Bulldogs Nip Heat

The Abbotsford Heat lost to the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) 3-1 on Wednesday night at FirstOntario Centre.

The Heat remain in second place in the West Division with a 34-23-5-2 record and 75 points.

A six-game road trip for the Heat began with a loss to the Bulldogs, in what was the seventh meeting of the season between the two teams.

Despite starting strong in the first period, Abbotsford was unable to get anything past Bulldog’s goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who picked up his third win against the Heat this season.

The Heat jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 8:56 mark of the 1^st period, with a goal by defenseman Chris Breen, assisted by Corey Locke and Sven Baertschi. In the late stages of the period, the Bulldogs tied it at 1-1 with a goal from Mike Blunden.

In the second period, the Bulldogs took their first lead of the game at 12:56, when winger Christian Thomas found the back of the net.

Late in the 3^rd period, Gabriel Dumont was awarded a penalty shot at 16:01 and was able to convert on it, which extended Hamilton’s lead to 3-1.

The Heat finished the night going zero for three on the power play, and killed off two Bulldogs power play attempts.

In goal, Aaron Dell turned aside 36 of the 39 shots he faced in a losing effort, while Bulldogs goaltender Dustin Tokarski picked up the win making 27 saves on 28 shots.

Abbotsford’s six game road trip will continue in Hamilton on Saturday, March 22^nd.

The next Heat home game is against the Rockford Ice Hogs on Friday, April 4th at 7:00 pm at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre