The Abbotsford Heat beat the Iowa Wild (AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild) 4-0 on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The Heat remain in first place in the American Hockey League (AHL) with a 16-5-0-1 record and 33 points. The Heat are now 5-1-0-0 through six of seven games on their current road trip and have now won 12 of their last 13 games.
The Heat executed a perfect road game as they were strong defensively throughout and were opportunistic when it came to the offense. Joni Ortio was named the first star as he picked up his first career AHL shutout. Offensively, Paul Byron (1-2-3), Markus Granlund (1-1-2), and Brady Lamb (1-1-2) combined for seven points on the evening.
Ben Hanowski scored the lone goal in the first period at 4:47 assisted by Brady Lamb and Corban Knight. Joni Ortio stopped all seven shots he faced, while Gustafsson allowed one goal on four shots.
In the second period, Brady Lamb scored his first goal of the season at 3:31 assisted by Brett Olson and Paul Byron. The Heat took a 2-0 lead into the third period after firing 14 shots on Gustafsson in the second period.
The Heat put the game away in the final period with two goals. Paul Byron scored a power play goal at 6:11 with the assists going to Markus Granlund and Ben Street. Granlund closed out the game scoring the Heat’s fourth and final goal at 16:15 assisted by Byron.
The Heat were one out of one on the power play and killed off both of their penalties in the game.
Joni Ortio picked up the win stopping all 25 shots and is now 9-0-0-0 on the season. Johan Gustafsson was charged with the loss as he turned away 26 of 30 shots.
The Heat will finish their seven game road trip Sunday afternoon at 3:05 PST against the Iowa Wild (AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild). Following this road trip, the Heat will return home to play the Utica Comets (AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks) on Friday, November 29th and Saturday, November 30th. Friday, November 29th will feature the third Legends of Hockey night of the season, with Canucks legend Kirk McLean appearing for autographs prior to the game on the AESC concourse at 6:00pm. On Saturday, November 30th, one lucky fan will have the opportunity to win $5000 in The Honda Way Shootout, courtesy of the Honda Way Abbotsford. For tickets, please call 1-877-452-HEAT (4328) or go to abbotsfordheat.com.