The Abbotsford Heat simply couldn't stop the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on the power play or in the shootout on Saturday night, and it cost them a golden opportunity at a victory.

The Sound Tigers scored all three of their regulation-time goals with the man advantage, and they completed a weekend sweep of the Heat by going three-for-three in the shootout to clinch a 4-3 win at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre.

In the aftermath of the game – which saw the Heat blow a 3-1 lead – Abbotsford coach Jim Playfair called out basically everyone in the home team dressing room.

"We got to a point in the game where we took dumb, lazy penalties," he vented. "I thought our leadership didn't step up and take control of the game. I thought our goaltender was not good, and that cost us the two points."

The Heat got off to an excellent start, utterly dominating the early portion of the game thanks in part to a pair of early power plays. It took the Sound Tigers upwards of nine minutes to register their first shot, by which time the Heat had already directed 13 pucks at Bridgeport starter Scott Munroe.

One of those shots, off the stick of Riley Armstrong, found its way into the net. Armstrong, who was playing his first game after missing a month with a high ankle sprain, tipped a low John Negrin point shot over Munroe on the power play at 6:25 of the opening frame.

Garth Murray made it 2-0 at 4:54 of the second, deflecting home a Keith Seabrook shot for the Heat's second power play goal of the night.

Sean Bentivoglio drew Bridgeport to within a goal at 7:10, but Murray restored the two-goal margin just over two minutes later on a great individual effort. The Heat centre came down the right wing with speed, and blew by flat-footed Bridgeport blueliner Mark Katic. Murray finished the play by slipping the puck through Munroe's legs.

But the Heat got in some penalty trouble in the third period, and Bentivoglio and Jesse Joensuu bagged power play tallies to knot the score and send the game to overtime.

OT solved nothing, though the Heat had two glorious chances to win it. Chucko fired a shot from point-blank range which got past Munroe, but Bridgeport defenceman Jon Gleed cleared the puck out of the crease as it trickled toward the line. Murray had a breakaway in the final minute of OT, but Munroe parried his wrist shot.

Heat goalie Matt Keetley struggled in the shootout, as all three Bridgeport shooters – Trevor Smith, Greg Moore and Bentivoglio – were successful.

The Heat got a shootout goal from Mikael Backlund, but Munroe turned aside Chucko, Jason Jaffray and Armstrong to seal the deal.

"They came out real strong tonight and really put us on our heels," Tigers forward Moore said afterward. "But we just kept plugging away, tried to get the power play going and found some ways to get goals."

The Sound Tigers went 3-for-7 on the power play, and Playfair said that the penalties his team took demonstrated "a total lack of mental discipline."

"We took selfish penalties in the offensive zone," he noted. "It was pretty simple."

Abbotsford out-shot Bridgeport 44-35, but Armstrong said that the Heat were "caught cheating."

"If we stop doing that, we'll straighten out those mistakes," he analyzed.

ICE CHIPS:

n Heat defenceman Matt Pelech earned an early trip to the showers on Saturday, after being whistled for a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing Moore in the head late in the first period. Moore was prone on the ice for several minutes, but he returned to action to start the second period.

Backlund was originally assessed the penalty, which occurred a bit behind the play, but the officials changed the call in the intermission and penalized Pelech instead.

n The loss dropped the Heat to 10-9-2-2 for 24 points, which leaves them in fifth place in the AHL's North Division. Abbotsford has lost three straight on home ice.

n The Heat hit the road next week for a four-game trip, beginning on Wednesday in Peoria. The next home games are on Dec. 5-6, when the Heat host the division-leading Rochester Americans for a two-game set.

n Jamie Lundmark became the answer to a trivia question on Saturday when he became the first Heat player to be recalled by the Calgary Flames.

Filling in for injured winger Rene Bourque in an afternoon game against the Los Angeles Kings, Lundmark walked right into a dream situation, skating on the Flames' top line with Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Lundmark saw 19:06 of ice time and upwards of seven minutes of power play duty, and notched an assist on Iginla's first-period goal in Calgary's 5-2 victory.

n Saturday's attendance was 3,737.