CAVENDISH FARMS REPORT - 25.11.21

They're all important.
Some just seem to weigh heavier.
The Stockton Heat hit the road for a two-game set against the Ontario Reign, a clash of the top two teams in the AHL's Pacific Division. Stockton entered the twin bill leading the Western Conference in point percentage, Ontario leading in point total. The Heat were bolstered by one of the top defensive units in the AHL, the Reign guided by the highest-flying offense in the league.

The result of the prove-it showdown in Ontario? A 1-1 stalemate.
"I really liked our game on Sunday," said Mitch Love of the series-opening, 4-2 win. "We were emotionally invested in the hockey game, hard to play against, really limited their time and space all over the ice sheet. Monday we got away from what made us successful and they had us on our heels. There are some areas for us to improve on for sure, finding that consistency in back-to-back matchups when you're playing the same opponent. More than anything, we have to find that hunger in game two."
Both nights, the Reign were able to get on the board first. Both nights, the Heat countered to take the lead soon after. Sunday it was Jakob Pelletier with the first answer, followed by Adam Ruzicka and Byron Froese, the latter pair coming on the powerplay, as Stockton built a multi-goal cushion that the Reign, despite their firepower and five cracks on the man-advantage, could not overcome.
"I really thought our penalty-kill was solid," said Love. "That was a deadly powerplay on the other side and we really limited their chances. Now, the best penalty-kill is not taking penalties. We had a huge 5-on-3 kill. Our powerplay on the other end was also huge. Special teams played a big part in winning us that hockey game. They've been a strong suit for us to this point (in the season)."
In the back end of the double-header, Ontario again jumped on top with two goals in the first period sandwiched around a Heat pair from Matthew Phillips and Glenn Gawdin. Luke Philp's lamp-lighter in the second period gave the Heat a 3-2 edge through 40 minutes, but an onslaught of three tallies from the Reign in the first 8:31 of the third was the difference as Ontario held serve on home ice to earn the split.
It was only two games of a 68-game slate, but separation season is upon us and the Heat and Reign appear to be the cream of the crop of the Pacific Division as we near the quarter-way point of the schedule. The usual suspects for Stockton showed out, with Ruzicka, Pelletier, Phillips, Gawdin and Philp all scoring. Dustin Wolf was stout once again in net, stopping 31 of 33 shots faced on Sunday. The PK hamstrung a potent man-advantage, tops in the AHL, to just 1-for-6 including an extended two-man edge in the first contest.
Now, it's about response. It took 13 games for the Heat to be tagged with a regulation loss on the year, the season-opening, 12-game point streak a team record. For a veteran-laden team, a club who has seen nothing but success to this point, a bounce-back effort isn't a hope but rather an expectation.
A weekend against the Colorado Eagles, who Stockton dispatched by a 6-3 final in October, awaits as the Heat look to regain their footing.
"It's huge," said Love. "Just like Ontario did to us, responding to a loss, I'm excited to see where our group is at following a loss. We've been pretty good to this point in terms of coming back from (overtime) losses we've had this year, following up with a strong performance and responding.
"We need that and I expect to see that against Colorado this weekend."

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

Sunday at Ontario - W, 4-2
Monday at Ontario - L, 5-3

QUICK HITS:

THEY SAID IT:

"We're searching for consistency in the back-to-backs against the same opponent. We're typically strong in the first game, then like any team, when you lose a hockey game you want a response to your loss. When we face that opponent, they seem to have a little more urgency to their game than we do. I think that was the case (Monday), we just weren't matching Ontario's desire to respond. The sign of a good hockey team is no matter the result, the way you play the game doesn't change. The way you compete, the way you check, the way you're physically engaged shouldn't change. That's a learning curve for us."
- Love on Stockton's play in the back end of back-to-backs
"They were good battles. We knew Ontario is a good team, but we've been playing well, too. They were good games. Unfortunately we couldn't get the last one, it got away from us in the third period, but we have to have a short memory here and rebound against Colorado."
- Luke Philp on the series against Ontario
"We knew we weren't going to win them all. We just have to get back to our game. We get a couple of practice days before we get back to it with Colorado. Just have to get back to our game and play the way we want to play."
- Nick DeSimone on how Stockton can rebound
"It was a little different than I had expected, an empty netter with time ticking down. Besides that, it's a nice accomplishment, but I'm just happy with two points (in a win) that came with it."
- Gawdin on becoming Stockton's all-time leading scorer