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AHL Stockton Heat

Heat Bring Momentum from Comeback Win into Sunday Matchup vs. Bako

January 3, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


TONIGHT

The Stockton Heat play their sixth game in the last nine days, as the Bakersfield Condors travel north to Stockton Arena for a Sunday matinee affair between the two rivals.

Stockton enters the game riding a modest two-game winning streak, while the Condors are looking to bounce back from a shootout loss at home against San Jose on Saturday.

LAST TIME VS. BAKERSFIELD

On the day after Christmas, the Heat and the Condors faced each other down in Bakersfield at Rabobank Arena in a game that saw the Heat fall to the Condors by a score of 5-3.

Bakersfield jumped out to an early lead and never gave it up, despite the effort of Bryce Van Brabant and his two goals in the third. In the end, an empty netter from Kyle Platzer sealed the game in favor of the Condors.

WHO TO WATCH

Jakub Nakladal showed that he knows how to fill up a stat sheet last night against the Texas Stars, as he collected three assists and six penalty minutes in Stockton's 7-6 shootout win over Texas.

Nakladal has also filled up the stat sheet against Bakersfield, scoring four points in six games against the Condors over the course of this season.

The 28-year-old defenseman has shown a "Nak" for creating offense from the blueline and has become an integral part of the game plan every night for the Heat.

Tonight against Bakersfield should be no exception with the Czech blueliner now having scored seven points in his last seven games.

Watch for Nakladal to once again be a highly-used defender for Coach Huska and the Heat tonight.

WHO ELSE BUT ELSON

The notoriously under-appreciated Turner Elson came through for the Heat in yet another key situation last night when he scored the fifth goal on a big power play in the third before ending it in the shootout with the winner.

But perhaps his nicest play of the game came during the overtime period when during the closing seconds of OT he pushed a Stars defender off the puck right in front of the Texas netminder, giving linemate Derek Grant a chance to end the game in the final seconds.

Of course, Grant did not quite get enough on the shot and the game went to the shootout, but that play was the epitome of what Elson is as a player.

Texas was merely trying to run out the time and take it to the shootout, but Elson was having none of that and simply outworked his man to force the turnover.

The play won't go on any scoresheet and probably won't get mentioned past this blurb, but it's plays like that that put Elson in the conversation for Heat MVP to this point of the season.

CALLING ON ORTZ

Joni Ortio has had himself an interesting last two games with the Heat.

Back on Thursday in Ontario he looked absolutely unfathomably good, standing on his head to lead his team to a 4-1 win over the top team in the Pacific Division.

Last night at Stockton Arena, he was yanked after less than four minutes had ticked off the clock and two goals against. However, do to coach's decision, he returned to begin the third period and he was back to his old self, stopping everything that came his way en route to his sixth win on the season.

Ortio has always been a goaltender that stays level emotionally and doesn't get phased by a good or bad game.

Goalie's have to have short memories and Ortio is a perfect model for that ideal - look no further than last night's game.

PLAYER AUTOGRAPH SIGNING TONIGHT

We will be holding our first postgame player autograph signing tonight following the Heat game against the Bakersfield Condors at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel.

Players that will be in attendance are:

Turner Elson

Pat Sieloff

Morgan Klimchuk

Mitchell Heard

Derek Grant

Dustin Stevenson

Emile Poirier

Ryan Lomberg

Kent Simpson

The above list is tentative and is subject to change.

Join us at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel tonight!

BOOSTER CLUB CHARITY WINE TASTING

The Stockton Hockey Booster Club is putting on their annual Charity Wine Tasting event at Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi Winery Sunday, January 10.

Wine will be poured by Stockton Heat players and the event itself will benefit local charities for a good cause.

Tickets for this event are $30 per person and it will run from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. that Sunday.

Be sure to stop by the Booster Club table on the fandeck at Stockton Arena during tonight's game to reserve your tickets to this exciting event.

INTERESTING FACT

Last night's shootout win over the Texas Stars was the Heat's first win this season after trailing heading into the third period.

Stockton's record in games when trailing after 40 minutes was 0-13-0-2 prior to the win and was 0-6-0-0 at Stockton Arena.

The stat is interesting because the Heat have been a solid third-period team all year, but just have not been able to complete the comebacks in the past like they did last night.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date: January 3, 2016

Time: 4:00 p.m. PST (3:00 p.m. PST)

Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 3:45 p.m. PST

Giveaway: First 2,000 fans receive a Paint the Ice Night poster

Leading Scorer: STOCKTON: F Derek Grant (19GP, 12-6-18)

BAKERSFIELD: F Matthew Ford (26GP, 15-10-25)

For the live, in-game tweets, follow @AHLHeatPR. Stay tuned at the end of the game for the Chase Chevrolet Big Moment of the Game with your chance to win an autographed Bill Arnold puck.

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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