Checkmate 7-1 Win

The Abbotsford Heat defeated the Charlotte Checkers (AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes) 7-1 on Tuesday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre

The Heat are now in first place in the West Division and sit second place overall in the Western Conference with a 29-14-3-1 record and 62 points.

The Heat had a fantastic outing, with 14 out of 18 players registering at least one point on the night, with six of them recording a multi-point game.

Corban Knight tallied three points (1-2-3), while Max Reinhart (1-1-2) , Markus Granlund (1-1-2), Ben Street (1-1-2), Brett Olson (0-2-2), and Derek Smith (0-2-2) each accumulated two points.

Olivier Roy in his first start with the Heat picked up his first win with his new team and was named the first star of the game.

Josh Jooris opened up the first period with a goal at 4:29 assisted by Corey Locke and Sven Baertschi. Reinhart followed that up with a goal on the power play at 9:54 assisted by Knight and Granlund.

Blair Jones scored the Heat’s second power play goal at 12:31 assisted by Smith and Street. Carter Bancks closed out the high scoring period with his third goal of the season assisted by Lane MacDermid and Shane O’Brien at 12:59.

The second period remained scoreless with the Heat outshooting the Checkers 27 to 16 through 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, Granlund scored his team leading 20th goal of the season at 8:17 on the power play with the assists going to Knight and Reinhart.

Knight quickly added a goal of his own at 10:29 with the assists going to Smith and Olson. At 12:43, the Checkers broke Roy’s shutout with a goal scored by Philippe Cornet.

Minutes later, Street responded with his 18th goal of the season assisted by Olson and Chad Billins at 14:54 to close out the game.

Abbotsford capitalized on three of their eight power play opportunities, while killing off all four Charlotte man advantages.

Olivier Roy stopped 25 of 26 shots while John Muse made 8 saves on 12 shots before being replaced by Mike Murphy. Out the 27 shots Murphy faced, he stopped 24.

On Wednesday, February 5th, the Heat will close out their double header with the Charlotte Checkers. On February 8th and 9th they will face-off against the Texas Stars.

Saturday, February 8th will be country, so come in your best country get-up and have the chance to win tickets to Florida Georgia Line, Dean Brody, or $15,000 dollars.

Saturday will also feature the third $3 $2 $1 Brew Dog ‘N Pop night. February 9th will be the Pink in the Rink night supporting the BC Cancer research Foundation.

For tickets please call 1-877-452-HEAT (4328) or visit us online at www.abbotsfordheat.com.