Stockton, Calif. – Goaltender Jon Gillies returned to the Stockton Heat crease Thursday night in San Jose and proceeded to slam the door on the Barracuda offense, stopping all 31 shots he faced to lead the Heat to a 4-0 win at SAP Center. The shutout is Gillies’ first of the season and his third all-time, tying him with David Rittich for the most in Heat team-history. Meanwhile, Austin Carroll sparked the offense with his first goal of the season, while Mark Jankowski and Hunter Smith earned second and third star honors with both a goal and an assist respectively.
The first game of a seven game road trip potentially could set the stage, Carroll stated after the game on the win.
“Every road trip you want to get that first win and get on a roll. I thought we started off hot and kept it going all game. We’re definitely heading into our next game Saturday with some good confidence and we just need to keep the buzz in the locker room going.”
“I think we stayed near the top of our game most of the night. I thought we took a few too many chances with the puck that we didn’t need to take in the second and third periods. But all-in-all we had a really good effort from our guys tonight.” said Coach Ryan Huska on keeping the momentum throughout tonight’s game.
The Stockton Heat will now look forward to a Saturday night meeting with the Condors in Bakersfield on Saturday, as the Heat’s seven-game road trip rolls on.
GOALIES
W: Jon Gillies (31 shots, 31 saves)
L: Mantas Armalis (17 shots, 14 saves)
Troy Grosenick (23 shots, 23 saves)
Three Stars:
1- Jon Gillies (31-save shutout)
2- Mark Jankowski (1 goal, 1 assist)
3- Hunter Smith (1 goal, 1 assist)
Final Shots: STK – 41 | SJ – 31
Power Plays: STK – 0/3 | SJ – 0/3
Jon Gillies (31-save shutout) earns his first shutout of the season and his third career shutout, tying him with David Rittich for the all-time team-lead
- Mark Jankowski (1 goal, 1 assist) earns his third multi-point game of the season
- Hunter Smith (1 goal, 1 assist) earns his first multi-pojnt game of the season
- Austin Carroll (game-winning goal) scores his first goal of the season
- Ryan Culkin (1 assist) earned his first point of the season in his first game back from injury
- Andrew Mangiapane (1 assist) now has at least one point in back-to-back games (1 goal, 2 assists)
- The Stockton Heat earn their first win at SAP Center in team-history
- The Heat have now collected at least one point in five-straight games (4-0-0-1)
- With the shutout, the Heat have four shutouts on the season in just 20 games played. It took until game 41 to earn their fourth last season
- Stockton has gone five-straight games without allowing a power-play goal (21-straight kills)
Stockton is first in the Pacific Division and second in the Western Conference with 13-5-1-1 (28 points) after 20 games.
The Heat will head to Bakersfield next, for a Saturday night game, then continue down the State to take on the Ontario Reign, San Diego Gulls, culminating with two more games in San Jose before they return home.
Some of the best shots from the game: Photos by Jack Lima
Stockton’s Brandon Bollig (25) and Barracuda defender Patrick McNally (51) – Photo by Jack Lima
Nikita Jevpalovs (53) and Kenney Morrison (7) – Photo by Jack Lima
Photo by Jack Lima
Heat forward Andrew Mangiapane (26) and Barracuda forward Rourke Chartier (60) – Photo by Jack Lima
Emile Poirier (21) looks to take a shot as Marcus Sorensen (20) defends. – Photo by Jack Lima
Dan Kelly (46) and Mark Jankowski (17) collide along the boards – Photo by Jack Lima
Barracuda goalie Troy Grosenick – Photo by Jack Lima
Barracuda’s Barclay Goodrow (23) chases a puck in the corner as Heat defenseman Kenney Morrison follows – Photo by Jack Lima
Barracuda defenseman Julius Bergman (63) attempts to block a shot from Stockton forward Hunter Smith (34) – Photo by Jack Lima
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