From The Heat.The Abbotsford Heat beat the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) 4-3 at Copps Coliseum on Friday night.
Abbotsford’s power play scored three times on six opportunities and first star Ben Walter recorded three points in the opening period of the win. Sven Baertschi recorded a goal and an assist and has now posted multi-point efforts in each of the Heat’s last three wins.
Ben Walter made it 1-0 for the Heat just 64 seconds into play, scoring his 14th goal of the season off a point shot rebound. Rookie defenders Drew MacKenzie and Steven Seigo each drew an assist on the goal.
The Heat went up 2-0 at 6:29 on the power play when Max Reinhart’s shot from the point glanced in off the stick of a Hamilton penalty killer. Ben Walter and Blair Jones drew assists on the rookie forward’s seventh goal of the season.
After a Hamilton power play goal brought the Bulldogs within one goal, Sven Baertschi put the Heat up 3-1 at 18:38 of the first period on the power play. Roman Horak and Ben Walter were awarded assists on Baertschi’s ninth goal of the season. The Heat led 3-1 after 20 minutes of play.
Both teams scored in the second period, with the Bulldogs getting their second goal courtesy of an unassisted even strength effort by Gabriel Dumont. The Heat scored their third power play goal of the night on Ben Street’s 14th goal of the season, giving the Heat a 4-2 lead at 13:08. Sven Baertschi and Drew MacKenzie earned their second points of the night with assists on Street’s goal.
The Bulldogs scored at 11:40 of the third period to make it 4-3, but the Heat held on to earn their first win in Hamilton this season. Abbotsford closes the season series with four wins in eight games with Hamilton.
Danny Taylor started for the Heat and made 23 saves on 26 shots to earn his 16th win of the season. The Heat outshot the Bulldogs 33-26 and by a combined total of 78-48 in the back-to-back games at Copps Coliseum this week.
The Heat power play scored three times on six opportunities, while the penalty kill surrendered one goal against on three Hamilton man advantages.
A matinee tomorrow against the Toronto Marlies will close Abbotsford’s three-game divisional road trip and will send the Heat home for their final four home games of the season. The Heat will host the Grand Rapids Griffins on April 5th and 6th and the Toronto Marlies on April 10th and 12th. For tickets and more information call 1-877-452-HEAT(4328) or visit www.AbbotsfordHeat.com.
Jeff Bough Photo