Stockton Heat Update: Life on the Road

After 18 games of the 2017-18 AHL season, the Stockton Heat currently sit in a four-way tie for first place in the Pacific Division with a record of 11-6-1 and 23 points. When games played are included, the Heat sit in second place with two more games played than Tuscon, but two less games played than San Antonio and Texas.

The Heat last played on Saturday night in what was a 4-2 victory over the Tuscon Roadrunners. It was Eddie Lack’s first game with the Heat and he performed well, making 23 saves on 25 shots in the victory. Marek Hrivik had three points on the night as the Heat ended a brief two game losing streak.

The game was the third of a six game road trip in a stretch that will see Stockton play 13 of 14 games on the road. Their only home date between November 18 and New Year’s Eve is a game against Tuscon on December 9, with a seven game road trip to follow. Of course the term “road trip” is used lightly since the majority of games are on weekends and all within the state of California.

Here’s a look at the last five games and the next five games for Stockton

Last 5:

Nov 25 Stockton 4 @ Tuscon 2

Nov 24 Stockton 2 @ Tuscon 3

Nov 22 Stockton 1 @ Ontario 3

Nov 18 Bakersfield 2 @ Stockton 5

Nov 17 Bakersfield 2 @ Stockton 4

Next 5:

Nov 30 Stockton @ Bakersfield

Dec 1 Stockton @ Bakersfield

Dec 6 Stockton @ San Jose

Dec 9 Tuscon @ Stockton

Dec 13 Stockton @ San Diego

Leading Scorers

Goals: 11 – Garnet Hathaway, 8 – Andrew Mangiapane, Morgan Klimchuk, 6 – Marek Hrivik

Assists: 13 – Andrew Mangiapane, 12 – Marek Hrivik, 9 – Rasmus Andersson, Tyler Wotherspoon

Points: 21 – Andrew Mangiapane, 19 – Garnet Hathaway, 18 – Marek Hrivik

Even without Mark Jankowski in Stockton, both Mangiapane and Hathaway have continued to enjoy stellar seasons thus far and are making a case to find their way to Calgary in the future. Also worth noting that Marek Hrivik is having his best year as a pro and could be worth a look in the bottom six.

The Heat have had a strong start to the season and look to keep it up over this prolonged stretch of away games.

by Michael MacGillivray