Joe Fallon and the Houston Aeros got the best of the Abbotsford Heat in an epic goaltending duel on Saturday evening, edging the Heat 1-0 in a shootout.
Heat keeper Danny Taylor and his Aeros counterpart Fallon were flawless throughout regulation and overtime. Fallon was the busier of the two, turning aside 32 shots, while Taylor stopped all 22 pucks he faced.
The goalies continued to stand on their heads in the shootout, as Fallon and Taylor both stymied the first five shooters they faced. But something had to give, and in the sixth round, Houston's David MacIntyre finally beat Taylor, while Fallon stopped Akim Aliu.
Taylor took an extremely rare shutout loss, and Houston (31-20-3-9, 74 points) edged ahead of the Heat (33-25-3-4, 73 points) in the AHL's Western Conference standings. The Aeros are in fourth, while Abbotsford is sixth.
The Heat wrap up the road trip with a Monday evening tilt against the Texas Stars.
• Afters starting for the Calgary Flames against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, goalie Leland Irving was reassigned to the Heat on Saturday morning. He served as Taylor's backup against the Aeros.
David MacIntyre of the Houston Aeros sends the Heat's Akim Aliu on an early line change on Saturday. (Houston Aeros photo)