By Mike Cadarette (Contributor) – Email
It seems Roman Horak can do no wrong these days. On Friday night, the sophomore forward led his team to a 4-2 win over their division rival the Toronto Marlies, scoring a natural hat trick in the process.
“I’ve been lucky,” explained Horak who was the first star of the game. “The goals come easier when you play with guys like Ben [Walter] and Sven [Baertschi].”
Goals have been coming easy to Roman Horak as of late. In the first nine games of the season, he has collected 10 goals and sits alone atop the AHL goal-scoring list (two goals ahead of Charlotte Checkers’ Drayson Bowman who is second in AHL goal scoring).
“He’s been unbelievable,” said Heat goalie Leland Irving. “He’s been [in the] right spot at the right time. We knew he had that kind of talent, so it’s great see.”
Horak got his first goal of the night on the power play with just two seconds left in the first period, which shifted the momentum heavily in favour of the Heat. Until that point the Heat had been outshot 13-3 with the Marlies dominating the first period offensively.
In the second period, Horak scored his second goal of the night only a minute in when he tipped a Steve McCarthy slap shot to give his team a 2-1 lead. The Heat did not let off the gas pedal as they continued to apply pressure in the offensive zone.
Five minutes later, Horak finished off his natural hat trick on a rebounded shot from Ben Walter off of Marlies goaltender Mark Owuya. Walter finished the game with two assists and was named second star of the game.
The Marlies would respond, however, on a shorthanded goal from defenseman Paul Ranger who jumped up in the rush and beat Leland Irving high stick side to bring his team within a goal of the Heat’s lead.
Mid-way through the second period, the aggressive play would boil over as two consecutive fights broke out involving newly appointed Heat captain Quintin Laing and Heat defenseman Zach McKelvie. Both fights were over before they started, however. The chippiness would continue as both teams were taking turns cutting ruts to the penalty box accounting for 10 penalties in the second period and 21 total infractions in the game.
In the third period, Laing would get his first goal of the season on the powerplay to give the Heat an insurance marker and put the Heat at a safe 4-2 lead, which the Marlies were unable to overcome.
The Abbotsford Heat now sit in first place in the Western Conference and are tied for first place in the AHL.
The Heat hope to continue their winning ways in a tough matchup next weekend when they welcome the Edmonton Oilers’ young stars to the AESC on November 9 and 10.
