After having their nine-game winning streak snapped on the weekend, the Abbotsford Heat got back to doing what they do best on Tuesday – rallying to win in the third period.
The Heat erased a pair of two-goal deficits against the Milwaukee Admirals, stealing a 4-3 victory on Ben Street's power-play goal at 3:23 of overtime.
The host Admirals had built a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Austin Watson and Simon Moser, before Blair Jones got the Heat on the board with a man-advantage marker early in the second.
Milwaukee forward Miikka Salomaki, who had assisted on the Admirals' first two goals, picked up his third point of the night just over four minutes later to restore the two-goal cushion.
But the Heat rallied in the third, knotting the score on goals by Markus Granlund and Greg Nemisz, setting the stage for Street in OT. With Milwaukee defenceman Anthony Bitetto banished to the box for high-sticking, the Heat needed just 13 seconds of power-play time to end matters, as Chad Billins and Jones picked up assists on Street's ninth goal of the season.
Billins finished with three assists for Abbotsford, which went 2-for-6 on the power play and now sits sixth in the AHL with a 21.9 per cent success rate.
Heat goalie Joni Ortio improved to 8-0 on the season with a 37-save outing, helping Abbotsford (14-5-1, 29 points) stay atop the AHL overall standings. Milwaukee (8-3-4, 20 points) is fifth in the Western Conference.
ICE CHIPS:
• All three of the game stars – Ortio, Salomaki and Granlund – hailed from Finland.
• The Heat continue their road swing on Wednesday night vs. the Rockford IceHogs.