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Stockton Heat

Smith's Second Goal Caps off Big Heat Win in Texas

April 5, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


CEDAR PARK, TEX. - The man who started the scoring inside the first two minutes of the contest ended the game in overtime as Colin Smith's two-goal night against the Texas Stars helped the Heat earn a big two points against the team they are chasing in the standings by a 4-3 final. The game got off to a great start for the Heat with Smith getting the Heat on the board with a beautiful deflection goal past Texas goalie Landon Bow to put the Heat up 1-0 just 1:07 into the game. That score line would remain in-tact until late in the second when the Stars stunned the Heat with two goals in 1:02, one of which came shorthanded, to take the lead. The Texas lead would only last for 1:21 as the Heat would capitalize on the power play thanks to former Star forward Mike McMurtry, who potted his fourth of the season to make sure the Heat were level heading into the final 20-minutes. A similar scenario played out in the third period when Jason Dickinson would score his second goal of the night to put Texas up by one, but the lead would last for 1:25 as another Heat power-play goal, this time by Hunter Shinkaruk, would tie the game and send it to overtime. Smith won the opening draw in overtime to defenseman Oliver Kylington, and two passes later Stockton's first shot on net would win the game as the eventual goal scorer would tap in the centering feed to get the overtime win. Stockton remains in fifth with a .556 points-percentage as Texas falls to a .577 points-percentage, but remain in the fourth and final spot in the playoffs. The Heat are set to return home to kick off a home-and-home series with the San Jose Barracuda starting on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Stockton Arena. It's Pacific Heats Up, an event put on by the Stockton Heat and University of the Pacific Sports Management students to celebrate the University. University of the Pacific students, alumni, staff and faculty, can purchase individual tickets with their school ID's for just $10 at the Stockton Arena Ticket office. Students can also purchase our Pacific Heats Up T-Shirt Pack, which includes a pair of tickets, pair of Heat hats and pair of Pacific Heats Up t-shirts for just $20! The following day, the Heat head over to the SAP Center in San Jose for an afternoon matinee starting at 1:15 p.m. Fans can purchase a four pack of tickets featuring four hats, four hot dogs and 4 sodas for just $44 for any of our remaining three home games, including a Wing It Wednesday matchup next week against the Ontario Reign and Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, April 14 against the San Jose Barracuda by visiting stocktonheat.com/finalfourpack or by 209.373.1500.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

HEAT GOAL: F Colin Smith (7) provides the screen in front of the net and deflects the shot from the center point high over the goalie's glove (Klimchuk, Pollock assists), 1:07

Shots: STK - 4 | TEX - 6

2nd Period

Texas Goal: F Denis Gurianov (16) rush into the offensive zone is passed to the right-circle and shot in between the goalie's arm and left pad (Dowling, Bayreuther assist), 16:49

Texas Goal: F Jason Dickinson (17) stickcheck in the defensive zone leads to rush into the offensive zone where a wrist shot from the left-circle beats the goalie short-side past his blocker hand (Unassisted), (SH), 17:47

HEAT GOAL: F Mike McMurtry (4) gets a feed from the crease into the left-circle where a shot beats the downed goalie into the empty side of the net (Poirier, Shinkaruk assists), (PP), 19:08

Shots: STK - 19 | TEX - 7

3rd Period

Texas Goal: F Jason Dickinson (18) rush into the offensive zone while four-on-four is shot past the goalie's glove on the shortside from the right-circle (Scarlett, Flynn assists), 9:07

HEAT GOAL: F Hunter Shinkaruk (17) pass from the slot goes to the right-cricle and is fired high over the goalie's shoulder and in (Poirier, McMurtry assists), (PP), 10:32

Shots: STK - 5 | TEX - 7

Overtime

HEAT GOAL: F Colin Smith (8) pass from the left-wing boards is deflected past the goalie on the first rush of the overtime period (Pollock, Kylington assists), 0:14

Shots: STK - 1 | TEX - 0

GOALIES

W: David Rittich (20 shots, 17 saves)

L: Landon Bow (29 shots, 25 saves)

NOTABLE STATISTICS

Three Stars: 1- Colin Smith (2 goals) 2- Jason Dickinson (TEX) (2 goals) 3- Mike McMurtry (1 goal, 1 assist)

Final Shots: STK - 29 | TEX - 20

Power Plays: STK - 2/5 | TEX - 0/4

Colin Smith (2 goals) has points in back-to-back games (2-1-3)

Smith his second game winner of the season for the Heat, which comes in the team's second overtime win of the season

Smith also records his sixth multi-point game of the season and third for the Heat

Brett Pollock (2 assists) has points in back-to-back games (1-3-4)

Pollock records his fifth multi-point game of the season

Hunter Shinkaruk (1 goal, 1 assist) has assists/points in three-straight games (1-3-4)

Shinkaruk records his 11th multi-point game of the season

Emile Poirier (2 assists) records his fourth multi-point game of the season

Mike McMurtry (1 goal, 1 assist) records his second multi-point game of the season against his former team

Morgan Klimchuk (1 assist) has points in back-to-back games (1-2-3)

The Heat are 4-9-0-2 when tied after two periods of play, but all four wins have come on the road

Stockton wins the season series against the Stars by going 4-2-0-0 and is now 13-3-1-1 all-time against the Stars and 10-4-0-2 all-time in the state of Texas

