In Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the Rockford IceHogs, the Abbotsford Heat found out that the man between the opposing pipes was no average Joe.

Joe would be Joe Fallon, the IceHogs' netminder, who turned in a sensational 31-save performance at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre.

Fallon was particularly good in the third, as he repelled a furious Heat comeback attempt and snapped a four-game Abbotsford win streak in the process.

"I felt strong out there," Fallon said afterward. "I felt good on my skates, and I was really comfortable."

Fallon's best saves came late in the game, with his team protecting a 2-0 lead. The Heat, already on the power play, summoned goalie Leland Irving to the bench with 2:50 remaining for a six-on-four advantage.

On one pivotal sequence, Jason Jaffray tracked down the puck behind the net and fed Kris Chucko, who was all alone on the edge of the crease. Chucko wasted no time pulling the trigger, but Fallon came sprawling across to glove the puck on the goal line and take away a sure goal.

The Heat finally got one past Fallon when Mikael Backlund hammered home a loose puck with 59.4 seconds left, but the home side was unable to generate the equalizer.

In the end, the Heat were left to bemoan the fact that they waited until the third period to put serious pressure on Fallon and the IceHogs.

"They were working harder than us and getting to pucks first," Chucko noted. "We did that in the third, but if we'd done it the first two periods, we probably wouldn't be talking about a 2-1 loss."

Penalties and penalty killing have been a frequent Achilles heel for the Heat this season, and those factors once again proved costly. Abbotsford handed Rockford five straight power plays in the second period, and IceHogs centre Evan Brophey's goal on a five-on-three advantage stood up as the game-winner.

The Heat are the third-most penalized team in the AHL at 29.2 minutes per night, and their penalty kill rate of .777 is third-worst in the league.

"When we have been disciplined, we've been pretty successful," Chucko noted. "It's just another reminder to us that we need to stay disciplined and stay out of the box. We're a good team when we do."

IceHogs centre Nathan Davis had opened the scoring on Saturday night, shoveling home a rebound off a Matt Keith shot at 12:12 of the second period.

ICE CHIPS:

n With the loss, the Heat fell to 8-5-2-1 for 19 points, good for second in the AHL's North Division. The IceHogs (7-8-1-1, 16 points) moved into a second-place tie with the Houston Aeros in the West Division.

n The Heat hit the road this week for a trio of games. They visit the Milwaukee Admirals on Thursday; the Peoria Rivermen on Friday; and the IceHogs on Saturday.

The next home games are Nov. 17-18, when the Hamilton Bulldogs visit the Entertainment and Sports Centre.

n Saturday night's attendance was 3,887.