AHL Stockton Heat

5 Things: Heat at Colorado

March 18, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


STOCKTON HEAT (35-10-4-1) at COLORADO EAGLES (29-17-4-3)

6:05 p.m. PDT | Broadcast: AHLTV, Fox Sports 1280, Spreaker

Leading Scorers

Heat:

Goals - Jakob Pelletier (22)

Points - Matthew Phillips (50)

Eagles:

Goals - Kiefer Sherwood (27)

Points - Kiefer Sherwood/Dylan Sikura (51)

Special Teams

Heat:

PP - 39-for-207, 18.8% (t-21st)/PK - 187-for-215, 87.0% (1st)

Eagles:

PP - 42-for-233, 18.0% (t-24th)/PK - 161-for-204, 78.9% (24th)

1. HEAT INDEX

It's there for the taking. Stockton can seal its postseason fate on Friday with a win, overtime loss or shootout loss, a point away from clinching the team's second-ever postseason berth. The Heat are 14-for-14 on the year in earning at least a point in the game immediately following a loss, exactly where they find themselves following a midweek setback against the visiting Bakersfield Condors at Stockton Arena. Friday is the first of two tilts against the Colorado Eagles on the weekend, a venue where the Heat have been strong with an all-time mark of 7-3-0-0 since Colorado made the leap from the ECHL to the American Hockey League.

2. THIS, THAT, THE OTHER

THIS... After seeing each other five times in the first two months of the season, the Heat and Eagles will meet for the first time since December 18 - a 5-2 win for the Heat at Stockton Arena. The last time the teams competed against one another, Stockton was in first at 17-2-2-1 and road a seven-game point streak into the matchup with Colorado, ranked fifth in the division at 10-9-2-1. Stockton earned the win behind two goals from Walker Duehr, multi-point games from Juuso Valimaki, Eetu Tuulola and Luke Philp and a 26-save effort from Dustin Wolf to backstop the club. THAT... A big part of Stockton's success against Colorado has been neutralizing leading scorers Kiefer Sherwood and Dylan Sikura, who are knotted atop the Eagles' scoring chart with 51 points apiece. Sherwood has three points and a goal in four games, while Sikura las been limited to two helpers in five. They're a combined minus-1 against the Heat on the year. THE OTHER... The Heat hope to continue a trend of strong road play, touting a Pacific Division-leading 15-6-0-1 record in opponents' barns on the season. The Heat are second in the AHL on the road with a .705 points percentage and have outscore opponents 82-66 in games played away from Stockton Arena.

3. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Heat - Walker Duehr

Duehr has three points and a pair of goals in five games against the Eagles this season. Stockton's depth scoring had been strong until Wednesday's tilt, and the speedy forward will look to help the Heat rebound in pursuit of a playoff berth.

Eagles - Dylan Sikura

See that. The Eagles will need one of their top offensive weapons to shake a Heat team that has given them fits this season.

4. MILESTONES WITHIN REACH

Justin Kirkland is three goals shy of 50 in his AHL career.

Glenn Gawdin is three assists shy of 100 in his AHL career.

5. QUOTABLE

"To be this close to securing a playoff berth is great. It's something that we check off the list of accomplishments as a team. From there, we'll move on to ensure we can work towards being first place in the division and reap the benefits of that, hopefully. That's the next order of business. It's a great accomplishment for the guys. Everyone wants to be in a competitive environment." - Brad Pascall on Stockton's team-record win tally achieved on the season

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2022


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