While the rest of the world was enjoying the end of the 2010's, and unfortunately for the San Jose Barracuda that night, goaltender Jon Gillies was not in the mood to witness any opposing celebrations.
The veteran netminder turned away 29 shots while posting Stockton's first shutout since January of 2018, a 4-0 win in which the Heat got goals from Glenn Gawdin, Buddy Robinson, Austin Czarnik and Eetu Tuulola to send the 20-teens out in style.
"It was a good game," said Gillies. "I thought we were really cognizant of (San Jose's attack) more tonight than in the past. Whenever they had a guy in a shooting position, we had a stick on it right away. We did a great job limiting their chances and holding them to lower percentage shots."
Stockton then opened the new year with a pair of home contests against the Ontario Reign, a weekend series the clubs split after two hard-fought battles.
In Friday's game, the Heat took a trio of one-goal leads at 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before rattling off three unanswered goals after a 3-3 tie to close out the game. The resilient group peppered Ontario netminder Cal Petersen with 37 shots in the contest en route to the win, with Czarnik, Rinat Valiev and Robinson finding the back of the net up to the 3-3 tie in the second and then captain Byron Froese, rookies Luke Philp and Adam Ruzicka closing out the contest.
"We did a poor job of once we took the lead, finding a way to sustain it," said Heat head coach Cail MacLean. "A couple of times over, we gave goals right back. Luke (Philp) getting us (a two- goal lead), was a big play. We were able to extend (the lead), and that was a great aid to everything, just able to settle the team down."
On Saturday, the team's 32nd game of the campaign, the Heat had a season-first: they were held to fewer than two goals in a game. Alan Quine gave the Heat the early edge, tapping home a Corey Schueneman feed for the 1-0 advantage, but momentum swung in the second as Ontario lit the lamp just 37 seconds into the frame to draw even, then Brett Sutter beat Artyom Zagidulin for the decisive 2-1 tally 12:44 into the middle period. Despite a frantic late push, the Heat couldn't beat Matthew Villalta late, the netminder turning away 30 of 31 pucks he saw on the night.
The Heat will look to close out their four-game home stand, longest of the season thus far, on a high note as the club faces off against Pacific Division rival Bakersfield Wednesday.
