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AHL Stockton Heat

Heat Closeout Homestand against Iowa at 7:30 p.m.

March 18, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


TONIGHT

The Stockton Heat closeout their four-game homestand, as they host the Iowa Wild for the first and only time this season at Stockton Arena.

Stockton enters tonight's game with an overall record of 13-2-1 at home since the beginning of January, but are coming off the heels of their first overtime loss at home last Saturday when the Texas Stars skated away with a 3-2 win in overtime.

Iowa arrives in Stockton after a weekend that saw the Wild drop a pair of decisions to the Milwaukee Admirals. The Wild were outscored 9-3 in those two games, but have split their last ten games down the middle with a 5-5-0 record.

LAST TIME VS. IOWA

Back in mid-January, the Heat traveled out to the Midwest for a two game swing with the Rockford IceHogs and the Iowa Wild. After dropping a 3-0 decision in Rockford, the Heat made their way to Des Moines to face the Wild the very next day.

Neither team's penalty kill had their best night, as the power plays were each 2-for-4 respectively, but the Heat came out on top of a 7-4 final score.

Derek Grant earned first star honors with his four-point night. He is one of just two players this season to accomplish that feat in a Heat sweater - Kenny Agostino being the other.

WHO TO WATCH

There are a lot of viable candidates for this section after what was a solid weekend at home against a good team in Texas. However, when it comes down to it, your most important player is between the pipes and the Stockton Heat have a steady netminder in Kevin Poulin playing well between the pipes.

We haven't featured goaltenders too often in this section, so we think it's time for Poulin to get his due.

It didn't matter what player or coach you spoke with following last weekend's performance against Texas - Kevin Poulin was the first name out of their mouth when asked about which player impressed you this weekend.

The man known as KP faced 62 shots in two games and stopped all but four - one of which was a 4-on-3 overtime game winner that you can't exactly pin on the goalie despite it going against him statistically.

Poulin tops the Heat charts in every major goaltending category and carries a record of 11-8-3 into tonight's matchup with the Wild.

Last time Poulin strapped on his kickers against the Wild, it was less than 24 hours after one of his most impressive performances all season in the 3-0 shutout loss to Rockford. He deserved a better fate in that game, but the offense just wasn't clicking.

Off a fresh week of practice and no travel legs to worry about, the #PoulinWall will look to shut down the Iowa attack and continue what has been a solid stretch of hockey for the netminder.

AGOSTINO RETURNS

With the news coming down yesterday afternoon that Kenny Agostino has officially been reassigned to Stockton, ending his emergency stint with the Flames, the Heat have one of their most effective forwards back in the lineup.

Agostino was the team's leading scorer when he was called up and currently sits in second behind Hunter Shinkaruk with 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists).

The 23-year-old played in two games with the Flames during his emergency call-up and will obviously be looking to get in the Heat lineup and earn himself another shot at the NHL before the season comes to a close.

Boasting names like Raymond, Shinkaruk, Elson and Shore, the Heat lineup up front looks formidable heading into arguably their toughest challenge of the season with six games in the next nine days.

While we always root for guys to make it to the big club, there is no doubt that Agostino's presence back in the Heat lineup makes Stockton a strong opponent down the stretch.

PLAYOFF PRIMER

With the Heat in the thick of the playoff chase, we take a look at what tonight's game against the Iowa Wild can do for both teams.

Starting the day the Heat are sixth in the Pacific with a .509 win-percentage while Iowa enters Saturday, seventh in the Central at .389.

Starting with Stockton, if the Heat can pull the victory in regulation the team can get to .519 with the two-points tonight. In the event the Heat pick up just one point the team will remain at .509 while a regulation loss would send the team back to .500.

As for Iowa, a win would get them to .398 while an extra-time loss would pull the team to .391. A loss would put the Wild at .383..

Keep an eye on the AHL's Playoff Primer updated every morning with the latest standings and magic numbers.

INTERESTING FACT

While Stockton still leads the league in average shots per game with 34.96 however the team has struggled to shoot 40 or more pucks at a netminder recently. Saturday's 43-shots against Texas' Maxime Lagace was the first time the Heat have hit that 40+ shot mark since February 28th's game against the San Antonio Rampage. The Heat have hit the 40-shot plateau 18 times this season.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Arena: Stockton Arena

Date: March 18, 2016

Time: 7:30 p.m. PST (Doors at 6:30 p.m. PST)

Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 7:15 p.m. PST

Giveaway: First 500 fans age 12 & under receive an Aaron Johnson Bobblehead

Leading Scorer: STOCKTON: F Hunter Shinkaruk (53GP, 23-20-43)

IOWA: F Zack Mitchell (60GP, 20-16-36)

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 Oliver Kylington puck.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2016


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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