In Raleigh Sunday, Aaron Dell made 29 saves to help the San Jose Sharks to a 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Timo Meier and Chris Tierney scored in the first period to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead.
“The biggest thing is that guys were ready to play,” Joe Pavelski said. “These one o’clock games are fun to play. Guys were just mentally prepared to engage, and I think you saw it right away. You get the lead early, and it allowed us to stay to our game plan.”
San Jose improved to 28-16-8 with the win.
Brent Burns also scored in the win for his ninth of the year.
“We had lots of support tonight,” Dell said. “Guys were coming in and giving the other guys options. We didn’t really give up a whole lot and we got out of our zone pretty easily all night.”
Sebastian Aho scored the lone Hurricanes goal in a game that featured no emotion or push back from the Canes after the first period.
“I don’t know if it’s a character issue or what it is,” Canes head coach Bill Peters said. “That effort today is unacceptable, period. The effort and the intensity we played at was similar to something you would see at a neutral site game in September. I’m not happy. I’m very disappointed in some of the guys you count on. Very disappointed.
“This lineup has been together a little bit here. Maybe there’s some complacency there. (The lineup) will be different Tuesday. There’s three healthy bodies who can go in, and if it’s not those three, there’s a group down in Charlotte (in the American Hockey League). You can’t put that group out again after that.”
The Sharks snapped a four-game skid with the win.
“I thought we played a real good road game. Got the start we wanted, and that kind of set the tone. We knew they would push back and when they did, Dell was great. So, if you can have a formula for winning on the road in a tough place to play, that’s it,”Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said after the win.
[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Cam Ward made 23 saves in taking the loss.
“A little bit embarrassing to be honest. We’re going to want to play a full game if we want to compete in this league. I don’t know if it’s the pressure or not, but at some point, something’s got to give here in Carolina,” the Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal said after the loss.
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