Wolves rally to beat Heat with help from Tim Miller
BY SETH GRUEN For Sun-Times Media December 30, 2012 7:28PM
Darren Haydar (20), Andrew Ebbett (24) and Brett Sterling (29) of the Wolves converge on Abbotsford goalie Barry Brust on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 at Allstate Arena. The Wolves defeated the Heat 3-2. (Photo by Ross Dettman~Wolves)
Updated: December 30, 2012 8:52PM
The Wolves certainly need their playmakers to produce, but sometimes it’s their blue-collar players who set the tone.
On Sunday at Allstate Arena, Tim Miller’s play on the forecheck and penalty kill helped shift the momentum in the Wolves’ 3-2 victory against the Abbotsford Heat.
Miller was part of a unit that killed a two-man disadvantage in the second period with the game tied at 2. He spun around to clear the puck out of the zone during the final seconds of the kill.
He also blocked a shot in the final seconds of the game when the Heat was on the power play and had pulled its goalie.
“You never want to get penalties, but when there’s penalties, I like to get out there and kill them off,” Miller said. ‘‘I really get into it.
“We wanted to come out and take the body to them and show them that they’re in our building.”
The Wolves’ special teams got off to a shaky start, giving up a short-handed goal and a power-play goal in the first period.
Their turnaround began when Andrew Ebbett scored a power-play goal at 17:39 of the first. Jordan Schroeder tied the score at 10:35 of the second period, and Darren Haydar scored the go-ahead goal on a power play 57 seconds into the third.
It was a much-needed boost for Wolves goalie Joe Cannata, who made his second career AHL start. Cannata gave up goals on the Heat’s first two shots before stopping the next 14.
With Eddie Lack still nursing a groin injury, Cannata gave Matt Climie a rest after he had played in 11 consecutive games.
“Those are tough ways to start out, having both those scenarios,” Wolves coach Scott Arniel said. “But he calmed down, and he settled into the game.”
