AHL Stockton Heat

5 Things: Heat vs. Abbotsford

Published on March 25, 2022 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


STOCKTON HEAT (37-11-4-1) vs. ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS (30-19-4-1)

6:00 p.m. PDT | Broadcast: AHLTV, Fox Sports 1280, Spreaker

Leading Scorers

Heat:

Goals - Jakob Pelletier/Matthew Phillips (25)

Points - Matthew Phillips (57)

Canucks:

Goals - Sheldon Dries (32)

Points - Sheldon Dries (58)

Special Teams

Heat:

PP - 42-for-217, 19.4% (t-15th)/PK - 198-for-227, 87.2% (1st)

Canucks:

PP - 55-for-235, 23.5% (3rd)/PK - 193-for-237, 81.4% (t-13th)

1. HEAT INDEX

After a stretch of 10 games in 19 days, the Stockton Heat hope to have taken advantage of a two-day breather before returning to work Friday against the Abbotsford Canucks, a 6 p.m. puck drop at Stockton Arena. Abbotsford has earned at least a point in six consecutive games, winners of four in a row and five of the last half dozen. The Heat, meanwhile, have earned back-to-back wins with a 10-3 thumping of Colorado and most recently a 3-1 victory over San Jose Tuesday. The matchup of top-three teams in the Pacific Division has leaned heavily toward tonight's home team, with Abbotsford earning only two of a possible 12 points in the season series.

2. THIS, THAT, THE OTHER

THIS... Rules were made to be broken, and for the 2021-22 Stockton Heat, so were records. The club as a whole has set wins and points highs for franchise history. Dustin Wolf has the most goalie wins for a season in Heat history. Glenn Gawdin, then Matthew Phillips, became the team's all-time leading scorer(s). Phillips also has earned the distinction of the team's all-time leading goal scorer. Two more all-time highs could fall tonight or in the very near future as Phillips enters Friday tied for the team's single-season points record and two back of the single-season goals mark. Jakob Pelletier, meanwhile, is just three points back of Mark Jankowski's record of 56 points in a rookie season in Stockton, and he too is two lamp-lighters back of the team single-season high. THAT... A fun matchup to watch tonight? Strength-on-strength, Abbotsford power play against Stockton penalty kill. The Heat pace the AHL with a stingy 87.2-percent mark on the kill while the Canucks' man-advantage is clicking at 23.5-percent. On the season series, it's been somewhat of a draw with both units functioning at less than their season averages - the Canucks' power play going 15.6-percent, an 84.4-percent kill rate for Stockton. The Heat have also netted a pair of shorthanded goals in the season series. THE OTHER... The margin for error is small at the top of the Pacific Division, but sometimes there are numbers that jump out. In the case of Stockton and Abbotsford, look no further than the teams' performance in one-goal games. Stockton is an AHL-best 16-3-4-1 (.771 pct) on the year, including 10 wins in 15 games that went past regulation. Abbotsford has split 20 games decided by a score, winning 10 while salvaging a point in another five at 10-5-4-1 for a still-admirable .625 percentage.

3. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Heat - Adam Ruzicka

Ruzicka has a pair of assists in two games since returning to Stockton's lineup, an elite player at the AHL level whose impact is felt up throughout the Heat lineup. Ruzicka has a goal in two games against the Canucks and will look to help the Heat earn a big divisional win.

Canucks - Sheldon Dries

Dries comes into the game ranked fifth in the AHL in scoring with 58 points and third in the league with 32 goals. Dries has two goals and four points in six games against Stockton this year.

4. MILESTONES WITHIN REACH

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

Matthew Phillips is one point shy of sole possession of Stockton's single-season scoring record.

Jakob Pelletier is three points shy of Stockton's single-season rookie scoring record.

5. QUOTABLE

"We stress development and take pride in developing players that come through the American League program, American League team, and become players for the Calgary Flames. If you have a winning environment in the American league as part of that development and culture overall within the organization striving towards (winning), there's nothing but positive things that can be said about that." - Brad Pascall on the impact of winning on development

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 25, 2022


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