AHL Stockton Heat

Grant Nets Game Winner in Overtime as Heat Win Sixth-Straight at Stockton Arena

January 28, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


Stockton, Calif. - The Stockton Heat continued their four-game homestand Wednesday night at Stockton Arena with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Ontario Reign. Derek Grant scored both goals for the Heat, while Aaron Johnson and Kenny Agostino each earned a pair of assists to lead Stockton over Ontario. Goaltender Joni Ortio was special in net for the Heat, stopping 36 of the 37 shots he faced and has now won five of his last six decisions in a Stockton sweater. The Stockton Heat now look forward to a game against rival Bakersfield when the Condors come to town Saturday and round out the Heat's longest homestand yet this season.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

HEAT GOAL: F Derek Grant (18) centering pass from the goal line goes off a defender's skate and past the goaltender (Agostino, Johnson assists), 19:19 (PP)

Shots: STK - 11 | ONT - 10

2nd Period

Ontario goal: F Valentin Zykov (6) shot from the farside faceoff dot gets past the goaltender low and into the net (Samuels-Thomas assist), 1:13

Shots: STK - 9 | ONT - 14

3rd Period

No goals

Shots: STK - 6 | ONT - 13

Overtime

HEAT GOAL: F Derek Grant (19) tic-tac-toe passing play from high-to-low is tapped in at the top of the crease past the goaltender's outstretched pad (Johnson, Agostino assists), 0:30 (PP)

Shots: STK - 1 | ONT - 0

GOALIES

W: Joni Ortio (37 shots, 36 saves)

L: Peter Budaj (27 shots, 25 saves)

NOTABLE STATISTICS

Three Stars: 1- Derek Grant (2 goals) 2- Joni Ortio (37 shots, 36 saves) 3- Peter Budaj (27 shots, 25 saves)

Final Shots: STK - 27 | ONT - 37

Power Plays: STK - 2/4 | ONT - 0/4

Derek Grant (2 goals) now has back-to-back multi-point games (2 goals, 2 assists), giving him a team-high 11 on the year

Kenny Agostino and Aaron Johnson each collect a pair of assists, giving both at least one point in back-to-back games

Joni Ortio now has wins in five of his last six appearances for the Heat

Ortio also has tied Dwayne Roloson with his 58th win for the Calgary Flames Top Affiliate and ranks seventh all-time in wins. Ortio is six wins away from tying Curtis McElhinney, seven away from Jason Muzzatti and ten away from tying fourth most win in Calgary's Top Affiliate history in Brent Krahn

The Stockton Heat are now on a season-long four-game winning streak and have won six-straight at Stockton Arena

QUOTES

"The 4-on-3 is something that we've been working on a little bit. [Kenny Agostino] and [Aaron Johnson] did all the work on that play and I was just the beneficiary on the backside. It was an important time of the game and we were able to execute." - Derek Grant on his game-winning overtime goal.

"Obviously they're a tremendous team and it shows in the standings. Every game we play them it's tight checking and you really have to look for your bounces to score goals. We did a good job of those things tonight and hopefully we can grab the momentum built in this one and keep it going forward." - Grant on beating the team that leads their division.

"We've been putting in a lot more work on it in practice lately and coach Dominic Pittis has done a good job of letting us make plays that are available, rather than scripting too much. Tonight we had great execution by our group." - Kenny Agostino on the power-play success tonight.

"It's huge and it's really encouraging. They're the defending champs and that's a team you expect to be in the hunt towards the end of the season. To get two points off of them after some of the games we've had against them is huge for our confidence and we just have to try and keep this rolling." - Agostino on earning two points over the top team in the Pacific.

"I like playing against [the Ontario Reign]. They shoot a lot and that makes it easy to get into the game. It's always tight when we play those guys and tonight was a lot of fun." - Joni Ortio on gaining the win over Ontario.

"We came into this one with wins in our last three and we prepared to play the right way against [the Ontario Reign]. They play with great structure and it's always tight-checking against them. We knew it would take our best to beat them and I thought we did that tonight." - Ortio on the key to the win.

"We haven't had a lot of success on 4-on-3 or 5-on-3 power plays this year, so the guys did a very good job when they had that opportunity. This was a big win for us." - Head Coach Ryan Huska on earning the win.

"There were a lot of big saves that [Joni Ortio] made as this game progressed. I've said before that the way Kevin [Poulin] is playing has forced Joni to be better and he responded tonight. It's great for us because we have two good goaltenders and Joni showed that tonight." - coach Huska on the play of Joni Ortio in net.

NEXT HOME GAME

STOCKTON HEAT vs. Bakersfield Condors

January 30 @ Stockton Arena

First 1,000 kids age 12 & under receive a Heat replica jersey

Doors @ 6:30 p.m., Puck drop @ 7:30 p.m.

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2016


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