From The Heat. The Abbotsford Heat lost to the Toronto Marlies (AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs) 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum. The Heat remain in second place in the West Division with a 35-24-5-2 record and 77 points.
Photo Credit: TSGPhoto.com/Toronto Marlies
Power play goal scoring was the theme of the game, as all five goals registered were recorded on the man advantage. Overall, 88 penalty minutes were handed out in the game.
The Heat got into penalty trouble early, and Marlies forward Jerry D’Amigo opened the scoring on a two-man advantage at 3:36. The Heat replied on a power play goal of their own, courtesy of Zach Davies who scored his first career AHL goal at 10:12 of the period assisted by Ben Street and Chad Billins.
In the second period, Corey Locke put the Heat ahead scoring on a two man advantage at 9:38 assisted by Max Reinhart and Derek Smith. The lead was short lived, as the Marlies tied the game at 2-2 with a power play goal from Carter Ashton at the 13:42 mark.
With less than five minutes to go, Max Reinhart received a five minute major and a game misconduct for boarding. On the lengthy Toronto man advantage, Josh Leivo scored the game winning goal at 17:34.
The Heat finished the night going two for eight on the power play, and killed off four of seven Marlies power play attempts.
In goal, Garrett Sparks picked up the win turning aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced, while Joni Ortio was the losing goaltender making 26 of 29 saves.
Abbotsford’s six game road trip will continue on Friday, March 28th against the Utica Comets (AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks) at 4:00PM PST. The next Heat home game is against the Rockford Ice Hogs on Friday, April 4th at 7:00 pm at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. For tickets, please call 1-877-452-HEAT (4328) or visit us online at www.abbotsfordheat.com.