It seems no one can stop Krys Kolanos these days, and the Charlotte Checkers were no exception on Saturday.
Kolanos scored both Heat goals in a 2-1 road victory over the Carolina Hurricanes' affiliate, extending his goal-scoring streak to six games in the process. He's got nine goals and four assists during that span.
Charlotte's Mathieu Roy opened the scoring with a power-play marker at 8:52 of the first period, but Kolanos drew the Heat even in the middle frame when he jammed in Dustin Sylvester's rebound.
Kolanos potted the game-winner early in the third, ripping a wrist shot from the right circle past Checkers goalie Justin Peters.
Peters made 38 saves in the losing effort, while his Heat counterpart Danny Taylor turned aside 27 of 28 shots.
Taylor was making his third consecutive start in place of Leland Irving, who did not make the road trip after his wife Ashley gave birth to a daughter on Thursday. Taylor has won all three of those starts, boasting a 1.32 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage during that stretch.
Saturday's victory helped the Heat tighten their grasp on fourth place in the Western Conference, at 39-26-3-5 for 86 points. With just three games left in the regular season, they have yet to clinch a playoff spot, though they're six points up on the ninth-place Milwaukee Admirals. Milwaukee does have two games in hand.
Charlotte (35-27-3-6, 79 points) sits 11th in the West, and they desperately need a win when they renew hostilities with the Heat on Sunday.
Heat defenceman J.P. Testwuide puts the clamps on Charlotte Checkers forward Justin Shugg.