AHL Stockton Heat

5 Things: Heat at San Diego

Published on December 22, 2021 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


STOCKTON HEAT (18-2-2-1) at SAN DIEGO GULLS (9-12-1-0)

7:00 p.m. PST | Broadcast: AHLTV, Fox Sports 1280, Spreaker

Leading Scorers

Heat:

Goals - Adam Ruzicka/Jakob Pelletier (10)

Points - Jakob Pelletier (27)

Gulls:

Goals - Jacob Perreault (8)

Points - Jacob Perreault/Brayden Tracey (17)

Special Teams

Heat:

PP - 20-for-93, 21.5% (7th)/PK - 86-for-95, 90.5% (1st)

Gulls:

PP - 17-for-93, 18.3% (t-16th)/PK - 74-for-89 (83.1%; t-9th)

1. HEAT INDEX

A four-goal, second-period onslaught and another perfect evening from the penalty kill helped the Stockton Heat rattle off their fourth-straight win, six straight at home, Saturday over the Colorado Eagles. Jakob Pelletier scored the game's first goal, coming early in the second, then a three-goals-in-three-minutes flurry for the home team, with goals from Walker Duehr, Eetu Tuulola and Luke Philp helped the Heat put the game out of reach through 40 minutes. Dustin Wolf made 26 stops on 28 shots faced for the second consecutive game, while the Heat silenced Colorado's power play with a 4-for-4 outing.

2. THIS, THAT, THE OTHER

THIS... Speaking of Pelletier, he's rebounded nicely from his first two-game scoreless streak with a point in back-to-back games and 11 shots on goal over that time. With his goal on Saturday, Pelletier became the third rookie to reach double-digit goal scoring, joining San Jose's Scott Reedy and Rochester's Jack Quinn. Pelletier leads rookies with 27 points on the year and tops the class at a plus-17 ranking through his first 23 pro games. It was against San Diego that he notched his first multi-point game, a one-goal, two-assist effort in the third game of the season back on October 23. THAT... Juuso Valimaki has been contributing on both ends of the ice since arriving in Stockton this year, the blue-liner with six helpers through six games. He has three over the last two, including his second multi-point game of his brief run with the club on Saturday. He had three assists in two games against the Gulls when he first skated with Stockton on the year, a weekend in which fellow defenseman Connor Mackey stole the show with three goals, two shorthanded, and five points. THE OTHER... Stockton has enjoyed its time in San Diego historically, the Heat owning an all-time mark of 13-8-0-3 at Pechanga Arena with a win in the lone game there this season. The Heat lead the all-time series with an overall mark of 31-15-0-4 against the Gulls and have won all three meetings this year.

3. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Heat - Connor Mackey

The defenseman enjoyed a breakout weekend last time he saw San Diego, scoring three goals, two shorthanded and one on the power play, adding two assists and earning AHL Player of the Week honors for his efforts.

Gulls - Brogan Rafferty

Rafferty found the back of the net in the first meeting between the clubs in San Diego this season, and he's one of a handful of Gulls with two points through three games against the Heat this year.

4. MILESTONES WITHIN REACH

Kevin Gravel is one goal shy of 20 in his AHL career.

Eetu Tuulola is two goals shy of 20 in his AHL career.

Emilio Pettersen will play in his 50th AHL game.

5. QUOTABLE

"We've played San Diego a few times. We're familiar with each other. They pose a great challenge for us. They're a hard team to play against, especially in that building. Our guys will be excited to play there. They love playing in San Diego. For everybody, going into a mental, physical break for us into the holiday season, it'll be nice to go into it with a win." - Mitch Love on Wednesday's game

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 22, 2021


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