SAN JOSE – The Sharks needed two things from their post-Thanksgiving contest with the Vancouver Canucks: To rebound from their disappointing loss to the Edmonton Oilers, and to end their long six-game homestand on a high note.
On Black Friday, they checked off each of those boxes. Behind another brilliant performance from backup goaltender Aaron Dell, San Jose handed Vancouver its eighth straight loss in a very convincing 4-0 rout.
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SIGN UP HERE Here are three takeaways from Friday night’s game:
Dell stood on his head … again
The Sharks may have been the better team in Friday’s game, but the Canucks didn’t sit back and let the home team steamroll them. Vancouver drew penalties and created grade-A scoring opportunities. Heck, the Canucks even kept up with the Sharks on the shot clock most of the night – something very few teams are able to do.
But Dell and the defense weren’t having it.
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Dell entered Friday’s contest with a perfect record against the Canucks, and he added to it with his second straight shutout. With multiple road back-to-backs coming up for the Sharks, it won’t be surprising if he sees even more starts.
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Special teams stole the show
San Jose’s penalty kill has been one of the best parts of its game through the early part of the season. While the kill remained dominant in shutting out the Canucks, the power play pitched in to help out the Sharks’ cause.
The Sharks scored three of their four goals on the man advantage, marking the second time this season they’ve registered three power-play goals in a game. While all three were nice, the icing on the cake was Erik Karlsson’s third-period marker.
Karlsson also tallied an assist on Melker Karlsson’s goal, giving the Swedish defenseman three points on the game and a total of eight points through a five-game span.
What’s the deal with Antoine Roussel?
For this writer, he’s always going to be the guy who pulled Tommy Wingels’ hair. But seriously, Roussel really has a problem with the Sharks. You can always count on him to get into a scuffle when he comes to town. Sometimes San Jose can rise above his shenanigans, and sometimes he gets under the Sharks' skin.
Friday night featured more bad behavior from the French forward, but the Sharks were able to use it to their advantage. Roussel went to sin bin twice in the first 20 minutes of the game, with his second penalty resulting in a Logan Couture power-play goal.
Oh, and then he got leveled by Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon in the second frame. Then again, Dillon was a wrecking ball during this game and led all skaters with five massive hits through the first two frames.