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AHL Stockton Heat

Heat Look for Two Points against Texas

November 14, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


TONIGHT

The Stockton Heat face the Texas Stars for the second time in Texas, as all but one of the remaining regular season meetings between the two teams will take place at Stockton Arena.

The Heat will be on the hunt after putting up four goals in a shootout defeat less than 24 hours ago at the hands of the San Antonio Rampage.

LAST TIME VS. TEXAS

The Heat rode into Texas on the back of a young prospect between the pipes named Jon Gilies and he didn't disappoint.

A game that was a literal stalemate highlighted two goaltenders in Jon Gillies and Maxime Lagace who each had arguably their best performances of the year respectively.

Freddie Hamilton, though, was able to get one past Lagace in the third on the power play and Gillies' 36 saves led the way to Stockton's second shutout victory of the season.

WHO TO WATCH

They say when it rains, it pours. The Stockton Heat's goal drought was reaching difficult levels in recent weeks, but last night in San Antonio the goals poured.

A four-goal night is nothing to thumb your nose at and one of the main guys that contributed to that effort was Dustin Stevenson.

That's right! The resident defensive defenseman of the Stockton Heat contributed two beautiful plays that led to goals last night and earned him his first two points of the season.

For a team like the Heat that focuses on hard work in their own end before the offensive zone and plays a defensively sound game first and foremost, the defense creates the offense in many ways.

While Stevenson may not be the first (or second, or third) guy you think of on that stacked blueline when it comes to offensive helpers, he showed the ability last night to turn defense into offense with the best of them.

Just this week Coach Huska came out and said that Stevenson has been his most consistant and aggressive blueliner to this point this season.

There is no doubt Stevenson would love to build off of last night's production and continue being one of the Heat's top minute-getters on the backend.

SOME SWEDISH, ALL FINNISH

Have you heard the saying, "All Swedish, no Finnish'? Well it's typically directed at a player that makes all the nice moves in the world to get to the net, but can't bury it past the goalie.

We had to modify the saying a little though to accommodate the Heat's top goal-scorer, Finnish-born forward Markus Granlund.

Granlund has become a lethal threat on the Heat power play, posting up and scoring one-timer goals in two of the last four games. He is a gritty player that, while might not have the size of some other guys, doesn't mind taking the beating that is dished out in front of the opponents net to earn the chance at that one-timer he loves so much.

We've now seen it on multiple occasions and he is becoming a potent scorer within Coach Huska's playbook.

Derek Grant had held the scoring title since his call-up nearly a month ago, but Granlund's two goals last night leapfrogged Grant for the team-lead in goals scored and put him in a tie at the top with Kenny Agostino and Freddie Hamilton for the team lead with 6 points.

Certainly Freddie Hamilton, another legitimate threat on the Heat power play, will have something to say about Granlund's lead, but a little friendly competition never hurt - especially if it results in higher goal totals.

POULIN'S DEBUT

While the end result wasn't necessarily what he was looking for, veteran goaltender Kevin Poulin looked to build confidence and get stronger as the game wore on last night in San Antonio.

It was Poulin's first real game action this season, as he had yet to hit the ice in a game at all during the 2015-16 campaign prior to Friday night.

There is no doubt that Poulin is a strong, experienced goaltender, especially at this level. He will look to build off a productive first appearance as the season wears on.

A starter has not been named for tonight's game.

INTERESTING FACT

Last night was the ninth game of the season for the Stockton Heat. Through their first eight, they only scored 15 goals.

A low number? Yes. An impossible hole to climb out of? No.

In fact, just last season while still the Adirondack Flames, this same team scored just 19 goals through their first eight games.

However, they bounced back and scored 32 goals in their next eight contest alone, an average of exactly four goals per game.

Interestingly enough, the Heat scored exactly four goals last night in what they hope will be the beginning of a similar stretch of big numbers as they had last season.

If they keep scoring like they did last night, there is no doubt this team is going to win games.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Arena: Cedar Park Center

Date: November 14, 2015

Time: 5:00 p.m. PST

Broadcast: AHL Live, Spreaker & iHeartRadio beginning at 4:45 p.m. PST

Leading Scorer: STOCKTON: Three Players Tied with 6 points

TEXAS: C Travis Morin (12GP, 4-8-12)

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 Kent Simpson puck.

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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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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