Blue-Collar Heat Outwork San Antonio for 4-1 Win
March 31, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
SAN ANTONIO, TEX. - A little bit of elbow grease, some hard work and a little bit of luck, along with a third point from Darren Nowick in his last two games, helped the Heat beat San Antonio on Saturday at the AT&T Center by a 4-1 final. After a scoreless first period, both teams got on the board in the second, with Samuel Blais getting the Rampage on the board first with the power-play goal, only to be matched by Stockton's Nowick, who picked up his third point in his last two games, completing a two-on-one rush with Brett Findlay with the goal past San Antonio's Ville Husso. In the third period with Alex Belzile in the penalty box, Brett Pollock attempted a pass across the ice but saw it get knocked down in the slot by a San Antonio forward and bounce into the goal past Husso and add a pair of empty net goals in the final moments of the game to come away with the big win and set the stage for a huge game between the Heat and fourth-placed Texas Stars on Wednesday night at 5:30 PST at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Watch the Heat push for the playoffs on AHL Live by purchasing a single game pass for just $7.99! The Heat are set to return home to kick off a home-and-home series with the San Jose Barracuda on Friday, April 6, a 7:00 p.m. start from Stockton Arena. 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 by visiting stocktonheat.com/finalfourpack or by 209.373.1500.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
No Goals
Shots: STK - 8 | SA - 14
2nd Period
San Antonio Goal: F Sam Blais (16) turnover at the defensive blueline is brought into the left circle and wristed over the glove hand of the goalie (Graham assist), (PP), 8:33
HEAT GOAL: F Darren Nowick (2) two-on-one rush is passed to the slot and dished over the defenseman and buried into the open net (Findlay, Shinkaruk assists), 15:14
Shots: STK - 7 | SA - 9
3rd Period
HEAT GOAL: F Brett Pollock (9) attempted pass across the ice is knocked down by a San Antonio stick but deflects through the wickets of the goalie and in (Wotherspoon, Klimchuk assists), (PP), 4:02
HEAT GOAL: F Morgan Klimchuk (19) two-on-one is shot into the empty net just inside the blueline (Yevenko, Wotherspoon assists), (EN), 18:20
HEAT GOAL: F Ryan Lomberg (9) puck battle won in the defensive zone is knifed up the wall and shot into the empty net from his own blueline (Smith, Doetzel assists), (EN), 19:18
Shots: STK - 12 | SA - 4
GOALIES
W: David Rittich (27 shots, 26 saves)
L: Ville Husso (25 shots, 23 saves)
NOTABLE STATISTICS
Three Stars: 1- Darren Nowick (GTG) 2- Daavid Rittich (23 saves) 3- Samuel Blais (SA) (1 goal)
Final Shots: STK - 27 | SA - 27
Power Plays: STK - 1/6 | SA - 1/5
Darren Nowick (1 goal) has points in back-to-back games (1-2-3)
Five of Nowick's six points this season have come in four matchups against the San Antonio Rampage, leading the Heat in scoring against San Antonio (2-3-5)
Brett Findlay (1 assist) has points in back-to-back games (1-1-2)
Hunter Shinkaruk (1 assist) has assists/points in back-to-back games (0-2-2)
Tyler Wotherspoon (2 assists) records his seventh multi-point game of the season
Morgan Klimchuk (1 goal, 1 assist) records his 10th multi-point game of the season
Brett Pollock (1 goal) records his fourth game winner of the season, tied for second most on the team behind only Hunter Shinkaruk (six game winning goals)
The Heat win the season series against San Antonio by going 2-1-0-1 in the four meetings this season and are 9-3-0-2 all-time against the Rampage
The Heat are 9-4-0-2 in the state of Texas
Spencer Foo made his NHL debut for the Calgary Flames tonight against Edmonton. He's the fourth player this year to make his NHL debut (Andrew Mangiapane, Ryan Lomberg, Morgan Klimchuk)
QUOTES
"I think our gameplan was to outwork them and play more of a blue-collar game like they did last night, and I think we executed our gameplan tonight, and the hard work paid off." - Brett Pollock on the team's mindset tonight
"I will take as many as I can get like that. It is nice to make plays out there and if it is going off feet and in we will take it." - Pollock on his goal that bounced off a San Antonio stick and in
"I think the work ethic is huge. Like I said we want to play that blue-collar game and stay up in their face and we have to do that in Austin as well. If we do that and execute the gameplan like we did tonight, we will be fine on Wednesday." - Pollock on the team's work ethic
"When we have all 20 guys working hard for eachother, blocking shots, taking hits, it brings energy on the bench and everyone wants to win for eachother. If we can do it like that and have that motivate us a little more it is nice." - Pollock on the full-team effort
"Tonight was a full team effort. It is an easy game when everyone is doing their job and we couldn't be happier." - Colby Robak on tonight's win
