Heat close out home stand 2-3-0

On Wednesday, the Heat battled the white-hot San Diego Gulls. They were tied at four on the back of Alan Quine’s hat trick, but with 90 seconds left before overtime, a defensive breakdown led to an odd man rush and, with Jon Gillies out of position, the Gulls deposited the puck in an unmanned cage for the game winner. To add salt to the wound, Gillies gave up another soft goal 20 seconds later. An empty netter sealed the 7-4 loss and sent the Stockton faithful home shaking their heads.

Saturday was Superhero night at the Stockton Arena as the Heat closed out a five-game homestand. After going 1-3-0 in their previous games, they absolutely needed two points to stay within sight of the last playoff position. A win against the last place Ontario Reign would be a good way to send the Heat on the road with some momentum.

Coach Cail MacLean has started to stabilize the lines on this homestand, with just a few tweaks here and there. One interesting note is that he moved Quine to wing and moved Dillon Dube back to center. Unlike the NHL, it is rare to find out why someone like Adam Ollas-Mattsson was scratched on Saturday.

In a spirited first period, Ontario was first to strike when a failed clearing pass led to a scramble in front of the net, resulting in both the puck and Heat player behind Tyler Parsons. But Stockton answered on the power play when Quine scored on a “shooter’s goal” short side, stick high.

Ontario regained the lead on a tip in front that Parsons had no chance of stopping. But the Heat erased that lead 90 seconds later when Kerby Rychel deposited a rebound over the outstretched pad of Reign goalie Peter Budaj for a power play goal. As the arena was announcing that goal, Dube fired a quick wrister past Budaj and gave Stockton their first lead of the night. Ontario tied it up with seven seconds left in the first frame after a goal that was originally waved off, due to kicking motion, was overturned.

Just 70 seconds into the second period, Tyler Graovac potted a rebound from a Quine shot and put the good guys back on top. It took 12 minutes before the Reign tied things up at four. Ontario kept the pressure on when Parsons, who was bumped, and Kevin Tansey both lost their sticks in front of the net. An initial save was kicked in front and an easy put back to even the score. Both goalies made some nice saves in a period that saw a total of 31 shots between the two clubs.

The Superman-clad home squad reclaimed the lead seven minutes into the third period when Tansey fired a seeing-eye shot from the point that found its home behind the Ontario netminder. Again the Reign answered when a shot was tipped in by Parsons’ stick. He made a stick save, but instead of the puck going over the net, it went in top shelf. Again both goalies tightened up to send the game to overtime.

In a game the Heat donned special jerseys, who would step up in the extra frame to be Superman? Stockton controlled play during the extra five minutes. With just over a minute left, Spencer Foo fed a charging Curtis Lazar who went hard to the net, skated across the crease, and roofed a shot over a sprawling Budaj for the game winner. In true Superman spirit, Lazar “ripped” open his shirt and displayed his logo.

After the game, the jerseys were auctioned off. Look what I got? For the record, Mrs. Finest asked Rychel if he could make the same face that he did for team pictures. He laughed a little and agreed.

Oh, and just for good measure, a picture with the game winner.

Post-game quotes can be found here.

I know I have beaten the goalie situation to death, but I wanted to expand on some of the comments I have made on other posts.

Out of all 101 listed goalies in the AHL, Gillies ranks 95th and Parsons ranks 99th. Interesting that the forgotten Nick Schneider ranks 16th. In the qualified category (more than 720 minutes played) Gillies ranks 50th out of 51 (only Budaj is below Gillies). Gillies leads the team with 23 appearances while Schneider has appeared in 11 games and Parsons nine.

Some of the numbers below can be attributed to a porous defense. A good defense can turn a 0.850 goalie into a 0.900 one by cleaning up the trash in front and clearing the zone at every opportunity. But the goalie still needs to do what he is paid to do: stop the puck. The stats for all three Stockton masked men are as follows:

Gillies, with a career 42-43-13-7 record, 0.904 SV %, and 2.99 GAA, is not going to cut it. His last win, an overtime game, was Dec. 8 against Manitoba. His last regulation win was Nov. 9 against Ontario. In his last four starts (0-2-2) he has allowed 22 goals.

In comparison, after starting the season with two losses, Parsons has gone 5-1 in his last seven starts (Ryan Faragher was saddled with a loss when he gave up four goals in relief of Parsons, who got the hook after one period). Although his numbers are bad, he has 14 games in hand to improve those numbers.

While everyone is wondering what to do with the backup in Calgary, there is a glaring need to find a bonafide #3 goalie. Pat Steinberg had an article about five potential NHL goalie options and I want to add a list of AHL goalies that I think should be targeted. I am coming at this with the thought that the Flames goalie situation will remain status quo and Mike Smith will be David Rittich’s back up for the remainder of the year with no more than 10 starts.

Jarry is Pittsburgh’s #3 goalie but may not get another opportunity with the big club with both Matt Murray and (recently signed) Casey DeSmith, both in their 20s and performing well. Jarry sports a 65-40-10-8 career record along with a 0.913 SV % and 2.54 GAA. It may be difficult to get Jarry out of Wilkes-Barre with Murray’s concussion history.

Martin has been replaced as Colorado’s #3 by Pavel Francouz. Although his career numbers are not stellar (43-53-11-7: 0.902 SV%, 3.99 GAA), watching him in person was another story. He is quick and young. Maybe like Gillies, he needs a change of scenery and I think this could be a straight swap between struggling netminders.

Gustavsson has been touted as Ottawa’s future, but there are some rumors that he can be had for the right price. Sporting career numbers of 13-18-1: 0.892 SV%, 3.39 GAA are not as expected to date. With the mess that the Ottawa organization is in, adding Gillies and Gustavsson in any deal should be seriously explored.

Trading within the division is always a difficult task and highly unlikely. But it is worth exploring the option. Like Pittsburgh, the Sharks are relevantly young in net, with both Martin Jones and Aaron Dell being 29 years old. Their future is with 20-year-old Josef Korenar. This leaves Bibeau outside looking in. The 25-year-old has great numbers in a handful of seasons between Toronto and San Jose, going 87-52-18-15: 0.910 SV%, 2.65 GAA.

This is a new addition for me. Montreal is set in net for the next 10 years with arguably the best goalie on the planet in Carey Price. Whoever backs him up will get 20 or so games with the Habs. Lindgren, who was highly touted throughout his career, is the oldest of the three goalies currently in Laval. His numbers are respectable (40-47-18-7: .900 SV%, 2.87 GAA) but not what was expected from the Canadiens.

Parsons has the makings of the future of the Flames in net. The 21-year-old needs at least two full years in Stockton as the number 1 option to hone his craft. If he keeps up playing like he has with Stockton this year, Schneider has a chance to be the organization’s #3 in a few years while backing up Parsons.

In my opinion, Gillies is taking valuable minutes away from Parsons and must be part of any trade deadline deal that Calgary does. Brad Treliving needs to keep one eye on the horizon while shoring up the Flames for a deep postseason run.