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The Stockton Heat are on the brink of elimination for the first time in the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs.
After losing 3-0 to the Chicago Wolves in the Western Conference Finals on Friday night, the Heat return in what may be their last game at the Stockton Arena.
The Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate will relocate to Calgary for the 2022-23 season, leaving Stockton without a professional hockey team for the first time in more than 15 years.
The Heat gave their California fans plenty to cheer about in their final round, posting a regular-season record of 45-16-7 before knocking the Bakersfield Condors and Colorado Eagles out of the playoffs with relative ease.
Stockton’s luck could run out in this series against Wolves, however. After heartbreakingly losing two games by one goal early in the Western Conference Finals, the Heat failed to score in Game 3 on Wednesday.
So here we are. The Heat needs four more wins to win the Western Conference Finals. The wolves only need one. Will Stockton make his last stand tonight?
Planned Lineups
These combinations are based in part on those used in these teams’ previous games.
Stockton Heat
Jacob Pelletier – Adam Ruzicka – Matthew Phillips
Justin Kirkland – Luke Philip – Martin Pospisil
Connor Zary – Glenn Gawdin – Eetu Tuulola
Alex Galant – Byron Frogs – Walker Dühr
Connor Mackey – Andy Welinsky
Juuso Valimaki – Colton Poolman
Kevin Kies – Nick Desimone
Dustin Wolf
Adam Werner
Chicago wolves
CJ Smith – Andreas Poturalski – Stefan Noesen
Josh Leivo – Jack Drury – David Gust
Noel Gunler – Vasily Ponomarev – Richard Panic
Stelio Mattheos – Jameson Rees – Spencer Smallman
Max Lajoie – Jalen Chatfield
Jesper Sellgren – Joey Keane
Cavan Fitzgerald—Josh Jacobs
AlexLyon
Pyotr Kochetkov
Playoff Scoring Stars
This section excludes players who are recalled to the NHL or transferred to other leagues.
Stockton Heat
- Justin Kirkland — 10GP, 6G, 9P
- Matthew Phillips — 10GP, 3G, 7P
- Jacob Pelletier — 10GP, 3G, 6P
- Andy Welinsky — 10GP, 1G, 6P
- Byron Frogs — 10GP, 1G, 6P
Chicago wolves
- Josh Leivo — 10GP, 9G, 17P
- Stefan Noesen — 10GP, 7G, 13P
- Jack Drury — 10GP, 6G, 13P
- Andreas Poturalski — 10GP, 3G, 10P
- David Gust — 10GP, 3G, 9P
Warm up
Dustin Wolf did what he could in Stockton’s Game 3 loss to Chicago, stopping 27 of the 29 shots he faced on the home ice.
Wolf has made numerous sharp saves throughout the series, including that escape save from Josh Leivo late in the second period of Game 2. Unfortunately, he just didn’t get enough running support.
https://t.co/c75EreQQzP pic.twitter.com/2DjJzRgDgu
— y — Stockton Heat (@AHLHeat) June 7, 2022
like watching
Game 4 at Stockton will be broadcast on AHL TV (subscription required) and on Spreaker (audio only) with the opening puck drop scheduled for 8:00 PM MT.
Flames Nation Contributors Paige Siewert and Mike Gould will provide live game updates on Twitter. You can also follow along on TheAHL.com.
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