By Mike Cadarette (Contributor) – Email
On Friday evening, the Abbotsford Heat lost 5-2 despite directing 50 shots on the Rochester Americans net. Chances came in bunches for the Heat, but being unable to capitalize on those chances ultimately cost them the game.
“It’s a frustrating game to play,” said Heat defender Steve McCarthy. “I think we did a lot of things well. I think we obviously generated quite a few shots. I mean, give Leggio credit, he played well, but obviously we did some things defensively, made a few mistakes and it was in the back of our net.”
Sven Baertschi, in his first game back since November 30, created three prime chances in his first two shifts of the game. On the first chance, Baertschi dished the puck off to Ben Walter who beat Rochester’s netminder David Leggio, but couldn’t beat the post. On his next shift out, Baertschi created another two good chances down low, but once again could not find the back of the net.
The Heat would go into the dressing room tied after the first period. In the second period, just two minutes into the frame, Brian Flynn tipped a point shot from Mark Mancari scoring his tenth goal of the season on the powerplay to put the Americans up 1-0.
Soon after, Krys Kolanos and Ben Street weaved their way into the zone before Kolanos found Street on the other side of the net, but Leggio stole the goal with his right pad.
At 7:02 of the second period, Buffalo Sabres 2012 first-round pick Zemgus Girgensons scored on a backhand shot that beat Barry Brust glove side. The goal would be reviewed, however, but stood as a good tally extending the Americans lead to 2-0.
After two quick Rochester penalties, the Heat went on a 5-on-3 powerplay. During the two-man advantage the Heat garnered chance after chance including a goal by Walter that was called off because the referee had stopped the play a fraction of a second before it crossed the line.
In the third period, Heat captain Quintin Laing took a slashing penalty putting his team on the penalty kill. Thirty seconds into the penalty kill, Paul Byron spotted a streaking Max Reinhart up the centre of the ice to spring the Heat rookie on a breakaway. Reinhart would make the most of his chance beating Leggio five-hole and cutting into the American’s lead 2-1.
The one goal game would not last long as Rochester defenseman Nick Crawford received a crisp pass from Cody Hodgson before firing it from the blue line and beating Brust cleanly over his shoulder to make it 3-1.
At 9:11 of the third period, Rochester captain Kevin Porter found the back of the net to give his team a comfortable 4-1 cushion on the scoreboard.
A minute later the Heat would get their second goal of the game on a beautiful tick-tack-toe play from Baertschi and Brodie to find Walter for the tap in. With just over a minute left in the game, head coach Troy Ward pulled Barry Brust and called a timeout to develop a gameplan to get back in the game. However, Mark Mancari would take advantage of the Heat’s open net, scoring with seconds left on the clock to put the icing on the cake 5-2.
In the rematch on Saturday night, the Heat seemed to have learned from their mistakes the previous night, and beat the Americans 3-1. They had the same quality of chances, but were able to find the back of the net and shut down the potent Rochester offense.
Ben Street was able to snap his three game goalless drought by potting two goals and an assist in the win and being named the game’s first star.
At 6:47 of the first period, Americans’ forward Nick Tarnasky found his sixth goal of the season on a shot from the slot to put his team ahead 1-0. The Heat looked to be off to the same start they finished with in the previous night by controlling the play but having nothing to show for it. However, Ben Street snapped that trend getting his first goal of the game on an accurate backhand saucer pass from TJ Brodie, who was named second star, to tie the game up with 0:30 seconds left in the opening frame.
Midway through the second period, Tyler Ruegsegger found himself alone with the puck in the slot snapping it high over David Leggio’s left shoulder to put the Heat up 2-1. Heat head coach Troy Ward commented after the game on how proud he is anytime an energy player like Ruegsegger picks up a tally.
“He’s a sparkplug for us. He’s a guy that’s earned everything he’s got here and for a guy like that to work as hard as [he does] and get rewarded finally, it’s kind of like Carter Bancks and other guys on our team, you feel real good about that…I think the whole team was elated for him.”
In the third period, the Heat wasted no time adding onto their lead. At the 3:24 mark of the period Ben Street got his second of the night from Paul Byron and Joe Callahan to give his team a comfortable 3-1 cushion.
Late in the third period, Sven Baertschi got a nice feed to spring him on the breakaway, but was unable to convert due to being tripped up by an Americans defender. The officials rewarded Baertschi with a second chance on the penalty shot, but David Leggio stood tall stopping him with the right pad.
The Heat return to action on Friday and Saturday evening to take on the Chicago Wolves. The attendance is expected to be sold out for both games as is the norm when the Canucks top affiliate is in town.
