ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - Lane MacDermid's first goal of the season was the winner as the Abbotsford Heat edged the Oklahoma City Barons 4-2 in American Hockey League action Saturday night.

MacDermid gave his club a two-goal cushion midway through the third period but stood as the winner after Curtis Hamilton scored his second of the game just 15 seconds later.

MacDermid was acquired by the Calgary Flames through a trade early this season but had recorded no points in 10 games with the Edmonton Oilers' minor-league affiliate.

Corban Knight had a goal and an assist for the second night in a row, while Markus Granlund and Sven Baertschi also scored for Abbotsford (23-9-2). The Heat have won three straight games and retain first place in the AHL's Western Conference.

Joni Ortio made 32 saves, giving him a league-high 15 wins.

Richard Bachman stopped 22 shots for Oklahoma City (11-17-5), which is winless in its past six road games and just 1-7-1 in its last eight. It was Hamilton's first career multi-goal game, and also his first two scores this season.

Hamilton put the Barons up 1-0 at 7:49 of the first. Tyler Pitlick's shot from the top of the circle was kicked out by Ortio but Hamilton, driving towards the net, knocked the rebound out of midair past the Finnish netminder.

Brad Hunt nearly put Oklahoma City up by two with eight minutes to go in the first. He took a feed from Andrew Miller in the slot and beat Ortio glove side, but the puck ricocheted off the post, keeping the score 1-0.

Granlund's 13th goal of the season got Abbotsford even with just 72 seconds remaining in the first. Granlund crossed the Barons' blue-line one-on-one with a defender, stepped to the left and wired a slapshot that beat Bachman glove side, top corner. That's the Finnish forward's first in five games.

The Heat took the lead with less than three minutes to go in the second period. Ben Hanowski found Ben Street down low on a power play and Street quickly fed cross-crease to Knight, who one-timed it home for his ninth of the year and second in consecutive games.

The Barons began the third period with a power play but couldn't capitalize. C.J. Stretch had the best opportunity to tie the game but was robbed at the side of the net by Ortio, who made the splits to deny the backdoor play.

The teams exchanged goals 15 seconds apart midway through the third.

First, MacDermid put the Heat up by two at 10:31, redirecting a great feed from Carter Bancks for his first of the season.

Then Hamilton picked up his second of the game, rushing down the left side and hammering a slapshot from the top of the circle. The puck deflected off a defenceman's leg, past Ortio's glove, cutting the deficit back to 3-2.

However, the Barons couldn't claw all the way back, despite outshooting the Heat 11-5 in the final frame. Hamilton sealed Oklahoma City's fate when he took a slashing penalty with just over two minutes remaining that led to Baertschi's power-play goal, a one-timer off a Knight feed.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013