SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Another heart breaker loss for the Stockton Heat (2-3-0-1) in San Diego (6-1-0-0) on Halloween before 5,015 Gulls fans.
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The Stockton Heat opened the scoring only 4:39 into the first period, when Austin Carroll scored his first professional goal. Stockton held the Gulls at bay until the 8:25 mark, when Antoine Lanagiere took a pass from behind the net and slapped the puck past Jon Gillies in the net. The teams remained tied at one through the second period.
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Some extracurricular activities between Hunter Smith and Andrew O’Brien , but they were broken apart before a real winner could be deciphered.
About 1:19 into the third period, Oliver Kylington scored a power play goal, which beat Matt Hackett top shelf. But the Gulls’ Nick Ritchie scored another power play goal just over a minute later to tie the game again. There were several more attempts on both ends of the ice, but both goalies held strong in the net.
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But a loose puck in the neutral zone allowed Max Friberg a breakaway. He raced down the ice, all alone, and beat Gillies for the go-ahead goal at 17:08.
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“That’s always great to get that opportunity on a breakaway. It doesn’t happen that often,” said Friberg after the game.
Following the game, Coach Dallas Eakins spoke about the early season and the success to date.
“It’s a good start. We’ve been able to find a way to win. I think we played better tonight than last night.”
The Heat’s Coach Ryan Huska also commented after the game, though did not seem to be dissatisfied in any way.
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“Unfortunately we made a mistake at a poor time of the game tonight. We had some chances, but we weren’t able to finish. Unfortunately the special teams went to them. That’s why they came out of the weekend with more points than we did.”
“I think the thing we have to take from this is that we played a lot of good hockey here. We just have to find a way to capitalize and bear down on our opportunities when we have them. That’s been one thing up to this point that’s allowed us to have success,” Huska said.
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The Heat travel back home tonight, about 8-9 hours on a bus through the California valley. They will host the Bakersfield Condors (2-4-0-1) for Pink in the Rink weekend November 6 and 7.
The San Antonio Rampage (5-0-1-0) will be in San Diego for the next game on November 3. That looks to be a great match up, as the Rampage have been tough on all their opponents thus far and based on these teams records, that will be a game to watch.
Garnet Hathaway (9) chases the puck around the net as Jaycob Megna (24) defends
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