CAVENDISH FARMS REPORT - 20.04.22

Win or learn.
There's been plenty of the former for the Stockton Heat this year, who entered a three-game mini-series against the Henderson Silver Knights with the AHL's best record. A fast start to the set saw the Heat erase a two-goal deficit in the final three minutes of regulation, then win the game less than a minute into overtime.
But, it's Vegas, and the house always wins eventually. The Silver Knights took Game 2, 4-2, and Game 3, 4-1, to steal the three-game set.

It's not often the Heat fall short of their goals, and heading to the desert, taking two of three (or better) was the aim.
"No question, this is a huge learning opportunity," said head coach Mitch Love. "It was a very beneficial three-games-in-four-nights stretch against a very good hockey team. They've played us well all year if you look at the season series. They won the season series. That's a good hockey team.
"It's a good measuring stick for our group to understand we have to be dialed in to our identity, dialed in to our play away from the puck if we want to win something. It was a reminder that we have to get back to that."
You won't find any 'woe is me' around this group. There's plenty of evidence to show a two-game hiccup won't escalate, now at a pivotal time of year with only five games to go in the regular season and a division title dangling in front of a group who's topped the AHL standings for nearly the entirety of the second half of the season.
Finish line in sight, the Heat are exactly where they'd want to be at this point on the calendar - in control of their own destiny, three points up in the division with a game in hand on second-place Ontario. They still top the league standings with a narrow edge over the Chicago Wolves in a points-percentage race.
They still have the scoring depth they've leaned on all year, now paced by a seven-game scoring streak from captain Byron Froese and a continued hot streak from veteran forward Justin Kirkland, who has enjoyed a career year in every category. They still have the league's best PK, the league's goalie wins leader in Dustin Wolf, and the third-stingiest defensive unit in the AHL at just 2.71 goals against per game.
"We had pockets of players that played well for us over the weekend, too," said Love after a rare rocky road trip. "Justin Kirkland's played some really good hockey for us of late. You can see he's preparing himself for the second season. We need more guys to bring that, more of a full team effort to find wins this time of year."
Only two times the Heat have been here, a multi-game losing skid, as the Heat head to Game 64, Wednesday night against the Tucson Roadrunners back on home ice. Each time, the team has countered with combinations, as boxing cornermen plead from their fighters, to the tune of five-game and four-game win streaks, respectively.
Three games are on the docket this week, starting Wednesday then the regular season home-finale Friday against Abbotsford and a quick trip down Highway 99 to face off against the Bakersfield Condors. Three games, three tests, and a chance for the Heat to show they did not leave Vegas empty-handed.
In the best year in team history, the winning has been the consistent. They've reliably showed the resilience required of champions when losses happen all year, and there's no reason to doubt that now.
Win or learn. Wednesday presents the first chance to prove they've turned the page.
"I'm real curious (to see how the team responds)," said Love. "Our guys have had a strong hockey season so far. If you want to call this an adverse moment for us right now with two weeks left in the regular season, I'm OK with that. Adverse moments reveal a lot in an individual and reveal a lot in a team.
"So I'm curious and excited to see what we bring these final five games of the season, chasing our goal of that next box we want to check, a division title, and the top seed in our division, and then get ready for that second season. But we've got some work to do over these next five games to make sure we're ready for that."

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

Wednesday at Henderson - W, 4-3 (OT)
Friday at Henderson - L, 4-2
Saturday at. Henderson - L, 4-1

QUICK HITS:

THEY SAID IT:

"The message to the team after the game Saturday was I liked our effort more in terms of our compete level and our urgency versus Friday, but you have to do things smartly. We shot ourselves in the foot in terms of our play away from the puck. We weren't consistently hard enough as a team in terms of our decision making away from the puck over the three-game set to warrant a two-of-three or a three-of-three week. We have to go back to work on that in practice and get ready for a busy stretch of games against some good teams."
- Mitch Love on takeaways from the weekend
"I'm eager to see our response to how we played against Henderson. Tucson split two games against a good Colorado team over the weekend. They're playing for pride at this point, they're well-coached and they've played us hard all year. They've beaten us and we've had tight games with them. As a group, we're really at this point trying to strive as a team, not just to finish atop the division but to play good, sound team hockey."
- Love on the mindset heading into Wednesday's game
"I've been feeling really good the last few games. I've really improved. It's tough when I went through some injuries this season. It's been tough. But I've gotten through it and I'm excited to play with the guys and help them."
- Martin Pospisil on his production of late
"It was a good wake-up call. It's good. We just have to learn from it. We have to move forward. I know we have such a good team, and if we learn, move forward, we'll be ready for the next game."
- Pospisil on moving on from the weekend
"We have some speed. Every guy on our team has good speed. That's what makes us successful for the most part. then we have lines that are peaking and playing better than others some games. We just stick to it, all the lines pitch in. You just try to impact the game when you can."
- Emilio Pettersen on the team's scoring depth