CAVENDISH FARMS REPORT - 20.04.21

Around the bend and into the home stretch, the Heat will look to finish strong.
With the playoff format undetermined and an unbalanced schedule approaching its conclusion, the Stockton will head to Winnipeg for a five-game series that will punctuate a 30-game regular season.

In a unique season, in a new division, in a new home arena, there have been ups and downs. A team-record, eight-game win streak early in the year gave way to a cold spell that has mired the club for the past several weeks. Personal milestones have been achieved - first NHL game for Glenn Gawdin, Flames debut for Byron Froese, then Adam Ruzicka and Matthew Phillips each etching their names into Stockton's record books with their blazing start to the season.
And now, into the final five, the Heat will look to close on a high note. The first step will be to shake off a tough home set at the Saddledome against Belleville.
"(Belleville) capitalized and we didn't," said Heat coach Cail MacLean following the final contest of the three-game series. "Some good things happened, but it's 'horseshoes and hand grenades.' Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."
With the tough trio of tilts against the Senators now in the rear view, the Heat turn their attention to Manitoba, where Stockton wrapped their team-record win streak in a thriller of a series that included three one-goal games in four outings, including a pair of overtime winners for the Flames' AHL affiliate.
A change of scenery could also benefit the Heat, who own an 8-6-0 road record on the season.
"We know that Manitoba is a really tight-checking team," said MacLean ahead of the final road trip. "They bring the play to you. They play right in your face. We have to be ready for that. We have to be prepared for them to be up in our face in the gaps, and we have to play behind them. When you get into that setting, playing in a practice facility, things move quickly in that confined space. We have to make sure we're mentally prepared to make fast plays."
The task ahead is tall - going on the road to finish off a season against a surging team. The Moose have won three straight and have battled back to second place in the Canadian Division standings. They come in rested and are looking to use a five-game series against Stockton to propel themselves into their final two weeks of play.
But the test could be what the Heat need. When the team has found itself in a corner throughout the season, time and time again it has been able to answer. It's the character they've shown from the start of the season, from rebounding after a tough first two games against Toronto, starting the big win streak, to earning a come-from-behind win against division-leading Laval in the final meeting between the teams this season.
Even while winning results have been tougher to find, this season has been about the testing of development and character.
With one final five-game push remaining, the Heat will look to show one more time what they're made of.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

QUICK HITS:

• Flames' 2020 second-round pick Yan Kuznetsov made his pro debut, skating in Saturday's game against the Belleville Senators.
• Dmitry Zavgorodniy registered his first pro goal in Thursday's game.
• Forward prospects Glenn Gawdin and Matthew Phillips each scored in the series.
• The Heat have five games remaining for the 2020-21 season, all against the Manitoba Moose in Winnipeg.

THEY SAID IT:

"He's a young man that looks like he has good poise on the ice. I think that that is exciting because poise is not something that you can teach. Guys just sort of have that in terms of allowing plays to develop, maybe bringing someone to them before he makes a play. That's quite a high-level skill for a hockey player. He moved well. It was his first game, so I think he held his own very well."
- Cail MacLean on Yan Kuznetsov's pro debut
"It just gives you a feel for the kind of the atmosphere the NHL team is under. We're a development team. We're working on getting guys ready for that level. We don't deal with the amount of stress and atmosphere that an NHL team would deal with, but it's great to be around it, to feel it and to be able to watch those games and have our guys go to games. That's something that you can't prepare for when you're separated from that. For a guy like Adam Ruzicka to go up and be around the team in the setting that he was around the team, that's serious business. They're playing for their lives, they're playing for their playoff hopes, they're playing for contracts. To feel that and be as close to it as you can, it's really good for prospects."
- MacLean on playing this season in Calgary
"You just have to make better plays. Guys make less mistakes. If you make a mistake, it can be little, it can lead to a goal. So you have to make better plays and play faster."
- Yan Kuznetsov on his impressions of pro hockey
"I'm learning. It's my first year. The coaching staff knows that I'm learning and I want to learn every game, every practice, whatever I can do to become a better player. I've been working on my all-around game and want to be better and better every game. That's what my focus has been this year, and I feel like if I can go in the right direction in the next five games, that's what I want to do."
- Emilio Pettersen on his growth in his rookie season