SAN JOSE, Calif. _ One moment of indecision by goalie Aaron Dell put the San Jose Sharks in the position of having to play catch-up for a good portion of Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins.
It shouldn't have to be that way, of course. But as long as the Sharks continue to have trouble scoring goals, there will be almost no margin for error at the other end of the ice.
Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk scored the go-ahead goal at the 10:46 mark of the first period and the Sharks failed to mount much of a response as they were handed a 3-1 loss at SAP Center.
DeBrusk caught up to a long clearing lob pass by defenseman Charlie McAvoy near the faceoff dot to the left of Dell and scored high blocker side. Dell, it seemed, couldn't decide whether to play the puck or just stay in his net and get in proper position. Neither happened.
As DeBrusk let the shot go, Dell was down on both knees with his stick in a poke check position.
Center Danton Heinen added an insurance goal for the Bruins at the 14:09 mark of the third period.
The Sharks had 25 shots on goal in the first two periods. But putting shots toward the net hasn't been an issue. Scoring has.
Coming into Saturday, the Sharks had just six even strength goals in their last five games. They went 3-2 in those games, largely because of their goaltending and team defense.
It didn't help that once again, the Sharks on Saturday didn't have any luck on video replays. One San Jose goal was overturned and a Bruins goal was allowed to stand after a challenge from coach Pete DeBoer.
A Joe Pavelski backhand shot from in close was saved by Boston goalie Anton Khudobin. With Joonas Donskoi right there as well, the puck bounced off him and into the Bruins net just 1:02 into the game. A video review determined, though, that the puck was directed in off Donskoi's glove before it crossed the goal line.
At the 6:17 mark of the first, DeBrusk danced around Brent Burns just inside the Sharks' blue line to be one-on-one with Dell. Joakim Ryan came over to try to defend DeBrusk and tripped him just outside the crease, upending Dell. Peter Cehlarik trailed the play and scored his first of the season.
The Sharks challenged the goal for goalie interference, but to no avail. It was the fourth video to go against the Sharks in two games, after would-be goals by Tim Heed and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were disallowed in Thursday's 2-1 loss to Florida.
Before Cehlarik's goal, the Sharks took a 1-0 lead as Danny O'Regan was able to gain control of the puck behind the Bruins net. He shielded it from Boston defenseman Rob O'Gara and backhanded a pass in front to an open Meier, who scored his second of the season.
O'Regan was called up from the AHL on Saturday after Barclay Goodrow was placed on injured with an upper body ailment.
Goodrow was hurt with 6:33 to go in the third period of Thursday's game against Florida. He and Panthers winger Mark Pysyk got tied up after a faceoff and Pysyk landed on Goodrow as the two fell to the ice. Goodrow seemed to land heavily on his shoulder, as he skated off when the whistle blew and didn't return to the ice.
The Sharks opted to go with O'Regan, 23, instead of Ryan Carpenter, who was a healthy scratch for the sixth-consecutive game.
"It's his turn for a look," DeBoer said Saturday morning of O'Regan. "Carpenter had 10 games and I think he deserves a chance to see what he can do."
O'Regan, who played three games with the Sharks last winter, leads the Barracuda with 12 points in 12 games. He won the AHL's rookie of the year award last season with 58 points in 63 games.
"I'm going to try my hardest to make an impact on the game without taking unnecessary chances and being irresponsible," O'Regan said Saturday morning. "It's just a lot of the little things, limiting turnovers, things like that can go a long way."
Dell was playing in his seventh game of the season, with five starts and two appearances in relief of Martin Jones. Dell didn't play in his seventh game last season until Jan. 11, 2017, 42 games into his first year in the NHL.
Before Saturday, Dell's goals against average is 1.94, best among all goalies who have seen action in at least six games.
"I don't think there's a more important position," DeBoer said, "and we've gotten great goaltending so far this year and we want that to continue."
