by Justin Orlewicz (Sports Editor)
Email: cascade.ca [at] ufv [dot] ca
The Abbotsford Heat opened up their two-week, eight-game home stand with an overtime win against the Rochester Americans. The Heat got to an early 2-0 lead in the first period with goals coming from John Armstrong and Galen Patterson. The Heat then gave up two unanswered goals to the Americans, with former Vancouver Giant Kenndal McArdle getting one of the goals for Rochester. The Heat then temporarily retook the lead in the third period with another goal from Patterson, before Rochester would tie it up with just over a minute left in the game, sending the contest to overtime. Once again the Heat were able to answer right back with the winning goal coming from Rheault, just over a minute into overtime. The final score was 4-3 for the Home team.
The following night would be game two of the miniseries with Rochester where the fans would be treated to a low scoring goaltenders duel. The game was locked at a 1-1 tie with only five minutes left in the game when the Rochester Amerks would get the go-ahead game-winning goal to make it a 2-1 final. Tyler Plante had 23 saves for the Amerks while Matt Keetley had 18.
Next up for the Heat was a Halloween weekend miniseries with the Milwaukee Admirals. In the first game, the Heat got off to a dismal start, giving up two goals in the first period and then another one early in the second period, putting them at a 3-0 deficit early in the second period. The Heat would battle back and get two unanswered goals late in the second, but that would be as close as they would come to tying it up. Milwaukee Admirals goalie Mark Dekanich shut down the Heat for the rest of the game, keeping it a 3-2 game in favor of the Admirals. Dekanich had 26 saves in the Milwaukee win; Matt Keith and Lance Bouma were the goal scorers for the Heat.
Dekanich was called upon again the following night to start against the Heat for the Admirals, making it his second start in as many nights. The Heat would get to Dekanich early in this contest when Cam Cunning put one past him just five minutes into the game to give the Heat an early lead. Early in the third period, the Heat would get to him again with the goal coming from the red-hot Keith. After his goal, the flood gates opened up. The Heat put two shorthanded goals in past Dekanich on the same Admirals’ power play. The Heats’ shorthanded goals came from Carter Bancks and Galen Patterson. The Admirals would try to answer back with a pair of goals, but in the end it was too little to late; the Heat took this contest 4-2.
The Heats’ next home series is this Friday and Saturday against the San Antonio Rampage and then the Houston Aero’s will be in town on November 8th and 9th before the Heat hit the road again. At week’s end, the Heat has a 6-5-0-1 record, which is good enough to keep them in second position in the Northern Division. For more insider info on the Abbotsford Heat, follow me on Twitter @JustinOrly.
