AGD: Looking for a New Streak
Kent Wilson
November 02 2012 01:37PM
Location: Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Center
Broadcast: abbotsfordheat.com, teamradio.ca
Game one of the Marlies/Heat double header was a contentious affair through most of the night until a third period Abbotsford penalty turned things around in an unexpected manner.
After Chris Breen took a penalty for closing his hand on the puck just three minutes into the third, the scoreless tie was finally broken by Heat defender Steve McCarthy, who broke down the wide side on a three-on-two rush and beat Ben Scrivens through the fivehole. The Heat somehow made it 2-0 just three seconds later when a Ben Street shot from center ice somehow beat the apparently shell-shocked Scrivens to put the game out of reach (and establish a new AHL record for fastest two short-handed goals ever scored). Sven Baertschi iced things with an empty netter with about a minute and a half left.
Abbotsford's penchant for taking a lot of penalties was on full display again last night, garnering no less than 10 minors over the course of the evening. Luckily, thy PK was +2 thanks to the McCarthy-Street miracle, although I still maintain the club needs to figure out how to stay out of the box if it wants to maintain success in the long run.
That said, despite piling up the PIMs, the Heat managed to outshoot the Marlies 29-22, which suggests they were the much better team at even strength. Less time in the box should mean a lot more time in Toronto's end of the ice.
The Lineup
Laing was the vet scratch last night, but he may return this evening. Aliu moved up the rotation initally, although Im not sure how long that lasted.
- Baertschi - Walter - Sylvester
- Aliu - Street - Kolanos
- Horak - Reinhart - Olson
- Estoclet - Bancks - Ruesegger
- Brodie - Piskula
- McCarthy - Breen
- Callahan - Lamb
- Irving
Still no sign of Byron or Nemisz. I assume Leland Irving will get his second start of the season tonight since he was the guy backing up Barry Brust yesterday.
The Opponent
Clearly it wasn't a good night for poor Ben Scrivens. He actually had a pretty good performance going up until the SHG debacle, including a highlight reel diving save on Max Reinhart. In the end, his teammates didn't even score a single goal despite multiple PP's, so the blame for the loss can't really fall on the goalies shoulders alone.
- Deschamps - Aucoin - McKegg
- Ashton - Colborne - Komarov
- Hamilton - Kadri - Zigomanis
- D’Amigo - Acton - Ryan
- Fraser - Ranger
- Gardiner - Kostka
- Yeo - Gysber
- Scrivens
Jake Gardiner lead his team in shots yesterday (5) and shaping up to be the best prospect in the pro system for the Leafs currently. Nazem Kadri and Joe Colborne, however, are still in the "promising but need to prove more" phase of their careers. They didn't do much to advance their causes last night, but today is a new day.
Sum it Up
The Heat continue to have a scary good PK - at this point in the year, they have scored more goals short-handed (3) than they have surrendered (1). That's bonkers. It won't continue forever, but it's good that the team has managed to collect so many points during this hot streak as a result.
That said, Im going to add a bit of a plea here...please stop taking so many penalties, Abbotsford. It makes things unnecessarily hard on you every night and it keeps many of your best players (*cough* Sven *cough*) off the ice.
How many games 'til we say RIP to Ferland's career? I know he wasn't in the best shape at camp, but good god, let him play a game.
@SmellOfVictory
It's still really early. I suspect he'll at least play half the season when all is said and done. Especially if the NHL figures things out and gets going.
Jankowski scores to put Providence up on Vermont 3-2 in the third.
Gaudreau with the winning goal too for the Eagles. Arnold had at least one assist (should have one on the empty netter as well). Apparently played only one period, but enough to get the win tonight.
Ferland and Irving are both playing! Night of the scratches. :D
Real Deal Roman Horak. 2nd goal and the games not half over. Leading the AHL in goals? I think so.
Horak with another goal.
Lamb laid out a niiiice hip check.
Unbelievable! What more can we say?
Natural Hat Trick. Who saw this coming?
Aw come on, don't call him Jumbo Joe. That's an insult to Thornton. :p
Admittedly, had you said to me "Roman Horak will lead the AHL in goals by November" I would probably have made a bet against your statement. Awesome that he's doing so well.
Irving looked confused as hell on that rebound. He looks rusty (weird).
they should keep Baertschi and Horak together IMO. Those two have been leading the team in scoring for pretty much the whole season, and whenever they play together it's awesome.
Wotherspoon, 12 points and +14 in his last 9 games. If he can keep up the solid play, he'd be a big boost for the Heat next year.
I don't know whats gotten into Horak, but holy crap. Six shots and three more goals. That SH% is silly, but he's generating volume of shots recently too.
Holy shart Horak! Insane.
Starting to feel erixon was a big win at this point! If he can keep it going its going to be badass.
How did ferland do tonight?
@Duder
even rating, 1 shot, no penalties with 12.5 to play.
Ya I saw that, I meant how did he lOok to anyone who watched :) intangibles or cOmmOn sense.
I honestly didn't notice him while I watched. Only skaters on the Heat I noticed were Brodie, Lamb, Horak, Baertschi, Aliu, Walter, Street, Reinhart.
So he wasn't noticeable in a bad way, but he didn't make much of an impact either.
Maybe we'll just continue to follow the Heat, even if the NHL comes back...
I thought Ferland looked decent. The fourth line was the only line clicking in the first 15-minutes. Nothing spectacular but he was decent enough for his first pro game with limited ice time.
This winning all the time is such foreign territory, sticking with the heat might just be the way to go.
generally a good night for Flames' prospects. Gordon with 1 assist, Culkin and Arnold with 2 each, Wotherspoon with 3(!!!), Gaudreau and Jankowski each with a game winning goal. I'm probably forgetting some stuff..
@deaner_
I have been a Flames fan for too long. I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out. Flinching like a beaten dog.
We'll have to lobby to keep Sven, Roman and TJ though!
astonishingly, the Heat aren't even in the top half of the league in penalty minutes per game. They're 10th in total penalty minutes.
http://theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=standings&subType=20&season_id=40&tournament_id=0&leagueId=4&division_id=-1&confId=0
@Baalzamon
I'm guessing that list is heavily influenced by a fights/misconducts.
More interesting would be to see how the Heat fair in terms of minors/game or PP opportunities against/game.
@Baalzamon
Turner Elson had a goal, an assist and a fight and was the first star of the game in a a win over Spokane. He finished +2
not really the right place for this, but Backlund with a 4 point game (2G 2A) and now leads his team with 19 points in just 10 games.
http://www.vik.se/index.php/alag/statistik/poangligan
http://www.hockeyallsvenskan.se/statistik/poangliga
he's also 5th in league scoring with BY FAR the best PPG rate. Anze Kopitar, by the way, has 17 in 16 games (though there are no other NHL skaters on his team, and Backlund has Berglund).
Matt Read was fairly close in terms of PPG rate until recently (~1.5 PPG if I recall). Awesome to see Backs doing well offensively, though.