HGD 46: Heat look for first win over Gulls since Dec. 4 (7:30 p.m. MT)

After starting the 2021–22 season with three consecutive wins over the San Diego Gulls, the Stockton Heat have lost back-to-back games against their southern rivals.

The Gulls defeated the Heat 4–1 at Pechanga Arena on Jan. 7 before taking Jan. 19’s contest at Stockton Arena by a 3–2 score. @Justin Kirkland netted both Heat goals in the latter contest.

The Heat recently overcame a two-game losing streak when they defeated the San Jose Barracuda 4–3 in overtime on Mar. 5. @Juuso Valimaki, @Emilio Pettersen, @Walker Duehr, and @Luke Philp scored to help the Heat remain the only American Hockey League team with fewer than 10 regulation losses this season.

Valimaki now has goals in back-to-back games following his overtime snipe. @Matthew Phillips and @Dustin Wolf — yes, the goaltender — picked up the helpers on Valimaki’s second goal of the season.

Stockton has been the most successful team in the AHL this year. With a 31–9–5 record, the Heat currently sit atop the AHL standings at a .744 points percentage.

San Diego has not experienced the same level of success in 2021–22, most recently falling 4–1 to the Colorado Eagles on Mar. 5. At 19–24–2, the Gulls occupy the seventh and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

@Jakob Pelletier – @Glenn Gawdin – @Matthew Phillips
@Justin Kirkland – @Byron Froese – @Walker Duehr
@Emilio Pettersen – @Connor Zary – @Luke Philp
@Alex Gallant – @Dmitry Zavgorodniy

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

@Dustin Wolf
@Adam Werner

@Nikolas Brouillard – Danny O’Regan – @Vinni Lettieri
@Greg Printz – Brent Gates Jr. – @Buddy Robinson
@Alex Limoges – @Bryce Kindopp – @Jacob Perreault
@Brayden Tracey – @Vincent Marleau – @Hunter Drew

@Trevor Carrick – @Axel Andersson
@Kodie Curran – @Brogan Rafferty
@Jacob Larsson – @Nathan Larose

@Lukas Dostal
@Olle Eriksson Ek

Stockton — @Matthew Phillips (20 goals, 48 points); @Jakob Pelletier (16 goals, 41 points); @Glenn Gawdin (12 goals, 40 points); @Luke Philp (17 goals, 30 points); @Justin Kirkland (14 goals, 27 points).

San Diego — @Nikolas Brouillard (eight goals, 28 points); Danny O’Regan (11 goals, 26 points); @Brayden Tracey (nine goals, 26 points); @Hunter Drew (10 goals, 24 points); @Jacob Perreault (nine goals, 23 points).

@Luke Philp scores a ton of goals. The 26-year-old forward tallied his fourth goal in his last five games — and his 17th in 43 games this season — on Saturday when he redirected a @Nick DeSimone shot by Barracuda goaltender @Alexei Melnichuk

Philp is a pending Group 6 unrestricted free agent.

Wednesday’s game in Stockton will be broadcast on AHL TV (subscription required) and on Spreaker (audio only), with the opening puck-drop set for 7:30 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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