Jon Gillies out day-to-day with lower body injury

Jon Gillies definitely isn’t being recalled any time soon.

In what has been an absolutely disastrous season for Calgary Flames goaltending, you wouldn’t think it could get any worse – until it did. Sure, it’s been abhorrent at the NHL level, but at least there was always the ray of hope from Stockton: a tall rookie playing his first professional season in Gillies.

Until, well.

Gillies played just the first period, stopping all nine shots he faced before being forced to leave the game with a lower body injury. Kent Simpson replaced him in net, stopping 18 of the 20 shots he faced as the Heat ultimately fell to the Bakersfield Condors, 2-1. Markus Granlund had the lone Heat goal, a successful powerplay conversion early in the third.

The Heat host the Ontario Reign tonight, and with Gillies’ status being day-to-day, his availability is questionable (although it wouldn’t be surprising to see Simpson get his first start of the year). Stockton’s next game is nearly a week from today, on Nov. 13, so it’s entirely possible Gillies will be back in time for that game.

At least, that’s what you hope for. It doesn’t do to have one of the Flames’ most promising prospects to lose development time due to injury, particularly when he needs to find consistency at the AHL level, something he has struggled with early in his career.

Gillies’ save percentage now sits at .920 for the year. His save percentage is top-20 in the AHL, and the seventh best out of all rookie goalies.

The Heat have a 2-4-0-1 record, giving them a .357 winning percentage and putting them right at the bottom of the AHL’s new Pacific Division. They have only won two games – both shutout efforts from Gillies – so it’s a team that, just like its starting goaltender, needs to find consistency, and hopefully start stringing some wins together sooner rather than later (hey, just like their parent club!). Gillies’ return will likely help with that, so hopefully he’s only out for a couple of days at most.

Well, that’s not a particularly good sign. Then again, better safe than sorry.