Heat win series opener against Marlies
Posted May 1, 2012 8:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, ON (NEWS1130) – Danny Taylor made 31 saves as the Abbotsford Heat took Game 1 of their AHL Western Conference semi-final series with the Toronto Marlies by a 3-1 final for their 11th straight victory.
Max Reinhart opened the scoring for Abbotsford 15:24 into the first period as the Heat took a 1-0 advantage into the first intermission, while outshooting the Marlies 12-5.
In the second period, the Marlies were able to level out the play as each team put 12 shots on target during the middle stanza, but Abbotsford’s Chris Breen was the only one to find the back of the net. He made it 2-0 at the 8:17 mark on a feed from Reinhart.
Toronto played much more aggressively in the third period as the Marlies tried to mount a comeback. Matt Frattin got Toronto on the board just over a minute into the third period to cut the Heat lead down to one goal.
With the Marlies pressing for the equalizer with the goalie pulled, former Canuck Guillaume Desbiens fired the puck into the empty net to put the game out of reach.
The Heat won for the 11th straight game after ending the regular season with seven straight victories and then beginning the playoffs with a first-round sweep of the Milwaukee Admirals.
The two teams will play Game 2 of their series on Thursday night.
