CAVENDISH FARMS REPORT - 22.02.22

Good days are one thing, good weekends another, then there's adding four points in 26 hours over a divisional rival, and that's exactly where the Stockton Heat enter the week after dispatching the Bakersfield Condors twice in a tight window over the weekend.
"Our guys did a really good job getting four points," said Heat head coach Mitch Love after the whirlwind. "We knew heading into the weekend there were going to be some challenging games. We hadn't seen Bakersfield in some time, and they'd been playing some really good hockey post-Christmas break. We knew it was going to be a tall task. We knew we wanted to stick to our identity, play hard games, take time and space away, check well and manufacture points by playing our game."

As we've grown used to seeing this year, the Heat's sweet spot is good enough to win more times than not, including Saturday and Sunday with a 4-3 road shootout win followed by a 7-4 victory Sunday at home in the AHL's version of the Battle of Alberta.
In the first game, the Heat headed down Hghway 99 and battled to a win that required a long night of work, included a scoreless overtime set and five rounds of a shootout. After coughing up the first goal, Stockton countered with the next two - Jakob Pelletier and Luke Philp lighting the lamp - and Justin Kirkland added the Heat's third score of the game early in the third period, but the Condors battled back each time to force the 3-on-3 extra period.
Adam Werner, who made 28 saves on 31 shots faced in the tilt, stood strong in net with four stops on five shootout attempts, while Connor Zary and Juuso Valimaki scored in the fourth and fifth rounds to secure the extra point.
On Sunday in Stockton, a wild start that saw six goals - four from the home team - in the game's first nine minutes led to a comfortable win for the Heat, who turned a 4-2 lead at the first intermission into a 6-2 edge through 40 minutes, and ultimately a 7-4 final. The Heat were paced by a four-point effort, a goal and three assists, from Matthew Phillips and a big night from the second line of Kirkland-Zary-Philp in which the trio combined for five goals and six points.
Taking both games into account, the weekend was all about that second grouping, with Kirkland scoring three goals and adding a helper, Zary finishing with three points - a goal and two assists, and Philp adding three markers of his own. In four games since being deployed together, the 23-47-39 line has accounted for an impressive 15 points, seven from Kirkland and four each from Zary and Philp.
"Confidence," diagnosed Love about what's making that line so effective. "That's a big word that would go with those three gentlemen. They're all guys that can take faceoffs, so they find their matchups and rotations throughout the game. When you're successful there you start with the puck, and obviously that helps.
"They're playing to their identities. Justin Kirkland is a guy that has an elite shot in pro hockey. He's utilizing that, and the pucks are going in for him. Luke Philp is a bit of a Swiss Army Knife for us up front, he's been a center, a right wing, played all four lines, a really intelligent player who has a high engine in terms of his work ethic and his compete level. He's getting rewarded. Connor Zary, he's really found some chemistry with those guys. Very intelligent with the puck in terms of making plays, making people around him better. He's gotten a lot better with his play away from the puck as well. It's been a really good line for us here of late, and we'll need them to keep ticking along for us here."
For a team that has seen its top line of Pelletier-Glenn Gawdin-Phillips rack up points - Pelletier and Phillips each hitting the 40-point mark on the season on Sunday - adding the scoring depth could prove critical as the team hits the home stretch and the games are magnified with playoff seeding on the line. It's something the players are aware of, the necessity of stepping up as games become more tightly-checked and the intensity is ratcheted up with teams fighting to extend their seasons, systems more ingrained and different squads peaking.
Up next, the Heat will head to Abbotsford for a pair against the Canucks, a club the Heat have handled thus far with four wins in four meetings but one that has won six of seven games since Stockton dispatched them twice to start the month of February.
"I'm sure it's not lost on them that the last time we were there we took four of a possible four points," said Love, previewing this weekend's matchup north of the border. "It's going to be a great test for our group up there in a hostile building. We're excited for that challenge.
"They're playing really good hockey of late, but so are we. The matchup sets up well for both clubs. It'll be an exciting weekend."

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

Saturday at Bakersfield - W, 4-3 (SO)
Sunday vs. Bakersfield - W, 7-4

QUICK HITS:

• Matthew Phillips took over as Stockton's all-time leading scorer on Sunday, a game in which he posted his second-career four-point night. He enters the week one point ahead of teammate Glenn Gawdin at the top of the Heat's all-time scoring chart.
• The Heat enter the week tops in the AHL with a .756 points percentage amidst the longest active win streak and best record over the last 10 games in the Western Conference.
• Justin Kirkland has 13 points over Stockton's last 11 games, including eight goals in that span. He's six points shy of his career best in a season with 27 games remaining.
• Connor Zary has a three-game point streak for the first time this season, his longest since a five-game heater in 2020-21 while skating alongside Phillips and Adam Ruzicka.
• Stockton is now 5-0-0-0 on the year against the Bakersfield Condors, AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, with five games remaining in the season series.

THEY SAID IT:

"It's (Connor Zary) getting his game conditioning back. He's had significant layoffs with injury this year, and that's tough. I don't care who you are, how many bike sprints, treadmill sprints, conditioning drills you do on the ice with coaches, it's a different beast when you're playing game reps, especially at this level coming out of junior hockey. But he's starting to settle in, starting to find his legs. Like I said, his confidence - that's a big thing for young players making this jump from junior to pro, finding out what you can and can't do at this level. He's finding that balance for himself right now and getting rewarded offensively for it. His line is having success, and you can see the confidence growing for him in his game."
- Mitch Love on Connor Zary's play of late
"It's hard to pinpoint one or two things that make it click, but the 5-on-5 success we've had, a few goals from breakouts and playing the right way defensively, that leads to offense. That's something we've addressed as a team over the past few weeks, defending better, checking better. It's nice to get clicking offensively as a group. All three of us believe in our offensive abilities to produce for the team. It was only a matter of time for Connor Zary, who you're seeing get his confidence back, and that's awesome to see. Same with Luke Philp, he's very versatile, does it all, goes wherever we need him. It's no surprise, everyone knows the shot he has. For him to be putting them in the back of the net, it's awesome for our team. We need a balanced attack, and we have that right now."
- Justin Kirkland on the play of his line
"I think it's the result of hard work that's gone in year-in and year-out, in the summer time and in practices. One thing I've been working on in practice lately is finding the quiet areas in the attacking end and getting open for line mates, finding myself some offensive opportunities. In the games it's clicking, and that's nice, but big picture my game is 200 feet, making sure I'm providing on the penalty kill and different situations defensively. It's definitely nice for us to get clicking with goals. One of my big focuses lately has been shooting the puck more, and lately it seems like pucks are going in. Hopefully that can continue."
- Kirkland on his individual play
"I've talked to a lot of people about (the injury), and it's always tough when you miss training camp. For me, coming in two months behind everyone else, just jumping right into games and having a second go-round with a little injury in January is tough. It took a little longer than I wanted it to but I have my feet under me now. I'm back in the groove of things. It took longer than I wanted it to, but I'm feeling good about my game and about myself. It's a good spot to be in again."
- Connor Zary on his season
"I feel good. It's always nice when you can find a little bit of offense. I've been focusing on playing the right way, playing good hockey at both ends of the rink. When you stick to it, sometimes the chances come and sometimes they don't. As a player, it's important to not get too high when they're going in for you and not get down when you're not finding the net. It's been nice to find it lately."
- Luke Philp on his hot streak on the offensive end