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AHL Stockton Heat

Hunter Smith Notches First Pro Points in Wild 6-5 Loss to Bako

November 28, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


Stockton, Calif. - Forwards Garnet Hathaway and Freddie Hamilton led the way for the Stockton Heat down the stretch, earning three goals and six points between them, but the comeback fell just short, as the Bakersfield Condors narrowly escape Stockton Arena with a 6-5 victory. Hathaway earned his first multi-goal effort of the season, leading the offensive charge throughout the contest, while Hamilton moved into a three-way tie atop Stockton goal-scoring standings with his fifth on the season. Goaltender Kent Simpson was called upon in relief for the third time this season and stopped 11 of the 13 shots he faced, and Hunter Smith notched his first pro assist and followed that up with his first pro goal and multi-point effort, but the hole dug by a four-goal first period by Bakersfield was too deep to climb out of for the Heat. The Stockton Heat will now have a quick turnaround and a road trip south to Bakersfield, as these two teams will meet once again less than 24-hours from now at Rabobank Arena.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

Bakersfield goal: F Kyle Platzer (2) shot from the farside faceoff dot defelcts off a defender and goes into the net cross-cage (Chase, LaLeggia assists), 2:04 (PP)

Bakersfield goal: F Kale Kessy (3) catch-and-shoot opportunity is put past the goaltender's blocker on a 2-on-1 rush (Slepyshev, Musil assists), 7:37

Bakersfield goal: D Joey LaLeggia (1) shot from the point makes its way through traffic and past the goaltender (Hamilton, Ford assists), 10:50

Bakersfield goal: F Andrew Miller (3) shot from the nearside faceoff circle trickles through the goaltender and across the goal line (Hunt, Hamilton assists), 13:07

HEAT GOAL: F Garnet Hathaway (3) shot from the center point is tipped at the top of the crease and goes off the bar and in (Johnson, Kulak assists), 14:12 (PP)

HEAT GOAL: F Freddie Hamilton (5) shot from the nearside faceoff circle goes cross-cage bar-in (Smith, Hathaway assists), 19:24

Shots: STK - 20 | BAK - 13

2nd Period

HEAT GOAL: D Oliver Kylington (3) shot from the center point makes its way through traffic in front and ricochets off a defender and in (Hamilton, Shore assists), 3:07 (PP)

Bakersfield goal: F Anton Slepyshev (2) shot from the slot off the draw gets past the goaltender (Nikitin, Hunt assists), 6:27 (PP)

HEAT GOAL: F Garnet Hathaway (4) shot from the slot goes low blocker through traffic and in to the net (Hamilton, Johnson assists), 10:15

Bakersfield goal: F Andrew Miller (4) shot from the farside faceoff dot goes past the outstretched goaltender (Platzer, LaLeggia assists), 18:10 (PP)

Shots: STK - 12 | BAK - 8

3rd Period

HEAT GOAL: F Hunter Smith (1) rebound at the top of the crease is buried past the goaltender on a hard charge to the net (Elson, Kulak assists), 2:46

Shots: STK - 17 | BAK - 4

GOALIES

W: Laurent Brossoit (49 shots, 44 saves)

L: Kent Simpson (13 shots, 11 saves)

Joni Ortio (12 shots, 8 saves) replaced by Simpson in the first period

NOTABLE STATISTICS

Three Stars: 1- Andrew Miller (2 goals) 2- Garnet Hathaway (2 goals, 1 assist) 3- Freddie Hamilton (1 goal, 2 assists)

Final Shots: STK - 49 | BAK - 25

Power Plays: STK - 2/3 | BAK - 3/3

Hunter Smith scored his first pro point, an assist on Hamilton's goal, and followed that up with his first pro goal in the third. It was also his first pro multi-point game (1-1-2)

Freddie Hamilton now has at least one point in back-to-back games and also moves into a three-way tie atop the team's goal-scoring number with five

Garnet Hathaway earns his first multi-point effort of the season, as well as his first multi-goal effort

Brett Kulak (2 assists) earns his first multi-point game of the season

Aaron Johnson (2 assists) earned his second multi-point game of the season

Emile Poirier left the game in the first period. Coach Huska said after the game that he was being evaluated for an upper-body injury. No word on the nature of the injury.

QUOTES

"We got it on the forecheck and forced the turnover. Our defense got it and made a pass to [Turner Elson]. Elson came in and made a shot and I was just standing in front. That's where I have to live, so it went off my pants, got in behind the goalie and just touched it in." - Hunter Smith on his first ever pro goal that brought the Heat within one.

"It was just a great job by [Aaron Johnson] pulling the puck across the middle and getting it to me in front. I got a stick on it and it beat the goalie." - Garnet Hathaway on his first goal of the night that sparked the near comeback.

"I think we did well offensively, but we have to lock it up defensively. I don't think that they [Bakersfield Condors] got a lot of shots tonight, but they had a lot of "grade A" opportunities. We have to watch some video before we go to Bakersfield tomorrow and take care of those chances." - Hathaway on his outlook of tonight's game and moving forward to the rematch tomorrow night.

"We didn't quit. It's really tough going down 4-0, but we stayed positive. It's bad that we went down, but it shows that we have a lot of fight in here and that the guys all came together and almost pulled one off." - Freddie Hamilton on his takeaways from tonight's game.

"We know that we can play really well against them [Bakersfield]. We have to get a good start tomorrow. That's all the game was today. I thought we dominated a lot of the second half and hopefully we have a better result tomorrow." - Hamilton on the team mentality going into a quick turnaround for tomorrow.

"Other than the first eight minutes of the game, I thought we played pretty well. We did a lot of things well and we didn't quit. I think once we scored a few goals, we got ourselves back in the game and gained some good momentum. It was just the first eight minutes were what really hurt us tonight." - Head Coach Ryan Huska on his assessment of tonight's game.

"I thought our power-play was good tonight. We shot pucks and we had traffic at the net. Simple. That really worked tonight. There's been some nights where it's looked good, but it hasn't really generated or accomplished much. Tonight was a night where they were simple and to the point, so we found a way to score some goals." - Coach Huska on the power-play success tonight after addressing his top unit beforehand.

"We came back. I thought at times we were loose defensively a little bit, but the main thing is making sure we're ready to play. The first seven or eight minutes of tonight cost us, but the rest of the night I thought we did a good job. I thought we were a difficult team to play against." - Coach Huska on the positives he takes from tonight's near comeback loss.

NEXT HOME GAME

STOCKTON HEAT vs. San Diego Gulls

December 5 @ Stockton Arena

First 1,000 adults 18 & over receive a Heat t-shirt

Doors @ 6:30 p.m., Puck drop @ 7:30 p.m.

Check out the Stockton Heat Statistics

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