AMERKS EXUDING CONFIDENCE WITH DELL HEADING INTO THE POSTSEASON
May 3, 2022By Suzie Cool
Back on July 28, 2021, the Buffalo Sabres signed goaltender Aaron Dell to a one-year contract for the 2021-22 campaign. This season, we’ve seen him shuffle his time between the Sabres and Rochester Americans rosters, adding stability and depth no matter where he’s at.
That stability and depth is about to come up big this week as the Amerks embark on their first playoff run since the 2018-19 campaign.
During last Friday’s regular season finale against the Utica Comets, netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was removed in the first period after suffering a lower-body injury. Dell then came into the game, playing 48:04 in the crease and stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced to help Rochester secure an 8-1 victory over Utica and help propel the team to an eventual berth to the 2022 postseason.
“I think that game (against Utica) in particular showed the type of professional he is,” stated Amerks head coach Seth Appert when asked about the confidence that he has in Dell. “He was up in Buffalo the night before and thought he might be staying to back up again the next night, or potentially even playing in Buffalo because he’s backing up, to getting reassigned to us. Then he’s backing up ‘Upie’ and is ready at a moment’s notice to go in and perform extremely well.”
Dell was no stranger to the situation on Friday night. Being the veteran that he is, Dell prepares for every single game the same way whether he’s starting or not in order to be ready at any given moment.
“You kind of always have to be ready to play as a goalie. It can happen at any moment like that. So, you have to prepare the same way every game, whether you’re playing or not, and you hope that you don’t have to, but sometimes you get thrown into a situation like that. That was just one of those things where you kind of have to come in and be your best.”
Dell began his Amerks career with an impressive six straight wins through his first six starts with Rochester. Before this season, the veteran netminder had never began a season with a win in each of his first six starts at either the NHL or AHL level.
With a win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 9, Dell then matched his career-best 7-1-0 mark when he posted one from March 20 to April 10 during the 2014-15 season with Worcester.
In 17 of his 22 appearances this season with Rochester, Dell has faced 30 or more shots, including eight straight and 10 of his last 11 starts. He posted a season-high 36 saves on Feb. 26 at Toronto and on April 2 at Cleveland.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good. I had a little bit of time off, ‘Upie’ played a bunch in a row, and I was out with a lower-body injury that I was making sure was 100%. Honestly, I’m really happy with where my game is at right now,” commented Dell when asked about where he felt his game was at heading into the playoffs.
WATCH: AARON DELL FOLLOWING TUESDAY'S PRACTICE
Additionally, Dell spent some time in Buffalo this season, helping back up when needed. In 12 games with the Sabres, Dell made nine starts and combined for a 1-8-0 overall record with a 4.04 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage.
With Luukkonen getting taken out of Friday’s game, he will not be available for the Amerks play-in series against the Belleville Senators this week.
“This year Dell has been fabulous for us. He’s got a .909 save percentage, his play in Rochester has been outstanding all year. We have a tremendous amount of confidence in him,” said Appert when asked about Dell taking the charge on the Belleville series. “Our guys look at him as a leader and a mentor on our team, so we feel good with him.”
On Wednesday, the play-in series between Rochester and Belleville begins with Game 1 of the opening round at The Blue Cross Arena. The first round is a best-of-three series in which Dell compares the format to that of collegiate hockey and the importance of really needing to start off the series on the right foot.
“It’s almost like the college set-up where it’s one game and you don’t really have too much room for error. You really only get two cracks at it.”
Dell then finished with, “It’s huge to get that first one. If you lose that first one, then you’re kind of chasing for the rest and it only takes one more after that. So, you know, the first one is going to really be key.”
Luckily, Dell is prepared for Belleville as he’s fared quite well against the Senators this year.
In three appearances, Dell has combined for a 3-0 record with a .926 save percentage. Allowing just seven goals in three games against the Senators, Dell went on to make 87 saves to help total a 2.27 goals-against average.