Heat captain Quintin Laing, centre, waits for the puck to drop in front of the net in game against the Hamilton Bulldogs Friday night at the AESC. The Heat won 5-1, but then lost to the Bulldogs 3-0 on Saturday.
Photograph by: Jean Konda-Witte , Times
More than 5,000 fans packed the AESC and watched their Abbotsford Heat give a 5-1 thumping to the Hamilton Bulldogs Friday night.
But the 'Dogs came back to bite the Heat on Saturday, snapping an 11-game home-ice point streak with a 3-0 shutout.
This was the first regulation loss for the Heat at home this season. Head coach Troy Ward didn't cough up any excuses.
"They just played better than us, bottom line," he said before the press gallery after Saturday's game.
"We just didn't play hard enough. From the first puck drop we were back on our heels right away. It just didn't go very well."
It didn't help that two of the Heat's top scorers, Sven Baertschi and Ben Walter, were out of the lineup with injuries after Friday's contest. Walter had scored the Heat's second goal the night before to break a scoring record.
He's now the all-time franchise leader in scoring with 74 points in 93 games with the Heat.
Ward gave up no details on the injuries of his two forwards, sidestepping the length of time they would be sidelined.
"They're hurt which means they can't play."
Barry Brust was in goal Friday, stopping 15 of 16 shots, with Heat goals coming from Ben Street, Walter, Quintin Laing, Roman Horak and Steve McCarthy.
Danny Taylor started in goal Saturday and stopped 24 of 27 shots in the loss.
Looking ahead to two midweek games starting tonight, Ward was brief.
"We just have to play harder."
The Heat host the San Antonio Rampage at the AESC tonight and Wednesday at 7 p.m.
