second after this picture was taken in the WorSharks 1-0 win at St. John's. The puck
can be seen laying on the ice between the legs of IceCaps goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
SHARKSPAGE photo via video capture

For video highlights we’ll use the IceCaps YouTube channel and we get to enjoy one of the best voices in minor league hockey as St John’s broadcaster Brian Rogers has the call.

Scratches for Worcester were Andrew Blazek, Jimmy Bonneau, Taylor Doherty (hand), Petter Emanuelsson (shoulder), Nick Jones, and Rylan Schwartz. J.P. Anderson was the back-up goaltender. During the week San Jose reassigned Matt Tennyson to the WorSharks, making the PTO signing of Andrew Blazek likely unnecessary. Word on the street is Blazek, who like fellow defenseman Nick Jones is a graduate of Robert Morris University, has the skill level to play in the AHL, so hopefully the Worcester coaching staff is taking a good look at him while he’s here.

Getting injury disclosure from the Worcester Sharks is not usually an easy thing, so to get any definitive information on Doherty’s left hand while the team is so far away is virtually impossible. Available evidence seems to point at it being broken, but early next week is likely the earliest we’ll know more. That being said, getting an injury status from San Jose is akin to getting blood from a stone, so there’s been no word at all on the injury to goaltender Troy Grosenick beyond the usual “upper body” designation, and obviously no word on when he’ll be returned to Worcester. As injured players can’t be assigned to the minor leagues he’ll have to be very close to playing before he can be sent down.

Currently the only goal of the game is listed as Tarasov from Taylor Fedun and Chris Tierney, but that will likely change as Ryan Carpenter touched the puck between those two players.

If you think the WorSharks scoring woes are bad, try being an IceCaps fan. St John’s has lost three consecutive games by a 1-0 score and hasn’t scored a regulation goal since November 26th in Binghamton. They’ve gone 199:08 without scoring a regulation or overtime goal. They did have a shootout goal in Binghamton, so some would consider their scoreless streak at just 180 minutes. Let’s just say this writer–and IceCaps beat writer Robin Short–disagrees with that assessment.

I’m not a fan of the referees calling Diving/Embellishment on top of another penalty. Either the play was a foul or it wasn’t. If a player was legitimately hooked or tripped, the “embellishment” is meaningless. If it wasn’t a penalty, call the dive. Referee Trevor Hanson, who anecdotally calls them the most, whistled IceCaps winger Ben Walker for a hook and WorSharks defenseman Dylan Demelo for diving. Having the advantage of watching the video multiple times it wasn’t clear that Walker hooked DeMelo nor that DeMelo dove. At least neither team got a power play out of the deal.

And speaking of video review, Referee Hanson used video review on the Tarasov goal. Unlike the NHL where the reason for the review is announced it’s not the practice of the AHL to do so. It would have been nice to know what Hanson was looking at. The highlight video doesn’t show anything that appears to be reviewable. We’ll just add this to one of the long list of AHL mysteries.

The three stars of the game were
1. STJ – 37 Connor Hellebuyck (41 saves in losing effort)
2. WOR – 19 Daniil Tarasov (gwg)
3. WOR – 15 Melker Karlsson (your guess as to why is as good as mine)

Well, that mess of a three stars listing from St John’s makes our pick for the Sharkspage player of the game pretty easy, Aaron Dell.

Even strength lines
Tarasov/Tierney/Karlsson
Haley/Hamilton/Hayes
Trupp/Oleksuk/Carpenter
Lerg/Burish/Langlois

Taormina/Tennyson
Abeltshauser/DeMelo
Young/Fedun

BOX SCORE

Worcester 0 0 1 – 1
St. John’s 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Trupp Wor (holding), 0:53; Melchiori Stj (tripping), 3:18; Walker Stj (hooking), 10:19; Kichton Stj (interference), 15:12; DeMelo Wor (interference), 15:25.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-DeMelo Wor (diving/embellishment), 12:48; Walker Stj (hooking), 12:48; Tennyson Wor (high-sticking), 15:08.

3rd Period-1, Worcester, Tarasov 5 (Fedun, Tierney), 3:12. Penalties-Haley Wor (tripping), 4:20; Burish Wor (roughing), 9:50; Cornell Stj (roughing), 9:50; Cornell Stj (interference), 13:09.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 15-16-11-42. St. John’s 6-4-10-20.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 4; St. John’s 0 / 4.
Goalies-Worcester, Dell 1-1-0 (20 shots-20 saves). St. John’s, Hellebuyck 9-6-0 (42 shots-41 saves).
A-5,673
Referees-Trevor Hanson (47).
Linesmen-Jim Vail (75), Joe Maynard (24).