Morning Skate: Heat Battle Reign Sunday in Ontario
January 9, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
TODAY'S MATCHUP: Stockton Heat (20-5-2-1; 1st Pacific) at Ontario Reign (16-6-2-1; 2nd Pacific)
LOCATION: Toyota Arena | Ontario, California
TIME: 3:00 p.m. PST
TUNE IN: Today's game can be streamed on AHLTV, and the radio call is available online via Spreaker.
HEAT INDEX
Stockton's season-long road trip continues Sunday with a 3 p.m. puck drop against the Ontario Reign in a matchup of the top two teams in the AHL's Pacific Division. The Heat enter the contest off a 4-1 loss to the San Diego Gulls, Eetu Tuulola the lone goal scorer for Stockton in the setback. Ontario earned a 5-4, overtime win over the Gulls Saturday.
PITCH PERFECT
Stockton comes into Sunday's game a perfect 7-0-0-0 on the year following losses, most recently with an emphatic 5-1 win over the Tucson Roadrunners. Stockton has outscored its opponents by a 28-11 margin in those games and has scored first in six of the seven tilts.
THE CAPTAIN
Heat captain Byron Froese returned to Stockton on Saturday, and the veteran forward figures to record his first game action in just over a month as he rejoins the Heat on Sunday. Froese registered a hat trick in his last outing on December 7 against San Jose and has spent the last 32 days with the Calgary Flames.
NEVER CRY WOLF
Dustin Wolf has been strong in Stockton's bounce-back efforts this season, earning six wins in the team's seven contests following losses on the year. Wolf is 15-1-2-0 on the season, including a win over the Ontario Reign in which he stopped 31 of 33 shots faced in a 4-2 win on November 21.
FINN-EAS AND FERB
The 'Big Finn' Eetu Tuulola has goals in back-to-back games for the third time this season after his power play marker on Friday, his second on the man-advantage this season. Tuulola enters Sunday's game with seven goals in 23 games played, good for the sixth-best total on the roster. His career high for a season is 10 in 50 games.
REIGN OVER ME
Stockton and Ontario split the weekend series earlier in the season one game apiece, the lone meetings between the top two Pacific Division clubs on the season. The Heat have an all-time record of 20-23-5-0 against the Reign, 10-12-2-0 on the road at Ontario. All three games of the season set, including today's contest, have been played at Toyota Arena, with the next four taking place at Stockton Arena.
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American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2022
- Depleted Abby Side Shutout by Condors - Abbotsford Canucks
- Roadrunners Drop Sunday Afternoon Rematch With Colorado - Tucson Roadrunners
- Reign Reach OT Again in Loss to Stockton - Ontario Reign
- Eagles Win Third Straight with 5-3 Victory over Roadrunners - Colorado Eagles
- Heat Reign Supreme Sunday in Ontario - Stockton Heat
- Bears Survive Penguins' Relentless Attack, 3-2 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- 5 Things: Heat at Ontario - Stockton Heat
- Bears Win Weekend, Pounce on Penguins 3-2 on Sunday - Hershey Bears
- Anaheim Ducks Announce Roster Moves - San Diego Gulls
- Wolves Rally Past Monsters in Historic Fashion - Chicago Wolves
- Monsters Come up Short in 4-3 Loss to Wolves - Cleveland Monsters
- Checkers Edge Islanders in a Shootout - Bridgeport Islanders
- Daccord Stymies Islanders in Shootout Win - Charlotte Checkers
- Taco Tuesday & Winning Weekday Are Back at the BMO this Tuesday - Rockford IceHogs
- Pirri's Fifth Career AHL Hat Trick Keeps IceHogs Offense Red Hot in 6-2 Win at Milwaukee - Rockford IceHogs
- Minnesota Reassigns Jones, Rau and Rossi to Iowa - Iowa Wild
- Panthers Assign Chase Priskie and Matt Kiersted to Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Game Preview: Penguins at Bears, 5 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- Morning Skate: Heat Battle Reign Sunday in Ontario - Stockton Heat
- Game #25: Colorado at Tucson - Tucson Roadrunners
- Chmelevski Notches Hat-Trick in Roy Sommer's 800th Win - San Jose Barracuda
- Gulls Hold onto Point in OT Setback - San Diego Gulls
- Sommer Reaches 800 Wins in the AHL - San Jose Barracuda
- Reign Rally over San Diego in OT - Ontario Reign
- Roadrunners Force Overtime Against Colorado Eagles, Fall 3-2 In Shootout - Tucson Roadrunners
- Henderson Defeated by San Jose, 6-3 - Henderson Silver Knights
- Late Score Lifts Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Colorado Storms Back for 3-2 Shootout Win in Tucson - Colorado Eagles
- Manitoba Buzzer Beater Spoils Anthony Louis Hat Trick - Texas Stars
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