STOCKTON, Calif. – Special teams was the difference as the Stockton Heat (38-11-4-1) used a shorthanded goal and power play strike to go with an empty netter en route to a 3-1 decision over the Abbotsford Canucks (30-20-4-1) Friday at Stockton Arena.
The Canucks drew first blood with Guillaume Brisebois lighting the lamp 1:46 into the opening frame, but Jakob Pelletier scored with Stockton down a skater to even the game at a goal apiece through one period.
A hard-fought battle saw one goal scored in the second, Luke Philp tapping home a puck on the power play from a Martin Pospisil feed to give the Heat the edge at the 5:23 mark of the frame. The home team never relinquished the advantage, keeping the Canucks off the board and Justin Kirkland adding an empty-netter for the 3-1 win.
Dustin Wolf turned away 26 of 27 shots faced in the win, Stockton’s sixth in seven tries against Abbotsford.
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