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Ben Walter scores in overtime to lift Abbotsford past Rochester 4-3

Thursday, 04.05.2012 / 12:45 AM / News

The Canadian Press

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Ben Walter scores in overtime to lift Abbotsford past Rochester 4-3

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - The Abbotsford Heat have finally made their rink a difficult place to play — and just in time for the playoffs.

The Heat won their third-straight home game on Wednesday night, defeating the Rochester Americans 4-3 in overtime in American Hockey League action.

Abbotsford has struggled much of the season in their own barn but are now over .500 at home after the win, concluding a homestand on which they went 4-1-1.

"This needs to be a tough place for teams to play," said Heat forward Carter Bancks. "We're battling for home ice right now and it's not going to be much help if this is an easy place for other teams to play. This is a place we want teams to be nervous coming into and I thought we've done a better job in the last four games."

The geography of the Calgary Flames' affiliate may have some relevance as to why it can be difficult for visiting teams to play in Abbotsford, B.C.

"From my time here, (I noticed) that teams have to come here from a long ways and travel," said Rochester captain, and former Abbotsford forward Colin Stuart. "There's no excuses for the visiting team but it's definitely a hard rink to play. They seem to play a hard simple game, clog up the neutral zone and they've got some guys that can move the puck."

Ben Walter converted a pass from Krys Kolanos off the rush at 2:19 in overtime to clinch the victory.

"It was a nice play by Kolanos to get it to Walter and put it in," said Kolanos' regular linemate Dustin Sylvester.

The goal gives Walter points in his last seven games (five goals and seven assists).

That assist gave Kolanos three points on the evening. His second-period score gave him goals in five-straight games, to go with four assists in that stretch.

"We got great leadership out of those guys at critical moments," said head coach Troy Ward.

Also, with that goal Kolanos set a new single-season franchise record with 26 on the year, surpassing Jason Jaffray's mark from 2009-10.

"To set a franchise record for goals in a year and…he hasn't played a full year with us, I think it's an outstanding accomplishment," said Ward. "I'm real happy for Krys and the franchise."

Sylvester and Roman Horak also scored for home team.

With the win Abbotsford (38-26-8) maintained a three-point lead for fourth in the Western Conference and has gone 4-0-1 in its past five games.

"These are huge points for us in the standings," said Bancks.

Rochester (32-26-13) moved up to one point out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference but remained winless in the past five games.

"Every point's important," said Stuart. "We're on a stretch now where we need two-point games. Obviously anything less than that is a disappointment. But we'll take the one point and focus on getting two in Hamilton."

Danny Taylor got his second straight start, recording 29 saves in the win.

Evan Rankin had a goal and an assist for Rochester, while Derek Whitmore and Stuart also scored. David Leggio stopped 31 shots in his 17th consecutive start.

"(Leggio) was on his game tonight," said Stuart. "Obviously the shots we did give up were quality. He kept us in the game."

After a scoreless first period, Kolanos was sent in on a breakaway by a Brian Connelly pass and wired a shot glove side on Leggio at 4:13 for his record-setting goal.

The Americans tied the game at 7:58 of the second while killing a penalty on a two-on-two rush. Rankin redirected Phil Varone's pass over the glove of Taylor for his 12th of the season.

Rankin now has nine points in his past six games.

Abbotsford has given up 12 short-handed goals this season, the fourth most in the AHL.

"We've been giving up short-handed goals lately, which we don't want to do," said Sylvester. "We changed it in the third, I don't know if we'll stick with that, but we've got to try and stop giving up short-handed goals."

The Americans took their first lead of the game at 11:30 with Whitmore's team-leading 27th of the year. Paul Szczechura beat Connelly to the puck behind the Heat goal and fed it to Rankin in the corner. He quickly set up Whitmore in the low slot for a one-timer.

The Heat tied the game just 34 seconds into the third period. Kolanos' point shot was stopped, but Paul Byron collected the rebound and fed it to Sylvester for a tap in.

Abbotsford regained the lead at 9:46. Bancks blew by a defender and centred for Horak in the low slot before Horak fought off a check to convert the pass.

However, the Americans tied the game at three with 5:39 remaining in regulation. Stuart one-timed a cross-ice feed from Varone to send the game to overtime.

"Our effort was…night and day compared to last night," said Stuart, whose team lost 4-0 to the Heat on Tuesday. "There was some ebbs and flow in that game where it was in anybody's hands but down the stretch we just didn't take care of the puck enough."

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