'We Know How to Bounce Back'
June 5, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Stockton Heat News Release
Heavyweight fights are rarely decided in a round, but if Friday was any indication the Stockton Heat and Chicago Wolves are in for quite a scrap before the final bell rings.
No one should be surprised that the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals started off with some haymakers, Stockton falling behind early before rattling off three unanswered, only to concede three straight before forcing the game to OT.
Unfortunately, the home team was able to steal the proverbial round on the judges' scorecards, but fighters have returned to the corner in much worse shape than the Heat only to come back to win the bout.
"We knew it was going to be a tight game," said Heat defenseman Connor Mackey. "It's unfortunate how it unfolded. We had them in the second (leading 3-1), but like I said, no surprises. It was a tight game as we expected and they're a good opponent. We'll come back Monday ready to go."
There's reason to be optimistic that Stockton, underdog according to seeding by the slimmest of margins, will come off the stool ready to rumble. This is a team that has won 19 of 23 bounce-back games since the puck dropped on the 2021-22 season. Most recently, the Heat rebounded from an OT setback against Colorado with a series-clinching effort two nights later.
They'll be looking for more of the same on Monday, aiming for a split in the series' first two games at Allstate Arena.
"We know how to bounce back," said Connor Zary, who scored his first Calder Cup Playoff goal in the third period to tie the game at four goals a side. "We learned a lot of lessons (Friday). We know that if we stick to our structure, we'll be just fine."
That resilience has served the Heat all postseason long. With a 6-2 record, the Heat are undefeated in games that are settled in the 60 minutes of regulation time. Stockton trailed for all of 33 seconds in the opening round against Bakersfield and 2:28 in the Pacific Division Finals against Colorado, and against their stiffest competition yet, the club erased en early 1-0 hole in 3:02 and evened the score at 4-4 only 59 seconds after Chicago took a third period lead.
They'll need it again on Monday, looking to earn a split in the opening two tilts in the series before returning home to Stockton Arena.
There were flashes on Friday of what the Heat do best, less rope-a-dope and more hands up, marching forward and bringing the fight to the opponent. Walker Duehr stood out in the opening exchange, his mix of speed, size and physicality proving difficult to handle at times for the Wolves. Defense pair Andy Welinski and Mackey each had a pair of assists. Luke Philp and Zary each scratched the goal column for the first time in the postseason.
The adjustments the Heat will look to make aren't plentiful, but they will be critical. At 5-on-5, the Heat outscored the Wolves 4-2. They were outplayed on special teams, held off the board on four trips to the man-advantage while the league's best PK from the regular season conceded three scores to the Wolves, Josh Leivo factoring into all three.
"That's been our thing all year," said Mackey. "We aim to be the best team in the American Hockey League at 5-on-5. But we have to be more disciplined, stay out of the box. They have a good power play. At the same time, we can clean up a few things on the PK and at 5-on-5. We'll do that Sunday in practice then come back out here Monday."
"There were a lot of moments where we were the better team and we showed that," said Zary. "We let a lead go. Obviously you never want to do that in the playoffs, and we want to tighten that up. But we know we can play a better game overall to get on the better side of them."
At stake Monday is a high-leverage result. Either the series heads west tied at one or the Heat face a two-game hole, not insurmountable but not comfortable. What exactly the game will bring, that's yet to be seen. But with two days between games there's been plenty of time for tweaks before the fighters get off the stools and meet once again in the middle of the ring, ready to trade blows.
"It's a lot of lessons, again," said Zary. "We know how to play our best, what to do to be successful. We have to play to our game, play to our structure, and we'll have no problem. But when we get away from that we let them come back at us a little bit.
"We just have to stay even-keel, do what we need to do and we'll have success in this series."
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from June 5, 2022
- Rocket Finally End T-Birds' Playoff Win Streak, Tie Series 1-1 - Springfield Thunderbirds
- 'We Know How to Bounce Back' - Stockton Heat
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.
