From The Heat. The Abbotsford Heat lost to the Chicago Wolves (AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues) 5-3 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena. The Heat remain in first place in the Western Conference with a 33-16-4-1 record and 71 points.
The Heat saved their best period for last, but in the end it was not enough to get by the Wolves in the first meeting of the season. Brett Olson recorded his second consecutive two point effort (1-1-2) in the loss for the Heat.
Photo: Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves
The Wolves opened up the scoring on the first shift of the game with a goal from Adam Cracknell at the 26 second mark. They added to their lead at 14:33, as Alexandre Bolduc scored his eighth goal of the season. With 29 seconds to go, Chad Billins got the Heat on the board scoring his ninth goal of the season assisted by Shane O’Brien and Brett Olson.
In the second period, the Wolves made it a 3-1 game at 6:46, with a goal from Evan Oberg on the power play. Shane Harper made it a three goal lead for the Wolves at the 11:57 mark, which chased Olivier Roy from the game and made way for newly signed goaltender Aaron Dell.
51 seconds into the third period, Brett Olson cut the Heat deficit to two goals as he scored his ninth of the season assisted by Tyler Wotherspoon and Carter Bancks. At the 6:53 mark, Corban Knight scored his 14th goal of the season on the power play assisted by Evan Trupp and Markus Granlund. Ty Rattie sealed the Wolves victory with an empty net goal at 19:40.
Abbotsford went one out of seven on the power play and killed off five of six Chicago man advantages.
Matt Climie picked up the win in goal for the Wolves stopping 34 of 37 shots, while Olivier Roy was charged the loss turning away 16 of 20 shots.
The Heat finish up their current five-game road trip on Sunday, February 23rd against the Chicago Wolves. The Heat will be back in action on home ice February 28th and March 1st, against the defending champion, Grand Rapids Griffins. For tickets, please call 1-877-452-HEAT (4328), or visit us online at www.abbotsfordheat.com.