"It is great to see. It definitely shows the character of our team. Guys go down and guys see it as an opportunity to step up and they do. It shows in games like tonight where guys step up and it was huge for us." - Robak on guys stepping up with injuries and call ups
"We are going to take the positives from tonight and let them carry over into Wednesday. We know how big that game is, especially this time of year. If we play like we did tonight I think things will take care of themselves." - Robak on the mindset ahead of Wednesday's big game
"It was a really good effort again. We are pleased with our group after this one it was nice to see him get rewarded." - Coach Ryan Huska on the win
"He played really well. Let's hope it's a Texas thing and we will carry it over into Austin [against Texas on Wednesday]. He created a lot of energy with his line and he was bumped around a little bit, but when you look at him and McMurtry, guys that have come in and have not been here for the full year and they are giving us a lot right now." - Huska on Darren Nowick's big goal tonight and scoring five of six points against San Antonio this season
"We have to win. We have a little bit of a lunch bucket thing going on right now where it is about our work ethic and competing and playing hard for each other. We just have to find a way to win some games and hopefully we get some help down the stretch as well." - Huska on the mindset ahead of Wednesday's pivotal game against the Texas Stars
"If you work, you get bounces. That is just the way the game goes. Every once in a while, it doesn't go your way, but more often than not if you play the game properly and hard things have a tendency to fall your way." - Huska on getting a few bounces tonight
UPCOMING GAMES
STOCKTON HEAT at Texas Stars
Wednesday, April 4 @ H-E-B Center at Cedar Park - 5:30 p.m. PST
Tune in Live on AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeart Radio
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
American Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2018
- Rampage Split Weekend Series against Heat After 4-1 Loss - San Antonio Rampage
- Hogs Bury Barracuda with 4-Goal Third Period - Rockford IceHogs
- Monsters Drop Tight-Checking Tilt in Ontario, 5-3 - Cleveland Monsters
- Wolves' Magic Number Drops to 3 in Shootout Loss - Chicago Wolves
- Blue-Collar Heat Outwork San Antonio for 4-1 Win - Stockton Heat
- Four-Goal Third Period Propels Amerks Past Devils - Rochester Americans
- Barracuda Downed by Rockford's Four-Goal Third - San Jose Barracuda
- Iowa Falls to Tucson 4-3 - Iowa Wild
- Bridgeport scores once shorthanded, twice on the power play, and twice at even strength in Saturday's win - Bridgeport Islanders
- Checkers Snap Seven-Game Crunch Streak with 4-1 Win - Syracuse Crunch
- Admirals Can't Hold Lead against Griffins - Milwaukee Admirals
- Bau Scores Twice as Bears Ground Rocket, 6-3 - Hershey Bears
- Bridgeport Batters Wolf Pack 5-1 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- T-Birds Put up Five in Front of Sellout Crowd, But Are Stunned by Comets - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Sens Beaten in First Visit to Allentown - Belleville Senators
- Penguins Lose Heated Battle with Bruins, 3-1 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Devils Lose Lead in 5-3 Loss to Amerks - Binghamton Devils
- P-Bruins Magic Number Down to Four After 3-1 Win over Penguins - Providence Bruins
- Comets Reign over Thunderbirds in a Wild Affair - Utica Comets
- McKegg Leads Checkers to Win over Red-Hot Syracuse - Charlotte Checkers
- Moose Eclipsed by Marlies Late - Manitoba Moose
- Rampage Sign Defenseman Neal Goff to Amateur Tryout Contract - San Antonio Rampage
- Marlies Set American Hockey League Road Wins Record - Toronto Marlies
- Reign Sign Mikey Eyssimont to ATO - Ontario Reign
- American Hockey League Announces Suspension - AHL
- Flames Recall Defenseman Oliver Kylington on Emergency Basis - Stockton Heat
- Game Preview: Condors Host San Diego at 7 p.m. - Bakersfield Condors
- Red-Hot Hogs Seek to School Barracuda - Rockford IceHogs
- Game #63 Preview: Tucson at Iowa - Tucson Roadrunners
- Rampage Defenseman Chris Butler Recalled Under Emergency Conditions - San Antonio Rampage
- Game Preview: Rocket Fly into Hershey on Dietz & Watson Ham Shoot Night - Hershey Bears
- G Alex Lyon Recalled by Flyers - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Game Day Build-Up: Senators at Phantoms, March 31 - Belleville Senators
- Round 2 in Manitoba - Toronto Marlies
- Penguins Sign Niclas Almari to ATO - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Sabres Assign Criscuolo to Rochester - Rochester Americans
- Monsters Outlasted by Gulls, 3-1 - Cleveland Monsters
- Condors Road Point Streak Ends in Ontario - Bakersfield Condors
- Roadrunners Post Six to Outlast Iowa Friday Night - Tucson Roadrunners
- Moose Tripped by Marlies 3-2 - Manitoba Moose
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