December 20, 2013 – Wednesday night’s battle between Utica and Abbotsford did not end the way the Heat would have liked. Fortunately, there are going to be ample opportunities for revenge in this series as it stretches 12 games through the season. Tonight is game number six.

After tonight, the Heat have one final game before their Christmas break. Let’s have a look at the matchup for this evening.

The Watchtower

Heat Leaders vs. Comets Goalies GS RECORD .Sv% GA ------------------------------------- Joni Ortio 3 2-1-0-0 .878% 9 Joey MacDonald 1 0-1-1-0 .888% 5 Players GP G-A-P SOG +/- ------------------------------------- Corbin Knight 5 1-3-4 13 +2 Ben Hanowski 5 0-4-4 6 -3 Ben Street 4 2-1-3 12 -1 Chad Billins 4 1-3-4 9 -1 Markus Granlund 4 2-1-3 5 -2

All eyes are on Sven Baertschi as the 1st rounder was sent down from the Calgary Flames and made his AHL debut on Wednesday night. It was not the fairy tale return I was envisaging, as he didn’t look very comfortable out there, took a bad penalty and wasn’t able to contribute positively with his new team mates.

Marcus Granlund was one of Sven’s mates, who had his 11 game point streak snapped on Wednesday. The young rookie has been excellent in his first season of North American pro hockey, so look for him to start his next streak.

Ben Street should factor back into the lineup today after missing Wednesday’s tilt due to illness. I’m expecting to see Ramage and Wotherspoon back as well, but I haven’t seen anything official just yet.

Little Green Men

Comet leaders vs. Heat Goalies GS RECORD .Sv% GA ----------------------------------------- Joacim Eriksson 2 1-0-1-0 .897% 7 Joe Cannata 3 2-1-0-0 .915% 9 Players GP G-A-P SOG +/- --------------------------------------- Pascal Pelletier 5 2-4-6 7 +3 Benn Ferriero 5 3-1-4 12 +4 Colin Stuart 3 1-2-3 7 +2 Kellan Lain 5 3-0-3 11 +0 *Zach Hamill 3 1-3-4 4 +0 *no longer with organization

Utica now carries the lead in the season series 3-2 after a complete effort and convincing win on Wednesday. Joacim Eriksson did the netminding, and did a very good job, saving 26 of 28 shots he faced.

A lot of players stood out on Wednesday that you should keep your eye on again, including Alex Mallet, Kellan Lain, and vets Cal O’Reilly and Colin Stuart.

Either goalie would be be a good choice to start based on the stat sheet, but it would probably be Eriksson if I was making the call, he did everything right last game, and it was really a a one goal against performance until the final minute.

The puck drops in only an hour from now, but hey! Better late than never! Enjoy the game! I’ll be live-tweeting at @HeatHockeyHQ on twitter and writing a post-game report with my usual Fraser Valley bias.