Heat Face Grand Rapids for First Time in Team History
January 28, 2017 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
Arena: Van Andel Arena Date: January 28, 2016 Time: 4:00 p.m. PST Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 3:45 p.m. PST LEADING SCORER: STOCKTON: F Mark Jankowski (35GP, 13-16-29) GRAND RAPIDS: F Ben Street/Matt Lorito (37GP, 13-19-32)/(33GP, 10-22-32)
For the live, in-game tweets, follow @AHLHeat. Stay tuned at the end of the game for the Chase Chevrolet Big Moment of the Game with your chance to win an autographed puck from Brett Kulak.
TONIGHT For the first time in Heat team history, the team clashes with the Grand Rapids Griffins looking to snap a skid of three-straight losses overall and a string of seven road games without a win dating back to December 20.
Meanwhile the Griffins have dropped their last two games, including last night to the San Jose Barracuda by a 4-1 score.
LAST TIME VS. MILWAUKEE During the 2014-15 season the Adirondack Flames met up with the Grand Rapids Griffins twice, with the team's splitting the series and the road team winning on both occasions.
Most recently, back on March 22 in Grand Rapids with the Flames taking them down 4-1. Tyler Wotherspoon and Emile Poirier are the only two players still on the roster from that game and Poirier scored one of the four goals for the Flames.
WHO TO WATCH Today it won't be so much of a "who" to watch but rather a "what" to watch. Coach Huska said that last night the 1:04 of two-man advantage time was the momentum shift that Milwaukee needed, but he also said that his patience with the power play units being used has worn thin and that it may be a shift in personnel for tonight.
That's why the Heat power play is the "what" to watch tonight. There's no hiding from how tough 2017 has been for the unit. In the month of January, the Heat power play has scored just once on 31 chances, converting at a 3.2% rate.
This compared to a team that was the 10th best power-play unit in the AHL to end 2016, having gone 20.2% on the power play in the first 29 games of the year.
Maybe a personnel shift is the shake up the Heat need to get back on track but the now 19th best power play in the league has to find someway to get going again.
HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR Mark Jankowski is set to follow in the footsteps that Derek Grant walked last year as the second ever Heat player to be named to the AHL All-Star game.
Jankowski leads the team in goals and points, is seventh among rookie skaters in the AHL with 29 points. He is one of 13 first-year players to receive the initial All-Star nod and one of six among the Pacific Division team. To add to his accolades, Jankowski scored the team's first ever hat trick on January 20 vs. Bakersfield and had his first four-point night of his career (3-1-4).
Fans in California can watch the event on Comcast SportsNet California while fans in Canada can watch on Sportsnet and Sportsnet ONE. Any fan can watch the skills competition and game on AHL Live for free by using the promo code 2017ASC.
Since 1995, 93% of All-Star Game participants have gone on to compete in the NHL, which bodes well for Jankowski as he made his NHL debut with Calgary back on November 28.
NEARING AND SURPASSING MILESTONES While he's still trying to snap a streak of 14 games without a goal, Linden Vey has put up a few assists in that span and is just one point away from his 200th career AHL point. Hunter Shinkaruk is also one point away from his 100th career point and his next assist will be the 50th of his AHL career.
STOCKTON VS. THE CENTRAL The Heat have now played 12 games against the Central Division teams and have gone 8-4-0. Stockton has not lost a game to the Central at home ice all-time but saw losses to Rockford and Manitoba on the road last season and Milwaukee last night.
The Heat play in Charlotte on February 10 & 11 and host the Griffins on March 12 to finish the season series against all Central Division Teams.
INTERESTING FACT With back-to-back shutout losses, Stockton is looking to snap a streak of 160:37 without a goal. Their last goal was at the 19:23 mark of the first period a week ago scored by Heat captain Mike Angelidis.
American Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2017
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- Griffins, Street Beat Heat - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Reign Extend Point Streak Moving into All-Star Break; Defeat Rampage - Ontario Reign
- MONSTERS GAME SUMMARY: Monsters Hit Home Run on Indians Night, Top - Cleveland Monsters
- Comets Fall in Shooutout to Crunch - Utica Comets
- Ellis Turns Away 44 as Condors Sweep Texas, 4-2 - Bakersfield Condors
- Wild Rolls into All-Star Break After Roasting the Hogs 5-1 - Iowa Wild
- B-Sens Drop Final Game Before All-Star Break 6-2 - Binghamton Senators
- Wild Rolls into All-Star Break After Roasting the Hogs 5-1 - Iowa Wild
- Sound Tigers End Phantoms 3-Game Win Streak - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- WOLF PACK GAME RECAP - Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Providence Bruins 3 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Wolves Can'T Slide Past Monsters in Shootout - Chicago Wolves
- Game Recap | Amerks Rally for Come-From-Behind Win over Devils - Rochester Americans
- Game Recap: Sound Tigers 3, Phantoms 2 - Bridgeport Islanders
- RECAP: Kostopoulos Earns 500th AHL Point in Penguins' 6-2 Win - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- P-Bruins Drop Final Game Before All-Star Break 4-3 - Providence Bruins
- Crunch Defeat Comets, 4-3, in Shootout - Syracuse Crunch
- Manitoba Moose Recap: Manitoba 2 at Charlotte 1 - Manitoba Moose
- Tom Kostopoulos Reaches 500 Career AHL Points - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- GAME RECAP: Checkers Can'T Keep Pace, Fall to Moose 2-1 - Charlotte Checkers
- Amerks Score Five Unanswered Goals to Top Devils - Albany Devils
- Reign Release Defenseman Alexx Privitera - Ontario Reign
- Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Jake Dotchin to Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- IceCaps Muted 4-0 by Marlies - St. John's IceCaps
- Wolf Pack Recall Defenseman Spiro Goulakos From Greenville - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Heat Face Grand Rapids for First Time in Team History - Stockton Heat
- Iowa Releases Alex Petan from PTO - Iowa Wild
- Condors Oesterle to Replace Beck at AHL All-Star Classic - Bakersfield Condors
- Bakersfield's Jordan Oesterle Added to Roster for 2017 AHL All-Star Classic - AHL
- Reign Close Regular-Season Texas Tour Tonight in San Antonio - Ontario Reign
- Rampage Defeat Reign 5-4 in OT for 500th Win in Franchise History - San Antonio Rampage
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