AHL Stockton Heat

Heat Look to Tame Wild Wednesday at Stockton Arena

December 18, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Arena: Stockton Arena | Stockton, California

Date: Wednesday, December 18

Time: 7:00 p.m. PST

Broadcast: Watch tonight's game on AHLTV or hear Stockton's radio call on Spreaker and iHeartRadio.

Join The Conversation: For live, in-game tweets, follow the Heat on Twitter. Join the conversation by replying to our updates or using the hashtag #STKvsIA.

Chase Chevrolet Big Moment of the Game Puck: Stay tuned on Twitter following the game for a chance to enter to win a puck signed by Brandon Davidson with our Chase Chevrolet Big Moment of the Game selection!

TODAY

The Stockton Heat put their four-game win streak on the line as they play host to the Iowa Wild Wednesday night at Stockton Arena, the Heat's first game outside of the Pacific Division this season.

The Heat have enjoyed success in the club's brief history against the Wild, entering tonight's contest with at least a point in all six meetings (5-0-1-0 all-time) and an unblemished 3-0 record on home ice against Iowa, all regulation wins. The Wild, who started the year strong, have won just three of their last 10 games coming into the Wednesday night tilt.

PHILLIPS KEEPS ROLLING

Matthew Phillips has not skipped a beat after returning from his first NHL recall last week, scoring three goals in two games since returning to the Stockton lineup. The sophomore forward has found his way onto the score sheet in his last seven games played, boasting 12 points (7g,5a) in that span. Phillips entered the week tied for fifth in scoring the AHL with 28 points in 24 games and owns an active four-game goal-scoring streak.

GETTING WILD

The Heat have found steady success in the team's all-time series against the Iowa Wild, winners of five of six games with the lone loss coming in overtime. Stockton has won all three meetings on home ice, taking a 5-1 win in March of 2016 and a two-game sweep last March, 5-3 and 4-3 at Stockton Arena. The Heat have never scored fewer than four goals in a game against Iowa and average 5.5 goals per game when facing the Wild.

HEAT OFFENSE ON FIRE

Stockton enters the week with the top-ranked attack in the AHL, clicking at north of four goals per game. The Heat, who average 4.04 per contest, are the only team to operate at a four-goal-per-game pace and are well beyond second-ranked Tucson's 3.65 goals-per-game mark. Iowa is tied for 18th in scoring defense at 3.04 goals against per game. Stockton has yet to score fewer than two goals in any game this season.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Jon Gillies and Artyom Zagidulin have shined during the current four-game win streak, the goalies combining for an impressive 130 stops and just nine goals against in that span - good for a .935 save percentage. Gillies finished one stop shy of matching his career high with 47 saves in Sunday's win against San Jose and Zagidulin set his season high with 36 saves in the first game of the current streak, a 7-3 win over Bakersfield.

FIRST GOAL FIRST

Early leads have helped Stockton build its impressive 17-5-1-2 record, the Heat scoring first 13 times this year en route to an 11-0-0-2 mark in those games. On the flip side, Iowa has lit the lamp first just nine times in 28 games, leading to a record of 5-2-2-0 in those games. When conceding first, Stockton is 6-5-1-0 and the Wild are 8-9-0-2.

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 18, 2019


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