Heat Suffer Setback in San Antonio, Fall 5-1
San Antonio, TEX. – Despite yet another perfect performance from the penalty kill and a power-play goal from Freddie Hamilton, the Heat cannot climb out of the early hole and fall to the San Antonio Rampage 5-1 Saturday night in Texas. Jon Gillies and Karri Ramo each made appearances for the Heat, but the San Antonio attack proved difficult to solve, as the Rampage earned the win to push the Heat’s record to 2-2-0 for the season. The Heat will take a quick trip to Stockton before traveling south to San Diego to face the Gulls on back-to-back nights October 30 and 31.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
San Antonio goal: F Mikko Rantanen (1) wrist shot makes its way through traffic and gets past the goaltender (Street assist), 6:40
San Antonio goal: F Sam Henley (1) shot from the bottom of the far side faceoff circle goes off the post and in after a turnover behind the net (Bordeleau assist), 18:28
Shots: STK – 7 | SA – 12
2nd Period
San Antonio goal: F Colin Smith (1) wraparound attempt is squeezed between the goaltender’s outstretched toe and the post (Rantanen, Bigras assists), 8:07
San Antonio goal: D Chris Bigras (1) shot from the point is deflected in front past the goaltender and into the net (Bordeleau assist), 12:16
San Antonio goal: F Marc-Andre Cliché (1) breakaway shot is wristed past the goaltender following a turnover at the offensive blueline (unassisted), 17:15 (SH)
Shots: STK – 6 | SA – 13
3rd Period
HEAT GOAL: F Freddie Hamilton (3) shot from the near side faceoff circle goes past the goaltender (Arnold, Kulak assists), 10:03 (PP)
Shots: STK – 13 | SA – 6
GOALIES
W: Calvin Pickard (26 shots, 25 saves)
L: Jon Gillies (25 shots, 20 saves)
Karri Ramo (6 shots, 6 saves) replaced Gillies to begin the third period
NOTABLE STATISTICS
Three Stars: 1- Mikko Rantanen (1-1-2) 2- Chris Bigras (1-1-2) 3- Patrick Bordeleau (0-2-2)
Final Shots: STK – 26 | SA – 31
Power Plays: STK – 1/5 | SA – 0/5
Freddie Hamilton now has power-play goals in back-to-back games
Morgan Klimchuk left the game in the second. Coach Huska said that he is awaiting evaluation to determine his status.
QUOTES
“Our team stepped up and showed a lot of character there in the third. It was 5-0, but no one gave up and we kept working hard. We forced some more turnovers in the third and I told them not to be afraid to take some chances. Warmups tonight was my first time on the ice in four days, so that wasn’t ideal preparations for me but that’s a part of the game.” – Goaltender Karri Ramo on his thoughts of tonight after seeing his first action with the Stockton Heat.
“I feel bad for [Jon Gillies] there. He played really well and made some unreal saves, just had to take some bad bounces. If you look at the first five minutes of the game it could have easily been 2-0 for us, but their goalie made some nice saves. Then the two goals they scored wasn’t on Jon because there wasn’t much he could do about those. I don’t think he could’ve done much else on any of those goals and that’s always tough for a goalie.” – Ramo on Jon Gillies’ performance tonight in a tough loss.
“If something doesn’t go your way, it shouldn’t change the way you play. We want to be an even-keel team, so if you have a bounce that goes against you, you have to put it behind you. I didn’t think we responded all that well in the second period.” – Head Coach Ryan Huska on his team’s response to a couple fortunate goals from San Antonio tonight.
“We did some better things in the third period for sure. It’s just a matter of making sure we stay with things no matter if they’re good or bad. I think we changed our approach to the game because of what happened and that can’t happen.” – Coach Huska on the team bouncing back for a good third period.
“When you’re down five you want to try and get a spark from somewhere. We didn’t want to put Karri [Ramo] in during the second period cold, so we waited until the third and I thought he did a very good job considering the circumstances.” – Coach Huska on his decision to take out Gillies in favor of Ramo to start the third period.
NEXT HOME GAME
STOCKTON HEAT vs. Bakersfield Condors
November 6 @ Stockton Arena
Hot Pink I – First 500 women 18 & over receive a pink Heat cap
Doors @ 6:30 p.m., Puck drop @ 7:30 p.m.
