The Abbotsford Heat mustered a gritty rally to erase a two-goal deficit on the road on Saturday afternoon, but the Toronto Marlies salvaged a victory in overtime.
Joe Colborne scored the winner, using a Heat defender as a screen on a two-on-two rush and sniping top-corner on Abbotsford goalie Barry Brust.
Akim Aliu gave the Heat a 1-0 lead at 10:42 of the first period, but the Marlies stormed back to take control with a trio of goals over a 12-minute span bridging the first and second periods. Those tallies came courtesy Brad Ross, Jamie Devane and Greg Scott, and Scott's marker at 6:52 of the second spelled the end of Heat starting keeper Danny Taylor's night. He was replaced by Brust for the second time in three games.
Abbotsford mounted a quick comeback in the final frame, getting goals from Sven Baertschi and Ben Street in the first four minutes to knot the score. But Colborne snuffed the Heat in OT.
Abbotsford (31-29-10, 72 points) moved up one spot to 10th in the Western Conference, but the teams they need to hurdle to earn a top-eight playoff berth – the Oklahoma City Barons (74 points) and the Chicago Wolves (73) – both have five games in hand.
The Heat have just six games left on their regular season schedule, and up next is a Friday-Saturday home set vs. the Grand Rapids Griffins (7 p.m. both nights, Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre).