Stockton Heat Weekend Preview: January 21-22

The Stockton Heat (22-7-2-1) and the Henderson Silver Knights (16-10-2-1) kick off a two-game weekend series starting Friday night. Will Stockton take the opportunity to pull ahead in the season series? Both are highly ranked in the Pacific Division, with Stockton leading the Pacific and the Silver Knights in third just below the Ontario Reign. These two make a tough game for each other and create some entertaining hockey to watch. Here’s an overview to get you primed for this weekend’s games.

Previous Games

The Heat and Silver Knights have played three games in 2021-22 so far. The first was back on November 12, where Stockton ultimately won the game 3-2 in a shootout. This game put the Heat at nine straight wins for their early winning streak that gained them a lot of ground in the standings. Adam Ruzicka & Jakob Pelletier scored in regulation and Justin Kirkland came up with the game-winning goal in overtime. Adam Werner was in net for the Heat and stopped 22 saves on 24 shots.

Henderson flipped the script on Stockton the following night and earned a win for themselves outside of regulation. The Silver Knights took this game and split the series with a 4-3 win in overtime. Luke Philp, Connor Zary, and Ruzicka all scored for the Heat. Dustin Wolf took the loss in overtime with 22 saves on 26 shots. This game was decided only a minute into overtime when Ben Jones of the Silver Knights scored the game-winner.

Their last game against each other also did not go the Heat’s way. They played each other back on January 12 when Stockton was on the back end of a six-game road trip. Henderson ensured this game was much more well decided and beat the Heat, 5-2. Henderson struck first and struck early in the first period to get things rolling, scoring another three in the second period. One more goal for the home team came in the third. Kirkland was able to get one back for the Heat in the second period before the Silver Knights went on to score four unanswered goals. The only other Heat goal of the night was off the stick of Matthew Phillips with 10 seconds to go in the game. Wolf was also in net for this game and stopped 23 of 28 Henderson shots.

Top Scorers

Matthew Phillips, Glenn Gawdin and Jakob Pelletier all lead the way in team scoring for the Heat. Phillips leads in goals and Pelletier leads in assists and points. Here is a breakdown of the Heat’s top producers.

• Matthew Phillips: 13 goals, 17 assists in 29 games
• Glenn Gawdin: 12 goals, 17 assists in 30 games
• Jakob Pelletier: 11 goals, 21 assists in 31 games

Between call-ups and COVID-19 protocols, none of these three have actually played in all 32 games for the Heat this season.

For Henderson, they are still chasing the 30-point mark for their scorers. Pavel Doroveyev, Ben Jones, and Jake Leschyshyn (inactive) lead the team in goals. Inactive defenseman Daniil Miromanov is second in points, with three goals and 18 assists through 24 games. Here is what the top three active goal scorers look like for the Silver Knights going into this weekend.

Pavel Dorofeyev: 14 goals, 12 assists in 29 games

Ben Jones: 13 goals, six assists in 27 games

Jonas Rondbjery: Seven goals, seven assists in 17 games.

We’ll see if any of these skaters add some numbers to their stat line after these two games. 

Goaltending Match-Up

Henderson has had three netminders through the season. Logan Thompson has played in the majority of the Silver Knights games this year, starting in 21. Dylan Ferguson has also done his part, playing in seven games for Henderson. Their current active goaltender is Jiri Patera, who played his fourth game of the season back on January 14. His record is 3-1 with a 2.50 GAA and a .914 save percentage. This is likely who the Heat will see in net (at least in on one of their games this weekend). 

The Stockton Heat typically split their back-to-back series between Adam Werner and Dustin Wolf. As Werner has gotten the last two starts, it is very likely Wolf will start the first on Friday. That will determine whether or not he starts on Saturday, as well. Wolf was the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month in December and went all the way until January without losing a game in regulation. 

Wolf’s stat line includes 20 games played this season, a 2.07 GAA and a .931 save percentage going into these Henderson games. His record sits at 17-2-2. Adam Werner has also been a solid back-up for a good chunk of games. He has started in 11 games and sits at a 6-4-1 record. Werner’s GAA sits at 2.91 and his save percentage is at an .892. I would definitely expect Wolf in net at some point this weekend. Werner might still be a question mark for a start, depending on how things play out.

Big Push for the Heat

The Heat are in need of a good series against a good team. This weekend brings all the potential for that. They have not been as dominant in recent games as they have had multiple players enter and return from COVID-19 protocol. Most recently, five players returned in Stockton’s Wednesday night game against the San Diego Gulls. Other rostered players also faced COVID-19 issues through the Christmas break. They are a team with a lots of potential for a Calder Cup run this season and need to have bodies to do so.

They are 2-3 in their last five games, and only one of those games had more than two goals for the Heat. They have most of their regular roster back now with the exception of Adam Ruzicka, who is up with the Flames rotating from the regular roster and taxi squad with Andy Welinski, Connor Zary, and Juuso Valimaki out with injuries. They need a little challenge and some mid-season strides from key players. 

This series kicks off on Friday night at 7:00 pm PST at Stockton Arena.