HGD 16: Stockton kicks off a back-to-back home series with San Diego (8:00 p.m. MT)

With @Juuso Valimaki in the lineup, the Stockton Heat will look to bounce back from their 5–1 loss to the Colorado Eagles on Nov. 27 when they take on the San Diego Gulls at Stockton Arena on Friday night.

The Calgary Flames assigned Valimaki to the Heat on Thursday. The 23-year-old defenceman had only appeared in one National Hockey League contest since Oct. 28, sitting out the majority of November as a healthy scratch behind @Nikita Zadorov. As a recent first-round draft pick, Valimaki will undoubtedly receive ample playing time in Stockton.

The Heat went without two-thirds of their red-hot first line in the 5–1 setback in Colorado. No. 1 centre @Adam Ruzicka has been up with the Flames since Nov. 25, although he has yet to appear in an NHL game this season; right wing @Matthew Phillips missed the game while going through COVID-19 protocol. It remains unclear whether Phillips will be available to the Heat on Friday.

Stockton’s main task on Friday will be to shut down Gulls forward @Brayden Tracey, who was named the American Hockey League’s Player of the Week for the period of Nov. 22–28. The 2019 first-round selection (29th overall) has five goals and 14 points in 15 games with the Gulls this season.

@Dustin Wolf will likely get the start for Stockton on Friday. The 20-year-old goaltender still has yet to record a regulation loss this season, having posted a 7–0–2 record and a .932 save percentage in his first nine appearances.

Stockton and San Diego have already met once this year, way back on Oct. 22. @Adam Werner made 20 saves as the Heat cruised to a 6–2 win, with @Jakob Pelletier factoring in on half of Stockton’s goals.

FlamesNation contributor Mike Gould will be in attendance at tonight’s Heat game and will provide live updates from Stockton Arena on Twitter. He’ll set the scene for the contest alongside Pat Steinberg on Sportsnet 960 at 2:30 p.m. MT.

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

@Connor Mackey – @Andy Welinski
@Juuso Valimaki – @Colton Poolman
@Kevin Gravel – @Nick DeSimone

@Dustin Wolf
@Adam Werner

@Greg Printz – Danny O’Regan – @Jacob Perreault
@Alex Limoges – @Benoit-Olivier Groulx – @Bryce Kindopp
@Brayden Tracey – @Vincent Marleau – @Maxim Golod
@Morgan Adams-Moisan – @Jack Badini – @Hunter Drew

@Trevor Carrick – @Greg Pateryn
@Brendan Guhle – @Jacob Larsson
@Nikolas Brouillard – @Brogan Rafferty

@Lukas Dostal
@Olle Eriksson Ek

Stockton — @Jakob Pelletier (seven goals, 17 points); @Glenn Gawdin (three goals, 14 points); @Matthew Phillips (five goals, 13 points); @Byron Froese (four goals, 11 points); @Nick DeSimone (one goal, 10 points).

San Diego — @Jacob Perreault (seven goals, 15 points); @Brayden Tracey (five goals, 14 points); @Nikolas Brouillard (three goals, 12 points); Danny O’Regan (three goals, nine points); @Bryce Kindopp (two goals, eight points).

Stockton — @Martin Pospisil. Stockton’s living, breathing wrecking ball has six points in his last six games, including the only goal for the Heat in their 5–1 loss to Colorado on Nov. 27. Pospisil was held without a point in his first three contests of the season, which were also his first competitive regular-season games since he suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Laval Rocket last March.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on AHL TV (subscription required) 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; Mike Gould will be live on-scene at Stockton Arena posting updates and catching up with the players after the final buzzer. Additionally, you’ll be able to follow along at TheAHL.com.