Abbotsford Canucks fall 4-2 against the Tucson Roadrunners
The Abbotsford Canucks kicked off their final series on this home stand, taking on the Tucson Roadrunners. The two teams currently split their series 2-2, and are both coming off 4 straight wins, so it’s expected to be a battle.
Artūrs Šilovs returned to the Abbotsford lineup, starting in net tonight against Matthew Villalta for the Roadrunners. The Canucks got things started with their European stars Aatu Räty, Nils Åman and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Ty Mueller followed suit, centering Arshdeep Bains and Danila Klimovich. Sammy Blais made his home debut in Abbotsford tonight, lining up next to Nate Smith and Chase Wouters, and Ty Glover and Dino Kambeitz bookended John Stevens to round out the offence.
On defence, Elias Pettersson and Jett Woo stuck together to kick things off, and Mark Friedman drew back into the lineup next to Guillaume Brisebois. Christian Wolanin and Cole McWard were the final two men in the equation, to complete the Canucks lineup.
With both teams looking to snap the others' win streak, both teams came out hot. The Abby Canucks took charge quickly, registering shot after shot on Villalta, but he stood on his head. Šilovs didn’t face as many shots but he was also strong in net for the Canucks, both goalies leaving this game in the hands of their offense. The Canucks were the first to crack the scoreboard when a laser from Jonathan Lekkerimäki went straight past Villalta to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. The Canucks were hit with some consecutive penalties leaving them on a 5-on-3 twice in the final few minutes, but both the defence and Šilovs held on killing them off, and the Canucks would head to the second period up by 1.
With 40 seconds remaining on the penalty, the Canucks got to work on the kill and successfully held on to their lead. The netminders continued making some solid saves for their teams, but just under the halfway point, the roadrunners evened the score. Hunter Drew ripped one from afar, to light the lamp for Tucson, and tied up the game at 1. A pair of penalties were exchanged between the teams, allowing for a 4 on 4 opportunity, but neither team got it done. Twenty seconds later, however, a setup from Arshdeep Bains allowed Danila Klimovich the opportunity to take his sharp-angle shot and restored the Canucks lead. Klimovich’s 10th of the season gave the Canucks a 1 goal lead once again heading into the final frame.
Early into the third, Arshdeep Bains found himself on a breakaway early on in the third and came extremely close to pulling even further ahead, but the puck just hit the post and Tucson was spared. The Roadrunners weren’t giving up quite yet when Cameron Hebig found the opening sport in the Canucks to once again even the score at 2. Shortly after that, Hunter Drew squeezed one through for his second of the night, to give the Roadrunners their first lead of the night. With a last-minute effort to force overtime, Šilovs headed to the bench but it was the Roadrunners that capitalized on the empty net, when Andrew Agozzino sent a shot down the ice, that bounced off the post and into the net, to secure the win. The Roadrunners continue their win streak, with a 4-2 win over the Canucks.
Abbotsford will look to bounce back tomorrow to close out their home stand before the holidays, and before jetting back out on the road.
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