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AHL Stockton Heat

Coming for the Crown

April 5, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


If last week was about handling business, this week is about finishing it.

A pair of clashes between the AHL's top team and the last went how the standings would indicate was most likely, two wins for Stockton over sputtering San Jose. There were highlights, two-goal efforts from Eetu Tuulola and Matthew Phillips on Saturday, the first of Tuulola's career and the most recent in Phillips'. Connor Zary chipped in a pair of scores in the two-game set. Justin Kirkland extended his scoring streak to seven games. Dustin Wolf won a pair of starts while conceding only one goal each tilt.

But now it's time to turn the page, a 68-game season boiling down to the final 10 and most immediately a chance to take two important steps toward grabbing the Pacific Division crown. It'll be first-place Stockton and second-place Ontario, a Friday-Sunday home-and-home where the Heat can put the division nearly mathematically out of reach or the Reign can make it a real race once again.

"We've talked about having a playoff mindset around here, a playoff mentality and good team play essentially since we clinched a playoff position," said head coach Mitch Love. "Doing the right things for team success. That's team play, individual play. We want to be playing our best hockey going into the playoffs, then elevating another level then, too.

"This weekend's games are exactly that. You're going to have to sacrifice. You're going to have to put yourself on the line. You're going to have to do the little things in hockey games that make your team successful and pay the price for each other out there. That's a big thing for us. We've had some tight games, some emotional games against Ontario all year. I don't see that changing here in these last two in the season series."

The Heat have occupied the top spot in the Pacific, and in the AHL for that matter, for months, so they're used to wearing the target on their back. That gets magnified this weekend with the all-important divisional championship essentially on the line. Where we stand coming into the two-game set has Stockton in the driver's seat with some margin for error, not to say that's something they want to lean on.

The Heat are seven points up with 10 games to go and a game in hand against the Reign, who dropped a pair over the weekend against the Colorado Eagles. Stockton has a record of 7-3-0-0 in the past 10. Ontario has stumbled into this twin bill with a 3-5-2-0 mark in that span.

On the line isn't just the divisional title and banner that comes with it, but a new wrinkle this season with a temporary playoff format that awards the top team in the Pacific a bye through a best-of-three first round that matches up seeds two through seven of the pack. Exciting hockey, sure, but in a short series there are no guarantees.

Stockton's magic number to clinch that top spot and the spoils that go to the victors sits at 12, shrinking with every point earned or Ontario point wasted. A pair of wins nearly assures the team's first-ever Pacific championship. A pair of losses and they're in a fight once again.

Playoff hockey is a different animal. The checking gets tighter, physicality ratcheted up, scoring chances come at a premium and the weight of each and every game is magnified. No matter what the schedule may say, the expectation is two playoff games coming this weekend.

The Heat know they'll be facing a desperate team this weekend, not only as it comes to the divisional race but also in an opponent looking to right the ship heading into the second season. These next two games aren't just about matching goals, it'll be about matching the desperation and emotional engagement they'll see across the ice.

"It's extremely important (to match the intensity)," said Love. "But as pivotal of hockey games as these are for them in terms of trying to claw themselves closer to us, it's a chance for us to separate. Our mindset, our preparation in a few practices this week into the two games, that's got to be high. Our guys, in my 58-game experience with our group this year, when the stakes are high our guys seem to show up. I think they understand that the stakes are high this weekend.

"At the end of the day, we just have to continue to be ourselves. Our identity is important to us in order for us to have success. Ontario's got a certain identity in the way they want to see a game played. Whatever team is able to hold truth to that will have success, and that'll be a big focus for us this weekend."

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