Morning Skate: Top Teams in Pacific Clash Saturday at Stockton Arena
January 29, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: Stockton Heat (23-7-3-1; 2nd Pacific) vs. Ontario Reign (22-6-3-2; 1st Pacific)
LOCATION: Stockton Arena | Stockton, California
TIME: 6:00 p.m. PST
TUNE IN: Today's game can be streamed on AHLTV, and the radio call is available online via Spreaker.
HEAT INDEX
It's been a week since the Stockton Heat finished off a strong weekend against Henderson, taking three of a possible four points against a divisional foe, and now they face off against the Pacific Division's first place team, the Ontario Reign, Saturday. The clubs have battled to a close season series thus far, Stockton earning two wins in three meetings and Ontario salvaging points in two of three.
TURN IT UP TO 11
Stockton looks to improve to 11-for-11 on the year in the games immediately following losses, most recently with a 3-1 win over Henderson last Friday. The Heat have outscored opponents 40-17 in those games and own a 14-5 edge in four bounce-back contests at Stockton Arena. Dustin Wolf has earned the win in eight of those games and Jakob Pelletier has lit the lamp in five with nine points total in the nine bounce-back games he's skated in.
ON THE RECORD
Both Justin Kirkland and Martin Pospisil have reached career-high, single-season goal outputs with their latest scores on Saturday, Kirkland with his 10th goal of the campaign and Pospisil with his sixth. Kirkland has 16 points in 32 games while Pospisil has 14 in 24 games played.
MR. 300
Kirkland figures to skate in his 300th AHL game with Saturday's contest, his 101st as a member of the Heat after he spent his previous 198 with the Milwaukee Admirals. He has 51 points with Stockton and had 69 with Milwaukee in his first three campaigns, posting his best career points-per-game average with the Heat in 2019-20.
SIX DEEP
Stockton enters Saturday's tilt with six players who have double-digit goal totals on the year, with Matthew Phillips (13), Jakob Pelletier and Glenn Gawdin (12), and Byron Froese, Adam Ruzicka and Justin Kirkland (10). Ontario is second in the league with five such players, and no other team entered the weekend with more than four. The Heat have two more - Luke Philp and Eetu Tuulola - who are approaching double-digits with eight.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Heat entered the weekend with the AHL's third-best home point percentage, a record of 13-2-3-0 on the year on home ice (.806). The Heat have outscored opponents by a 59-37 margin in those games, and will host the Reign for the first time this season. Ontario is the league's third-best road team, coming into the tilt at 9-4-1-0 (.679) with a plus-17 score differential.
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