AHL Stockton Heat

Klimchuk Ties Team-Lead with 13th Goal in Loss

Published on February 4, 2017 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release


Bakersfield, Calif. - The Stockton Heat jump ahead early with Morgan Klimchuk's first-period tally, but a pair of unanswered goals from the Bakersfield Condors leads to a 2-1 Heat loss Friday night at Rabobank Arena. Klimchuk's marker ties him with Mark Jankowski for the team lead in goals at 13, while Jon Gillies put together a solid game between the pipes, stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced. However, Taylor Beck and his two-point night led the Condors to the win. The Heat and the Condors will immediately hit the road North back to Stockton where the two teams will faceoff Saturday night at Stockton Arena to finish off their home-and-home series.

SCORING SUMMARY 1st Period HEAT GOAL: F Morgan Klimchuk (13) one-timer from the slot beats the goaltender on the glove side (Shinkaruk, Wotherspoon assists), 13:15 Shots: STK - 11 | BAK - 9

2nd Period Bakersfield goal: F Joey LaLeggia (10) shot from the point is redirected in front of the net and gets past the goaltender (Beck, Musil assists), 3:53 Bakersfield goal: F Taylor Beck (13) shot from the center point is redirected in traffic in the slot and beats the goaltender (Oesterle, Hamilton assists), 12:41 Shots: STK - 10 | BAK - 14

3rd Period No goals Shots: STK - 7 | BAK - 7

GOALIES W: Nick Ellis (28 shots, 27 saves) L: Jon Gillies (30 shots, 28 saves)

NOTABLE STATISTICS Three Stars: 1 - Nick Ellis (28 shots, 27 saves) 2 - Taylor Beck (1 goal, 1 assist) 3 - Joey LaLeggia (1 goal) Final Shots: STK - 28 | BAK - 30 Power Plays: STK - 0/6 | BAK - 0/4 Morgan Klimchuk (1 goal) ties the team-lead in goals (13) Hunter Shinkaruk (1 assist) earns his 100th AHL career point and his 50th AHL career assist Tyler Wotherspoon (1 assist) now has at least one point in back-to-back games (2 assists) Daniel Pribyl returned to the lineup for his first game since 1/7 vs. MIL The Heat go perfect on the penalty kill for the second-straight game (8-for-8)

QUOTES "I got the puck down low and [Morgan Klimchuk] made a great call for the puck from the slot. I saw him and was able to find him and he made a great shot. Obviously, our line had been a bit snakebitten before the break, so it was good to get that one tonight." - Hunter Shinkaruk on what he saw on Klimchuk's goal.

"We're a line that needs to score and produce. I thought we've played well the last few games, but haven't gotten on the board. To get on the board tonight, it definitely puts a little confidence back on our line." - Shinkaruk on his line getting back on the board.

"Jon [Gillies] has been unbelievable all year and tonight was no different. He made some spectacular saves to keep us in it and we definitely need that moving forward." - Shinkaruk on Gillies' big game in net tonight.

"It's never fun when you lose and you're your own harshest critic. I thought there were a lot of things I could have done better, especially in the first period. Just some sloppy play and some sloppy rebounds that my teammates bailed me out on. That's just the way it went. Thankfully those ones didn't cost us, but [Bakersfield] got one seeing-eye shot and one tip right in front. There's not much anyone can do on those, but I expect myself to have every shot. Just trying to take it one game at a time and build back up to playing well." - Jon Gillies on his performance tonight.

"As a goalie you go into every game expecting to stop every shot. That's your job. There isn't any more pressure to put on yourself outside of that. I think that with the people we have in this room and the way that we're playing - we got inside a little more tonight and were able to generate a few more chances. We're going in the right direction right now. We've shown in the past that we can score a lot of goals and I think we'll get back to that." - Gillies on the pressure to play well between the pipes when the offense is struggling.

"That's the way it goes sometimes. We were happy with our work ethic tonight and we were able to generate some chances. We just have to stick with it. These things don't last forever, so we need to keep pushing the way we have been the last few games." - Head Coach Ryan Huska with his overall thoughts on tonight's game.

"It's no different than a lot of the games we played before the [All-Star] break, where we did a lot of things the right way, but it's been a struggle for us to put pucks in the net. Again, in those situations we need to just stick with what we're doing. We had some chance tonight and had some good looks, but [Bakersfield's] goaltender made some good saves - we just need to keep going to the net hard." - Coach Huska on his team generating looks offensively.

NEXT HOME GAME STOCKTON HEAT vs. Bakersfield Condors February 4 @ Stockton Arena Safety Night Doors @ 6:30 p.m., Puck drop @ 7:30 p.m.

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