The Heat remain in fifth with a .556 points-percentage while Texas drops to a .577 points-percentage. Both teams have five games remaining this season

QUOTES

"We all had good chemistry out there. We practiced yesterday and we had a good practice yesterday, and we came in and we knew our roles. Those were two big goals on two big shots for us." - Emile Poirier on the power play producing two goals

"I had to give a little bit more. That is what I have been trying to do since that. I owe it to my teammates. I knew I had to give more and it has been going well so far." - Poirier on bouncing back after being a healthy scratch in his last three games

"For sure we [left a point on the table], but at least we got the win in overtime. We got the win and we are looking forward to San Jose. If we keep playing like that we really have a good chance. Two more big games this weekend and if we come out and play this way we will be good." - Poirier on the mindset after the victory

"For whatever reason the last number of games goal scoring wise, I have had some good looks, but they just haven't gone in. Whatever I can do to get a couple more opportunities and try to get to the net. I was fortunate to get that first one right away, and then I got going from there." - Colin Smith on his two-goal night

"If you are on that first shift, normally who wins that face-off depends who will have possession for close to the whole shift. It was nice to get that win and then Kylington and Pollock made a great play streaking in. It was a huge goal for us and we will take that win." - Smith on the importance of winning the face-off to start overtime

"It obviously would have been nice to get the win in regulation, but we have five games left and we need to take four to get in anyways so it is a step in the right direction. We are going to try and get some momentum, put it all out there and see what we can do." - Smith on winning in overtime instead of regulation

"They have a lot of fire power over there. To be able to go toe-to-toe and have a good game, especially in this rink, at a time where we needed a win was definitely huge and something the team will build on moving forward." - Smith on winning over a tough Texas team

"There is no sitting back and holding on. We have to win our way in and we know that. It is a huge step in the right direction, but we have to follow it up and keep getting better and it is a great opportunity with two games this weekend." - Smith on the two upcoming games against San Jose

"It is a huge win. Of course, we wanted it in overtime, but we got the win and that is the important thing. We need to build off this and not relax. We need to build off this and keep working until next game and build the momentum." - Oliver Kylington on tonight's victory

"I think we showed a lot of character, and we didn't let them win because we wanted it badly. It was a good character win, and the boys still want to go to playoffs and that is what we are fighting for. We are pushing hard and I like the atmosphere right now." - Kylington on character of this group

"Our forwards on my power-play unit did a great job. Poirier, Shinkauruk, McMurtry and Dube made great plays down low and I just needed to feed them pucks and they made great plays and that is what we need this time of year. We needed a push back when we were down a goal, and we stepped up and showed how good we are." - Kylington on the two, big power-play goals by his unit

"I thought we worked really hard tonight, there were a lot of great individual efforts from our players and I thought we played a great team game. It would have been great to win in regulation, but winning is what was important because it keeps us in the hunt." - Coach Ryan Huska on tonight's overtime win over fourth place Texas

"You need your better players to raise their levels this time of the year. I thought when you look at some of the guys that we count on offensively, Smith is one of those guys, and he definitely did that tonight. We need to keep seeing that from him, and hopefully that will be something that is good for his confidence." - Huska on Smith's big night

"Oliver was really good up top, Dube was composed with the puck in a lot of different situations. Shinkaruk did a good job, McMurtry did a good job. They all worked together, and Emile [Poirier] had some patience and found guys for the back-door plays, which allowed us to have some success." - Huska on the power-play unit scoring two goals

"He is more engaged. Offense aside, if he is skating and working and competing the way we saw tonight, things will happen for him. He just has to make sure he doesn't let his foot off the gas pedal and get complacent with things start to go his way like they are right now." - Huska on Poirier's game since the healthy scratch

"His first few shifts I thought he was a little tenative, but after that I thought he was one of our better forwards, he was skating and making plays. He had a lot of composure for guy that is playing in his first game of pro Hockey with us and thrown into a situation where we were pretty much in a much win situation." - Huska on Dube's first game with the Heat this season

"It is the same mentality that we've had. We can't lose what we have started to develop here in regards to our work ethic. San Jose is playing really well right now, standings aside they are one of the better teams in our division over the past ten games or so. This is probably our number one rival and we know what type of games these will be." - Huska on the two games against San Jose this weekend

UPCOMING GAMES

STOCKTON HEAT vs. San Jose Barracuda

Friday, April 6 @ Stockton Arena - 7:00 p.m.

Pacific Heats Up// Fry Day presented by Golden State Restaurant Group McDonalds

For tickets call 209.373.1500// stocktonheat.com/pacificheatsup

STOCKTON HEAT at San Jose Barracuda

Saturday, April 7 @ SAP Center - 1:15 p.m. PST

Tune in Live on AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeart Radio

STOCKTON HEAT vs. Ontario Reign

Wednesday, April 11 @ Stockton Arena - 7:00 p.m.

Wing It Wednesday// Recycle and Save with Coca Cola

For tickets call 209.373.1500// stocktonheat.com/finalfourpack

STOCKTON HEAT at Ontario Reign

Friday, April 13 @ Citizens Business Bank Arena - 7:00 p.m. PST

Tune in Live on AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeart Radio

STOCKTON HEAT vs. San Jose Barracuda

Saturday, April 14 @ Stockton Arena - 6:00 p.m.

Fan Appreciation Night // Hockey Night in Stockton presented by Budweiser

For tickets call 209.373.1500// stocktonheat.com/finalfourpack

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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