HGD 41: Stockton goes for back-to-back wins against Bakersfield (6:00 p.m. MT)

The Stockton Heat are 4–0–0 against the Bakersfield Condors this season.

They’ll go for win No. 5 in this year’s edition of the Battle of Highway 99 when they face Bakersfield at Stockton Arena on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. MT.

Stockton has won each of its last three games against Bakersfield by a one-goal margin, most recently defeating the Condors 4–3 in a shootout on Feb. 19.

@Juuso Valimaki scored the winner in the skills competition on Saturday to seal Stockton’s Pacific Division-leading 28th win in just 40 games this season. @Jakob Pelletier, @Luke Philp, and @Justin Kirkland tallied in regulation for the Heat; @Matthew Phillips and @Connor Mackey each recorded a pair of assists.

@Connor Zary recorded a slick assist on @Luke Philp’s go-ahead goal late in the first period. Philp, 26, now has 40 goals in 120 AHL games with the Heat; Zary has 11 points in 28 games this season.

Expect @Dustin Wolf to get the call between the pipes for the Heat after @Adam Werner stopped 28 of 31 shots on Sunday. Werner improved to 8–4–1 with an .894 save percentage with the win; Wolf is 20–3–3 with a .928 save percentage this season.

The Heat currently lead the AHL with a .750 points percentage (28–8–3) this season. The Condors rank third in the Pacific Division and seventh in the league with a .615 (20–11–8).

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

@Connor Mackey – @Nick DeSimone
@Kevin Gravel – @Colton Poolman
@Ilya Solovyov – @Juuso Valimaki

@Dustin Wolf
@Adam Werner

@Cooper Marody – @James Hamblin – @Seth Griffith
@Dylan Holloway – @Brad Malone – @Adam Cracknell
@Devin Brosseau – @Luke Esposito – @Raphael Lavoie
@Tim Schaller – @Matteo Gennaro – @Dino Kambeitz

@Dmitri Samorukov – @Vincent Desharnais
Yanni Kaldis – Philip Kemp
@Filip Berglund – @Michael Kesselring

@Alex Stalock
@Stuart Skinner

Stockton — @Matthew Phillips (18 goals, 39 points); @Jakob Pelletier (15 goals, 38 points); @Glenn Gawdin (12 goals, 35 points); @Luke Philp (13 goals, 25 points); @Connor Mackey (five goals, 24 points).

Bakersfield — @Seth Griffith (17 goals, 48 points); @Cooper Marody (15 goals, 36 points); @Brad Malone (nine goals, 28 points); @Adam Cracknell (10 goals, 24 points); @Raphael Lavoie (11 goals, 23 points).

Heat forward @Justin Kirkland has goals in back-to-back games and is really making noise as he continues to push for his first NHL call-up.

The big 25-year-old winger has already set a new AHL career-high with 12 goals in 38 games this year and ranks sixth on the team with 22 points. His 111 shots on goal this season rank second on the Heat and 22nd in the AHL.

Sunday’s game in Stockton will be broadcast on AHL TV (subscription required) and on Spreaker (audio only), with the opening puck-drop set for 6:00 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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