Heat Head to Bakersfield for Back Half of Home-And-Home
November 28, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Arena: Rabobank Arena
Date: November 28, 2015
Time: 7:00 p.m. PST (Doors at 6:00 p.m.)
Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 6:45 p.m. PST
Leading Scorer: STOCKTON: F Freddie Hamilton (14GP, 5-6-11)
BAKERSFIELD: D Brad Hunt (17GP, 4-10-14)
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 Aaron Johnson puck.
TONIGHT
The Stockton Heat will hit the ice for their third game in four nights. It will also serve as the finale of the first home-and-home for the Heat this season after Bakersfield made the trip to Stockton just last night.
This is Stockton's first trip to Bakersfield since both clubs moved to the AHL over the summer.
LAST TIME VS. BAKERSFIELD
You don't have to go back to far to find when these two teams played last. In fact you wouldn't even have to go back more than 24-hours, as the Heat and Bakersfield faced off at Stockton Arena last night.
The Condors jumped out to an early four-goal lead in the first period before the Heat staged a furious comeback and dominated play throughout the remainder of the contest.
Unfortunately for the Heat, it was just too little too late.
Bakersfield narrowly escaped Stockton Arena with a 6-5 victory thanks to going 3-for-3 on the power play.
WHO TO WATCH
One of the key things that Coach Huska talked about improving following the Heat's 2-1 loss to Ontario the day before Thanksgiving was the power play.
Friday against Bakersfield, the Heat power play finished with two goals on their three chances and one of the key guys that provided the firepower on the man-advantage was Garnet Hathaway.
Not necessarily known as a guy who is going to get a ton of power-play minutes, Hathaway was a force in front of the Bakersfield net, scoring a power-play goal off a tipped point shot and just missing on at least two other opportunities for power-play markers.
Hathaway prides himself on being a hard worker and a hard player to play against in the dirty areas.
Last night he showed just how dangerous he can be when he finds his groove offensively and establishes his net-front presence.
Watch for Hathaway to try and establish himself on top the Bakersfield crease once again tonight, especially on the power play.
NEW NAME ON TOP
Freddie Hamilton's three-point night Friday against Bakersfield propelled the 23-year-old forward to the lone spot atop the Heat's scoring standings with 11 on the year.
Hamilton has not just had a few big games either. He has been one of the most consistent scorers on the roster; never going longer than two games without a point and only went without a point in back-to-back games once.
The Toronto, Ontario native has been ripping through the month of November, scoring two goals and six assists in the eight games the team has had thus far in the month.
Tonight is the final game of November for the Heat and the resident "Mr. November" will again look to provide the spark and consistency up front for the Heat.
FIRSTS ALL-AROUND FOR THE "BIG RIG"
Forward Hunter "Big Rig" Smith earned his first pro point Friday night against Bakersfield on Hamilton's bar-in snipe job in the second period.
The feeling of his first point, though, would later be multiplied when he was credited with his first pro goal less than three minutes into the third period. Smith was able to poke the puck past the goaltender as he made a hard drive to the net and the rebound bounced off his pants and bounced near his stick.
Smith is another guy like Hathaway that isn't necessarily known as a points guy, but has soft hands in the gritty areas of the ice.
The big-bodied Smith scored his first in a non-surprising fashion, driving hard to the crease and cleaning up a rebound. He is difficult to move in front of the net and said himself that the crease is where he needs to make his living.
Hopefully his first multi-point effort will carry into his next few games and become a trend for the Big Rig.
INTERESTING FACT
Prior to Friday night's game against the Condors, Garnet Hathaway's last multi-point game came back on April 4, 2015 at San Antonio when Hathaway was a member of the Adirondack Flames.
That game saw him score two goals and an assist, just as he did last night against Bakersfield.
On top of that, Hathaway has followed up his last five AHL multi-point games with at least one point the next game.
Certainly he'll look to continue that trend tonight in Bakersfield.
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