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AHL Stockton Heat

Heat Kick off the Affiliate Double Header in San Jose

December 20, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


Arena: SAP Center Date: December 20, 2016 Time: 1:15 p.m. PST Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 1:00 p.m. PST LEADING SCORER: STOCKTON: F Linden Vey (20GP, 8-14-22) SAN JOSE: F Daniel O'Regan (21GP, 7-17-24)

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 Garnet Hathaway puck.

TONIGHT The Heat, are nearing the end of a season-long seven-game road trip as they take on the San Jose Barracuda for the third time this season and second time at the SAP Center. Stockton has won three-straight road games for the first time in team history and picked up their first win against San Jose on the road back on December 8 to kick off this current roadie.

Plus, later tonight, the two team's parent clubs will play at the SAP Center marking the first affiliate double header. The Heat and Barracuda take each other on at 1:15 p.m. with the Flames and Sharks getting together at 7:30 p.m.

LAST TIME VS. SAN JOSE The Heat began their current long seven-game road trip at the SAP Center on December 8 with the Heat notching three goals courtesy of Austin Carroll, Mark Jankowski and Hunter Smith in the first 20 minutes chasing Mantas Armalis from the cage and seeing Troy Grosenick tend the net the rest of the way.

The goalies shut everything else out the rest of the way and Hunter Shinkaruk would record the empty netter for the 3-0 win. Jon Gillies made 31 saves to earn his third career pro shutout and his first since October 21, 2015 in Texas.

It was Stockton's first win at the SAP Center all-time having previously gone 0-5-1-0 in 2015-16.

WHO TO WATCH There's no question that tonight is a time to send a message. That message is simple. The Heat will play in front of the Flames coaching staff and management group, who will surely be in attendance during tomorrow's game. They'll be looking at potential call-ups that can help improve the Flames chances of making the playoffs when injuries or lulls happen.

And there are plenty of players who'd like to send said message. In fact, we're sure all of them would like to showcase their ability to impact the game at the AHL level and leave a lasting impression with the Flames staff. So while today should be a good game for many of the prospects, it certainly is an opportunity for a couple in particular.

So for today's game, we're going to go with a guy who has a history of playing well against San Jose in Morgan Klimchuk, who also used last weekend to retake the team lead in goals with his ninth of the season and is looking to become the first Heat player with double digit goals. He also has three points (2-1-3) in his last four games.

BATTLE OF THE HOT GOALIES Two of the AHL's hottest goalies could get the nod between the pipes for the teams today in Jon Gillies and Troy Grosenick. After David Rittich's strong play as of late, Gillies responded with a teriffic weekend in San Diego, stopping 92 of 96 shots as he set a career high of 44 saves on Friday, only to best that with 48 on Saturday, an all-time high for a Heat goaltender besting Kevin Poulin's 47 save performance last year.

On the other side, Troy Grosenick missed parts of five games and returned on Dec. 8 to play two periods of flawless hockey against the Heat, only to carry that momentum through his next few games. Grosenick recorded three-straight shutouts and had a shutout streak going for 248:08. He leads the AHL with 5 shutouts and has helped the Barracuda come into tonight's game with points in four straight, however, he did fall in overtime on Sunday against the Ontario Reign.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN Stockton's struggles on the road last year were well documented, going 10-21-1-2 on the road.

This year, the Heat are two game over .500 on the road going 7-5-0 in their first 12 road contests. Stockton is in the midst of their longest road trip of the season, playing game six of seven and are 4-1-0 so far.

CELEBRATING 50 : Hunter Shinkaruk scored one of the best goals of the season on a one-handed shot while holding off a defender on Friday for goal number 49 only to follow that up with AHL goal number 50 the following night.

While it may not have been as pretty as a one handed goal, it does look like Shinkaruk is starting to heat up. He's tied fourth on the team with 7 goals this season and is just a season removed from scoring 27, tied for the sixth best in the AHL.

Yet another example of a player who has an opportunity to showcase his skill in an attempt to earn a call-up.

INTERESTING FACT Since it's a Flames vs. Sharks game later tonight, lets use today's interesting fact to see how many and who are on the team who's played for the Heat and Barracuda before!

For Calgary it's a total of three players as Freddie Hamilton, Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Wotherspoon all have played for the Heat and are currently on the Flames roster.

As for the Sharks, they have seven players who've played for both the Barracuda and that are on the current Sharks roster in Micheal Haley, Melker Karlsson, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo and Aaron Dell.

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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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