CAVENDISH FARMS REPORT - 23.12.21

'Tis the season of giving - and the Stockton Heat have been dishing out lumps of coal lately.
Calgary's AHL affiliate put up three wins in four nights heading into the holiday break, topping Bakersfield in a shootout last Wednesday followed by weekend wins over the Colorado Eagles.

In the holiday spirit, we take a look at Stockton's nice list through the season's first 23 games:

Dustin Wolf:

It's hard to overstate what the rookie goalie has done in his debut campaign, but let's recap: He's undefeated in regulation through 18 starts. He's first in the AHL in wins, second in Save Percentage and third in Goals Against Average. He's won his last nine starts, including three wins last week. Night-in and night-out, he's there to answer the call when needed.

Jakob Pelletier:

Similar to Wolf, Pelletier has wowed in his first professional season. He leads AHL rookies with 27 points and was the third first-year skater to reach 10 goals this season. He's shown a penchant for timely scoring, factoring into eight game-winners this season, and most recently igniting the Teddy Bear Toss with Stockton's first goal on Saturday.

The Penalty-Kill:

This may seem like a math error, but it's not: Over the last month, the Heat penalty-kill has outscored opponent powerplays 3-1. In the span that dates back to Nov. 22, the Heat have scored three times while down a skater - two from Connor Mackey and one from Luke Philp on Saturday - while conceding only one in 44 chances against. The Heat pace the AHL on the PK, clicking at 90.5-% and just a minus-5 through 23 contests.

Home Ice:

Stockton is the only remaining team in the league to be undefeated on home ice this season, the club's three-win sprint last week bringing the record to 11-0-2-0 at Stockton Arena. The Heat own a 23-goal edge at home, 47-24 on the year, amidst the team-record, 13-game point streak on home ice.

Strong Starts:

The Heat have made a habit of starting strong this season, forcing opponents to chase the game. Through 23 games, Stockton has trailed through 20 minutes only two times - coming back to win each of those games, most recently erasing a 2-0 deficit on Friday - and has a record of 9-0-1-1 when leading through 20 minutes.

Coming Through in the Clutch:

Stockton has won five of the last seven games to go past regulation, with two of those coming in the past week - one in a shootout and one in overtime. Overall, the Heat are 9-0-2-1 in one-goal games this season.

Scoring Depth:

While the top line of Pelletier-Glenn Gawdin-Matthew Phillips gets much of the well-earned attention, the Heat won all three games last week despite getting only two goals from players in the club's top six in goals this season. Eetu Tuulola lit the lamp in back-to-back games, Ilya Solovyov found the back of the net with a clutch score in Friday's win and Andy Welinski scored a pair of goals, one Wednesday and Friday's overtime winner.
The Standings: This one is more a result of all of the above, but it always makes for an enjoyable break when there's no one to look up to in the standings. The Heat occupy the top spot in the Western Conference with an 18-2-2-1 mark on the year, narrowly ahead of Chicago in the West but a sizable gap over second-place Ontario in the Pacific race. Stockton closed out the pre-break slate strong, going 8-1-0-1 in the last 10 games.
There's plenty of hockey ahead for the Heat, but it's been one heck of a start for the club this season.
They'll be back in action on December 29, hoping to show the cheer isn't limited to the candy canes and gift wrap.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:

Wednesday vs. Bakersfield - W, 2-1 (SO)
Friday vs. Colorado - W, 3-2 (OT)
Saturday vs. Colorado - W, 5-2

QUICK HITS:

THEY SAID IT:

"It was a stretch of hockey, for sure. I was really proud of our guys this week. Those were some tough opponents in Bakersfield and Colorado, and we were right there with them and played some hard hockey. I really liked our game (Saturday), especially for those first 40 minutes. We were really invested emotionally. We knew we needed a better start and we'd get a response from a good Colorado team. They had us hemmed in for pockets in the third, but we stayed composed. I was really proud of our team's effort."
- Mitch Love on Stockton's week
"We just stick to our game plan and the focal points we have going into each game. We stick to that and play a simple, hard game, try to outwork the opponent. It seems to be working for us."
- Duehr on Stockton's success
"We take opportunities that they give us. We have a very structured PK, which allows (chances) when the powerplay makes mistakes. We're ready to jump on those."
- Eetu Tuulola on Stockton's penalty-kill
"Individually, (Dustin Wolf) has been awesome. He's been phenomenal for us. Just the confidence of having him in there when we need him, the confidence with the defencemen and him has grown. He's gotten better handling the puck and communicating with us. It makes it easier for everybody. He's been a huge key for our success."
- Andy Welinski on the play of Wolf
"The guys come to the rink excited to play. It's a different scenario each and every night against a different squad. The boys just want to go out there and give it our best. It's been a great start at home."
- Wolf on Stockton's season-opening, 13-game point streak at home