From the Heat. The Abbotsford Heat fell to the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) 2-1 on Friday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC). The Heat now sit in second place in the Western Conference with a 23-10-1-1 record and 48 points.
Photo by Clint Trahan/Abbotsford Heat
Forward Sven Baertschi picked up his second goal of the season and now has goals in back to back games. Newcomer Adrian Foster put forth a strong performance in his first game wearing the Heat jersey with one assist. Mark Cundari laid a big hit and fought in the first period, also adding an assist in the third period.
Justin Courtnall opened the scoring for the Bulldogs at 7:13 in the first period. The Heat fought hard to even out the score before the intermission, but were unable to get the puck past netminder Dustin Tokarski. The first period ended with the Bulldogs outshooting the Heat 13-9.
The Bulldogs stretched their lead to two in the second period with a goal by Christian Thomas at 10:02. The second period finished with the Bulldogs leading 2-0.
The Heat cut the Bulldogs lead to 2-1 with a goal by Sven Baertschi at 3:44 in the third period, assisted by Mark Cundari and Adrian Foster. Despite the early goal, the Heat were unable to complete their comeback despite outshooting Hamilton 14-3 in the third period.
Abbotsford was scoreless on four on the power play and killed off the two Hamilton man advantages.
Joni Ortio stopped 20 of 22 shots while Dustin Tokarski made 28 saves on 29 shots.
The Heat will host the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadians) again tomorrow night at 7:00 PM PST. For tickets please call 1-877-452-HEAT (4328) or visit us online at www.abbotsfordheat.com.