Clay Wilson's goal 22 seconds into overtime lifted the Abbotsford Heat to a 3-2 road victory over the Rochester Americans on Friday evening.
Just three seconds after a Heat power play expired, Wilson's slap shot from the right point beat Amerks goalie David Leggio.
The goal was Wilson's third point of the evening – he'd assisted on the Heat's first two goals – and helped the Abbotsford club snap a cold streak that saw them lose six of their previous seven games.
Goalie Leland Irving picked up his first win since being reassigned to Abbotsford by the Calgary Flames earlier in the week, making 27 saves.
Akim Aliu opened the scoring for the Heat, tipping home a Wilson point shot at 7:49 of the first period. The goal snapped a scoreless streak of one hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds of game time for the Abbotsford club, which had been shut out the previous two games.
Dustin Sylvester made it 2-0 Heat at 7:22 of the second, but the hosts rallied to knot the score on goals from Igor Gongalsky and Paul Szczechura.
The Heat had a chance to win in regulation when Rochester's Derek Whitmore took a holding penalty with 1:41 left in the third. While they weren't able to capitalize on the power play, which overlapped into OT, Wilson scored just after Whitmore stepped out of the box. All-star defenceman Brian Connelly, acquired in a trade last week, picked up an assist on the goal, marking his first point as a member of the Heat.
The Heat (26-17-3-0) wrap up their current three-game road trip against the Toronto Marlies on Saturday afternoon.