Morning Skate: Heat, Roadrunners Begin Two-Game Set Tuesday
January 4, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: Stockton Heat (19-3-2-1; 1st Pacific) vs. Tucson Roadrunners (10-9-2-0; 5th Pacific)
LOCATION: Tucson Convention Center Arena | Tucson, Arizona
TIME: 5:30 p.m. PST
TUNE IN: Today's game can be streamed on AHLTV, and the radio call is available on Fox Sports 1280 or online via Spreaker.
HEAT INDEX
After a disappointing showing to start play following the holiday break, the Stockton Heat rebounded with an impressive 4-1 win Sunday at San Jose, a game in which Stockton raced out to a 2-0 edge in the first and never looked back. Dustin Wolf was strong as usual with 33 saves on 34 shots faced, while the Heat got goals from four different skaters and went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the win.
LEADER OF THE PACK
Dustin Wolf earned AHL Goaltender of the Month honors for December after going 7-0-0-0 with a 1.40 GAA and .951 SVP. The rookie goalie started off January on a similarly sweet note, stopping 33 of 34 shots in a 4-1 win over San Jose to start the road trip. On the year, Wolf leads AHL goalies in wins (15), is second in Save Percentage (.942) and tied for second in Goals Against Average (1.79), and he's helped the Heat earn at least a point in 19 consecutive games where he's between the pipes (17-0-2-0) with wins in the last 10.
KILLS PAY THE BILLS
Fresh off a stingy 5-for-5 effort down a skater, the Heat improved their kill streak to 35 consecutive opponent power plays to go without a goal. Stockton's PK is a remarkable 40-for-41 since the start of December and has killed 50 of the last 51 dating back to November 22, the penalty kill outscoring opposing power plays by a 3-1 margin.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Heat have been an unwelcome guest for Pacific Division foes this year, Stockton owning the third-best road point percentage in the AHL at .773. The club has won its last three away from Stockton Arena and boasts a strong 8-2-0-1 record as visitors this season. Stockton went 1-0-0-1 at Tucson in a two-game set on December 10 and 11.
UPPER HAND
Stockton has started back-to-backs on a high note this season, going 6-1-1-1 in the front end of consecutive meetings against the same opponent on the year. Tucson has proven immune to that trend, though, with the Roadrunners earning the win in both such cases of the season series, one win in overtime and one in the shootout.
EARLY EDGE
The first goal has proven a strong indicator of which team will win so far in the Stockton-Tucson season series, the teams going 4-0-0-0 when taking the 1-0 edge. The Heat are 14-0-1-0 overall when scoring first this season while the Roadrunners own a mark of 7-1-1-0 in nine games when drawing first blood.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2022
- Phantoms Power Play Presented by Provident Bank - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Anaheim Ducks Announce Roster Moves - San Diego Gulls
- 5 Things: Heat at Tucson - Stockton Heat
- Abbotsford Canucks vs Bakersfield Condors Preview - Abbotsford Canucks
- Wolves Insider: Let's Play Some Games - Chicago Wolves
- Rangers Reassign Tarmo Reunanen to Taxi Squad, Wolf Pack Complete Series of Transactions - Hartford Wolf Pack
- AHL Reschedules Abbotsford Canucks December 22, 23 Games to February 7, 9 - Abbotsford Canucks
- Silver Knights Wednesday Game Postponed - Henderson Silver Knights
- Dallas Stars Reassign Dellandrea, Gardner, Tufte and Scheel to Texas - Texas Stars
- AHL Postpones Wednesday's Henderson-San Diego Game - San Diego Gulls
- American Hockey League Postpones Wednesday's San Diego-Henderson Game - AHL
- Bears Weekly #13: Home-Heavy Month of January Underway - Hershey Bears
- Roadrunners to Host Whiskey and Wings Saturday - Tucson Roadrunners
- Roadrunners Acquire Doyle Somerby from Iowa Wild - Tucson Roadrunners
- T-Birds Head Coach Bannister to Fill in on Blues Staff - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Comets Announce Rescheduled Road Game against Belleville - Utica Comets
- Belleville Sens React to New Provincial Regulations and Update Schedule for Postponed Home Games - Belleville Senators
- Syracuse Crunch Weekly - Syracuse Crunch
- Griffins Enjoy Three-Game Homestand - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Minnesota Wild Signs Goaltender Zane Mcintyre - Iowa Wild
- Kraken Assign Joey Daccord and Kole Lind to Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- IceHogs Weekly: IceHogs Welcome New Year with $2 Bud Light Friday vs. Chicago - Rockford IceHogs
- Wolves to Follow Cook County Board Protocols - Chicago Wolves
- Penguins Weekly - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Forward Josiah Slavin Assigned to IceHogs - Rockford IceHogs
- Wolves Reschedule Rockford Games - Chicago Wolves
- Minnesota Wild Recalls Forwards Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi from Iowa - Iowa Wild
- Capitals Re-Assign Four Players to Hershey - Hershey Bears
- Postponed Game Set for April 29 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Rockford IceHogs Announce Rescheduled Games vs. Milwaukee and Chicago - Rockford IceHogs
- Tommy Nappier Recalled from Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Morning Skate: Heat, Roadrunners Begin Two-Game Set Tuesday - Stockton Heat
- Panthers Recall Aleksi Heponiemi to Taxi Squad - Charlotte Checkers
- Wheeling's Maniscalco Wins ECHL Award - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Monsters Announce Pair of Roster Moves - Cleveland Monsters
- Game #22: Stockton at Tucson - Tucson Roadrunners
- Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Forward Gabe Fortier to Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
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.
