The Abbotsford Heat came back strong after the AHL all-star break, edging the Chicago Wolves 4-3 in a shootout Friday evening on the road.
Stefan Meyer scored twice in the third period, and Matt Keith and Greg Nemisz tallied in the shootout for the Heat (23-20-2-5), who moved into a tie for fourth place in the North Division with the Toronto Marlies.
Abbotsford battled back from a pair of deficits. Chicago’s Andrew Kozek opened the scoring at 16:45 of the first period, taking a drop pass from Freddy Pettersson and hammering a shot past Heat goalie Leland Irving.
The Heat equalized early in the second, as Jon Rheault tipped a Nemisz shot past Wolves goalie Peter Mannino.
Chicago reclaimed the lead when Darren Haydar beat Irving on a two-on-one break, but two goals from Meyer vaulted the Heat in front.
Haydar drew the Wolves even on a controversial goal just 31 seconds after Meyer’s second tally. The Chicago sniper took a shot that appeared to hit the underside of the crossbar, but stay out. The goal judge flicked on the red light, but referee Tim Mayer immediately waved off the goal. But at a stoppage in play a minute later, after consulting with the linesmen and the goal judge, Mayer awarded Haydar a goal.
The Heat wrapped up the two points regardless, winning in the shootout. Nigel Dawes was the lone Wolf to beat Irving, who turned aside 30 of 33 shots in regulation and overtime.
Quintin Laing picked up two assists for the Heat, who continue the road trip on Saturday against the Rockford IceHogs.
Friday’s game marked the Heat debut of Ales Kotalik, who was waived by the Calgary Flames and reassigned to Abbotsford last week. Kotalik had five shots on goal, but failed to register a point.