From the Heat. The Abbotsford Heat beat to the Rockford IceHogs (AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks) 5-3 on Saturday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. The Heat remain in second place in the West Division with a 39-25-5-2 record and 85 points.
Photo of Sven Baertschi #47 by: Clint Trahan/Abbotsford Heat
The Heat swept the season series against Rockford four games to none. Forward Blair Jones registered three points (1-2-3) in his first game back from injury, while Max Reinhart earned 3 assists, which is a new career high for the second year left winger.
Corban Knight opened the scoring for the Heat with a power play goal, assisted by Max Reinhart and Blair Jones at 4:33 of the first period. The Heat increased their lead to 2-0, on a goal by Derek Smith assisted by Sven Baertschi and Tim Miller at 9:29. Less than a minute later, the Heat struck again with a goal by Blair Jones assisted by Max Reinhart and Ben Street.
The IceHogs scored the lone goal of the second period when Garrett Ross put the road team on the board at the 16:33 mark, narrowing the Heat lead to 3-1.
The Heat restored their three goal lead early in the third period, on a goal by Sven Baertschi assisted by Max Reinhart and Kane Lafranchise at 1:25. Shortly after, the IceHogs bounced back and made it a 4-3 game, on goals by Adam Clendening at 6:40 and Stephen Johns at 10:06, but that’s as close as they would come. Brett Olson put the game away with an empty net goal at 19:29, assisted by Carter Bancks and Blair Jones
The Heat finished the night one for two on the power play, and killed off the IceHogs’ lone attempt with the man advantage.
Heat goaltender, Joni Ortio earned the victory making 23 saves on 26 shots. IceHogs’ starter Kent Simpson was chased from the game early in the first period after surrendering 3 goals on 4 shots. Jason LaBarbera entered the game in relief and stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced.
Photo by Clint Trahan/Abbotsford Heat
The Abbotsford Heat beat to the Rockford IceHogs (AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks) 6-3 on Friday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. The Heat remain in second place in the West Division with a 38-25-5-2 record and 83 points.
Returning home after a six game road trip, the Heat offense exploded for six goals despite being outshot 48-19. The trio of Corban Knight, Sven Baertschi, and Tim Miller led the way, combining for 11 points, 11 shots on goal, and finished a plus 13. Knight registered his first career AHL hat-trick, while Sven Baertschi amassed five points (2-3-5), which tied a franchise record for most points in a single game by a Heat player.
The IceHogs opened the scoring at 3:05 of the first period on a goal by Mark McNeill. Tim Miller then began a string of three unanswered goals for the Heat at 11:25, assisted by Dean Arsene and Sven Baertschi. Shortly after, a power play goal by Corban Knight at 16:40 gave the Heat a 2-1 lead, with the assists going to Sven Baertschi and Max Reinhart. Shortly after at 18:04, Corban Knight scored again, with Tim Miller and Sven Baertschi drawing the assists.
The IceHogs struck 49 seconds into the second period on an Alex Broadhurst goal, which cut the Heat lead to one. However, the Heat responded when Corban Knight chased IceHogs goalie Jason LaBarbera from the game, with his hat trick goal assisted by Tim Miller at 7:28. At the 13:49 mark, Sven Baertschi extended the Heat’s lead to three with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Shane O’Brien. With less than four minutes to play, Adam Clendening got the IceHogs back in it with a late power play goal.
Sven Baertschi added the only goal in the third period into empty net at 19:18, assisted by Carter Bancks.
The Heat finished one for three on the power play, and killed off five of six Rockford man advantages.
Heat goalie Joni Ortio made 45 saves on 48 shots and was named the third star of the game, while IceHogs starter Jason LaBarbera managed only 8 saves on 12 shots in a losing effort; he was replaced by Kent Simpson who stopped five of the six shots he faced.
The Heat are back at it against the Rockford Ice Hogs (AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhaws) on Saturday, April 5th 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.