Stockton Heat win season opener

What a great win. And whew! So here are my takeaways from the game tonight.

There were more than the 3,482 attendees as posted on AHL.com. The building had about 5,000 or so. There was a good buzz in the air.

Jon Gillies absolutely stole the first period with 20 saves on 20 shots. The Heat were not playing bad, and they fought off 1:35 of 5-on-3 and a couple more penalties. The team blocked some shots in front of him as well. But Gillies by far was the most active guy on the ice for the first 20. Only four shots in the period for the Heat, but two of those were breakaways by Emile Poirier and Ryan Lomberg.

The second saw Andrew Mangiapane in the slot fire one past Nick Ellis on the power play. Morgan Klimchuk and Rasmus Andersson had the assists. The goal that Gillies gave up was through a screen and tipped. Mark Jankowski’s shorty was a thing of beauty. He ripped a shot high glove side.

The third was a grinder. The Heat were opportunists while still spending time in their own zone blocking shots. This needs to change. But Jankowski’s second of the night absolutely grounded the Condors. The team tried to feed him for the empty net to get his hattie, but never could get it to him. Garnet Hathaway ended up with the final goal. I actually believe it was after the horn, but Ryan Mantha (I believe) threw his stick at Hathaway as he shot the puck. But a goal is a goal. And Garnet will take the extra point.

Overall, Jankowski was the best player on the ice. The top line was their best. Gillies definitely played like a #1 goalie. This may be the best game I have seen him play. I thought Andersson was the best defensemen, along with Oliver Kylington (before he was boarded in the third). Cody Goloubef also was pretty strong on defense. Joseph Cramarossa, Lomberg, and Poirier all played well. I thought Luke Gazdic and Josh Healey were invisible: didn’t do anything bad but did not stand out.

The Barracuda come in tomorrow for a 6:00 pm tilt. I know the Flames are on at the same time, so updates will be limited to Sunday’s wrap-up.

After thoughts from last night’s game. Sadly, no Canadian beer… yet. I am working on them.

Lines were as such:

Yes, Lomberg is listed as center and took all draws on his line. And the fourth line changed many times throughout the game, as I did not see too much of Gazdic.

I will say that these pairings also changed during the game, as I saw Andersson with Wotherspoon at times and it seemed like Goloubef (signed on Thursday from the Columbus system) played with all four left defenenders.

It was interesting that Huska dressed four left shots and only two righties. He also dressed only three right wingers (Hathaway, Foo, and Poirier) and five left wingers (Shinkaruk, Klimchuk, Cramarossa, Mangiapane, and Gazdic). Hey, GG and BT, look… an odd L/R combo… it can be done!

Poirier, Foo, Klimchuk, and Lomberg all played a solid defensive game. As for offensively, it is hard to show what everyone has when you spend 40+ minutes in front of your goalie blocking shots.

I was disappointed in Healey’s play, as he was more like Claude Raines than a highly touted prospect. The top line (Mangiapane, Jankowski, Hathaway) was the only real offensive line the Heat had last night. Jankowski easily outplayed Puljujavi and LaLeggia, the Condors’ top players, both offensively and defensively. The Condors’ defense did a great job in keeping the puck in the Heat’s end. I believe they were a tad better than the Heat defense, but they were not tested as much.

The Heat need to tighten up and get the puck out of the zone. They spent WAY too much time in their own zone. Gillies faced 20 shots in the first, but it could have been 30. I will commend the Heat for getting into shot lanes and blocking shots, but you cannot expect 40 saves from Gillies (or Rittich) every night. They need to get the puck out of the zone.

The offense needs to show up and help out the backend. Try a one-timer once in a while. Cross-ice passes need to be at a minimum; no look passes need to be flushed from their system. There is no NHL TV or SportsCenter televising these games. They won’t be on the top plays of the day (well, maybe, but doubtful). They’ve got to get in front of the crease and get those greasy goals – pretty or ugly, they add up the same.

I will provide a game recap for tonight’s game tomorrow.