Heat Finish off Three-Game Road Trip in Bakersfield Tonight at 7PM
February 9, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
TONIGHT
The Stockton Heat complete their three-game road trip as the team goes returns to Bakersfield hoping to bounce-back after two straight losses, one to the Gulls and one to these Condors last Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile the Condors won their first game since dropping their two previous, one to the Heat and one to the Milwaukee Admirals.
LAST TIME VS. BAKERSFIELD
It wasn't looking great for the Heat after 40 minutes against the Condors on Saturday as Bakersfield was leading 4-0 after a pair of Anton Slepyshev goals, a Rob Klinkhammer tally and Luke Gazdic's first goal with the Condors.
However something clicked in that final twenty and it took a Derek Grant power-play goal to kickstart the Heat. Emile Poirier was next with a coast to coast marker that ended with the first rounder releasing the wrister from the left circle and past the glove hand side of Laurent Brossoit. Just minutes later the Heat pulled within one thanks to a Dustin Stevenson goal where he threw it to the net and watched it crawl past the pad of the Bakersfield goalie and in.
However the Heat ran out of time in the end and would fall by one.
WHO TO WATCH
Tonight we go off the beat and path from players that normally grace this section to tell you to watch defenseman Dustin Stevenson tonight, and truthfully, you can say that he's a player to watch every night.
Why you may ask? Stevenson who just scored his second goal of the season and his sixth point of the year.
However that's not what makes Stevenson extremely valuable to the team. Stevenson has been one of the top defensive guys for the Heat all season and with Aaron Johnson and Oliver Kylington missing the last game against the Condors, saw a ton of ice time and played a huge part in the Heat's comeback even before he scored his goal.
Stevenson plays an undervalued role as a defensive d-man and with Johnson out, has become the elder statesman on the blueline. To make him more impressive, we like him because he has had to earn being a full-time AHL'er after starting the first four years of his career in the ECHL and playing just 7 games in the AHL before signing with the Adirondack Flames last year.
Look for him to see a lot of ice time against the Condors top lines tonight.
WEEK FULL OF TRANSITION
With just three transactions in all of the month of January, including activating their team captain from his Spengler Cup victory, the Heat had four last week alone as Mason Raymond was assigned to the Heat on the same day Jakub Nakladal was reassigned to the Flames.
That sent Ryan Lomberg to the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL and after two injuries to defenseman Aaron Johnson and Oliver Kylington on Friday, Ryan Culkin got the call to the Heat and could be poised to play tonight as the Heat have just six healthy defenseman on their roster including him. Stockton played a d-man short against Bakersfield on Saturday.
One player who returned from injury after missing 28 games with an upper body injury was Colton Orr who played against the Condors last Saturday.
LEADING THE LEAGUE
Derek Grant has had quite the season for the Stockton Heat and added to his list of accomplishments last week as he became the sole person leading the AHL in goals with 23.
After tying Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Scott Wilson for the lead with 22 after a power-play goal against San Diego, Grant took the lead himself with his 23rd, again on the power play, against the Condors.
Grant ranks tied ninth in the AHL in points with 38 as he matched his career high with that league-leading goal. Grant also ranks among the league leaders in shots as his 139 is just three short of Ontario's Sean Backman for tops in the league.
INTERESTING FACT
Kenny Agostino has three multi-point games in his last four games. He had 2 assists on January 27 against Ontario, 2 goals on the January finale against Bakersfield but was held pointless in the first game of February in San Diego.
However he bounced back and had another 2 assist performance in the Heat's attempted comeback on Saturday.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Arena: Rabobank Arena
Date: February 9, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m. PST
Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 6:45 p.m. PST
Leading Scorer: STOCKTON: F Derek Grant (30GP, 23-15-38)
BAKERSFIELD: F Matthew Ford (37GP, 18-15-33)
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 Tyler Wotherspoon puck.
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