ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – No Heat player is as red hot as Sven Baertschi right now.
Baertschi had a goal and an assist in Abbotsford’s 5-3 victory over the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday in American Hockey League action.
The 21-year-old Lagenthal, Switzerland native is currently riding a five-game point streak and has scored four goals and 10 points over that span.
“I just kept playing the same way I always play and try to create some offense and lately the pucks have been going in,” said Baertschi. “Even if I pass, there’s always something happening.”
After being reassigned to Abbotsford from the Calgary Flames midway through December, Baertschi started his AHL season with just four points in his first 15 outings.
“I haven’t had a game like that in a long time, so it was good to get that,” said Baertschi. “For me, it’s been a tough year in a lot of ways, but now I’ve got my confidence back and I feel like I’ve been playing pretty well lately. The points are just bonuses.”
Baertschi made it 4-1 for Abbotsford at 1:25 of the third when he recovered a missed Kane Lafranchise shot in front of the net and jammed it into a gaping net.
Max Reinhart picked up three assists for Abbotsford (39-25-7), extending his point streak to seven games. Blair Jones had a goal and two assists in his first game back from injury.
“It was good,” said Jones. “I was pretty bored here when the team was on the road for a couple weeks. It’s nice to have them back here and to get back into a game was a good feeling.”
“I thought Blair (Jones) was one of our better players,” explained Heat head coach Troy Ward. “It seemed like he was well-rested, his conditioning I thought was OK, and I thought he had pretty good pace in the third, which I was concerned about.”
Corban Knight scored his fourth goal in his last two games, while Derek Smith and Brett Olson added a goal each to round out the Heat offence.
Joni Ortio stopped 23 shots for Abbotsford.
Adam Clendening, Ross Garret, and Stephen Johns scored for Rockford (32-28-9) and rookie Ryan Hartman recorded his first two professional points with two assists.
Jason LaBarbera stopped 13 shots for the IceHogs in a relief effort.
Reinhart backhanded a feed on the power play to Knight, who beat Rockford’s Kent Simpson glove side from the slot at 4:33 of the first.
Smith then received a pass from Baertschi and blasted it through several bodies at 9:29.
Just 33 seconds later, Reinhart made a pass to Jones at the left circle and he toe dragged it to the crease and jammed it through Simpson’s five-hole to give the Heat a 3-0 edge.
After allowing three goals on the first four shots his way, Simpson was pulled in favour of LaBarbera.
“I felt like our start was really good,” said Baertschi. “We created some chances right away, but they came out really strong in the second and took over the game.”
Ross got the IceHogs on the board at 16:33 of the second, receiving a pass from Hartman near the goal-line and throwing it on net, just under Ortio’s arm.
With 2:26 remaining in the period, Klas Dahlbeck picked up a rebound at the point and fired it towards an open net, but Ortio dove across the crease in desperation to keep the score 3-1.
Clendening cut the score to 4-2 at 6:40 of the third, receiving a pass from Phillip Danault at the right circle and firing a slap shot on Ortio, who flubbed a glove save.
“It was one of those games where (Ortio) wants that game back,” said Ward. “That’s a fair statement. He didn’t give his A game tonight. But that’s alright. He made the saves when he needed to.”
Johns, playing in just his second career AHL game, found himself alone behind the net and wrapped it around to squeak it past a sprawling Ortio at 10:06 of the third.
Brett Olson added an empty-net goal with 31 seconds remaining in the game.
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