HGD 37: Heat look to sweep back-to-back set in Abbotsford (8pm MT, free on AHLTV)

Led by @Luke Philp and @Matthew Phillips, the Stockton Heat defeated the Abbotsford Canucks by a 7–3 score on Thursday. They’ll look to replicate that result on Friday when they take on the Canucks again in a rematch at Abbotsford Centre.

Philp scored Stockton’s second and third goals of Thursday’s game, helping the team improve to 25–7–4 on the season. Phillips became Stockton’s all-time goal-scoring leader with his first goal of the night and ultimately recorded his first American Hockey League hat trick.

Thursday’s game marked a return to the lineup for both @Connor Mackey and @Byron Froese, who had previously toiled on the Calgary Flames’ taxi squad. Mackey scored his fifth goal of the season in his return and helped Stockton’s defence corps successfully push forward without suspended rearguard @Juuso Valimaki.

@Jakob Pelletier netted the game-winning goal for Stockton. The 20-year-old forward has 13 goals this season, six of which have been winners.

@Will Lockwood scored twice in the game for Abbotsford, which also received a goal from leading scorer @Sheldon Rempal. Heat goaltender @Adam Werner stopped 26 of the 29 Canucks shots he faced for his seventh win in 12 appearances this season.

@Jakob Pelletier – @Glenn Gawdin – @Matthew Phillips
@Justin Kirkland – @Luke Philp – @Walker Duehr
@Martin Pospisil – @Byron Froese – @Eetu Tuulola
@Alex Gallant – @Connor Zary – @Emilio Pettersen

@Connor Mackey – @Nick DeSimone
@Kevin Gravel – @Colton Poolman
@Ilya Solovyov – @Johannes Kinnvall

@Dustin Wolf
@Adam Werner

@Phil Di Giuseppe – @Sheldon Dries – @Justin Bailey
@Sheldon Rempal – @Nic Petan – @Will Lockwood
@Yushiroh Hirano – @John Stevens – @Chase Wouters
@Vincent Arseneau – @Carson Focht – @Jarid Lukosevicius

@Devante Stephens – @Madison Bowey
@Jack Rathbone – @Matt Murphy
@Ashton Sautner – @Noah Juulsen

@Michael DiPietro
@Spencer Martin

Stockton — @Matthew Phillips (17 goals, 36 points); @Jakob Pelletier (13 goals, 35 points); @Glenn Gawdin (12 goals, 33 points); @Luke Philp (11 goals, 23 points); @Connor Mackey (five goals, 20 points).

Abbotsford — @Sheldon Rempal (15 goals, 30 points); @Sheldon Dries (16 goals, 29 points); @Nic Petan (five goals, 24 points); @Phil Di Giuseppe (seven goals, 23 points); @Justin Bailey (10 goals, 20 points).

Stockton — @Johannes Kinnvall came advertised as a confident offensive defenceman who can help a team’s power play. Alas, through his first four games with the Heat, Kinnvall has three assists … all of which have come at even strength. He also has at least one shot on goal in all four of his games with Stockton this season.

Abbotsford — Not a lot of AHL players have more NHL experience than @Phil Di Giuseppe. The 28-year-old forward has appeared in 201 regular-season NHL games during his career with the Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators, and New York Rangers. Once a second-round pick of the Canes, Di Giuseppe tallied 14 goals and 41 points in his 147 games with the team.

Friday’s game in Abbotsford will be broadcast on AHL TV (free to watch) and on Spreaker (audio only), with the opening puck-drop set for 8:00 p.m. MT.

FlamesNation contributor Paige Siewert will provide live game updates on her Twitter account. Additionally, you’ll be able to follow along at TheAHL.com.

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