ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS VS CALGARY WRANGLERS SERIES PREVIEW

Calgary, AB - After their final games of 2022 against the Manitoba Moose, the Abbotsford Canucks are headed to the Scotiabank Saddledome to take on the Calgary Wranglers on Monday and Wednesday. Abbotsford swept their final two games of the year with 4-2 and 5-2 wins over the Moose. They currently sit 3rd in the Pacific Division (18-9-1-1) and are looking to extend their win streak to 5 games.

The Calgary Wranglers are coming off a handful of wins with two against Bakersfield and one against Ontario (9-2, 2-1 and 3-1 respectively). The Wranglers are currently on a 6-game win streak and sit 1st in the Pacific Division and 2nd in the league (21-7-1-0).

The last time the two teams met in November, Calgary swept the series winning 5-1 and 4-3 (OT). Captain Chase Wouters scored his first goal of the season in the second match-up against Calgary. He just recorded his first ever multi-goal game on December 31st with his two-goal performance against Manitoba. Additionally, the last time Abbotsford and Calgary met, blueliner Christian Wolanin scored his second and third goal of the season. He currently leads the team in points and leads both the team and league in assists (4G, 30A). Justin Dowling sits second in points for Abbotsford with 26 (8G, 18A). Not far behind is rookie Linus Karlsson with 24 points and leads the team in goals (9G, 15A). Karlsson continues to lead the league in rookie points. Abbotsford rookie Arshdeep Bains is also working his way up the leaderboard with 13 points, breaking into the top 10 for Abbotsford (2G, 11A). He recorded 3 helpers in Abby’s last 2 games.

Calgary’s Matthew Phillips sits second in the league for goals and fourth overall in points (18G, 17A). Phillips is currently on a point streak with 21 points in 11 games, leaving him with a 1.52 point per game average. Not far behind is Wrangler Jakob Pelletier, sitting 10th in the league for points (14G, 18A). Calgary’s Connor Zary is currently on a 6-game assist streak with 7. He leads the team in assists with 18 and leads the team in shots on net with 81. Goalie Dustin Wolf is second in the league for save percentage with 0.929% allowing only 49 goals in 23 games (2.18 goal against average). He currently has 18 wins in net including 3 shutouts and has also tallied 1 assist. Every Calgary skater has recorded at least 2 points so far this season and only two are without a goal. In their 9-1 win against Bakersfield last Wednesday, 9 different players recorded two or more points.

Special Teams

Power Play %

ABB: 22.1%, CGY: 26.8%

Power Play Goals For

ABB: 29, CGY: 41

Penalty Kill %

ABB: 74.1%, CGY: 85.7%

Fast Facts:

Abbotsford went 9-2 in the month of December, which ties their franchise record for most regulation wins in one month.

Will Lockwood was called up to Vancouver on December 30th. Abbotsford received forward Nils Aman in return.

Abbotsford’s Karlsson, Hoglander, and Aman all hail from Sweden. The three Swedes connected with each other on Saturday’s game to collect Hoglander’s first career AHL goal. Aman’s helper was also his first career AHL point.

Calgary’s Brett Sutter played his 1,000th regular-season career AHL game on December 21. 66 of those games were played with the last AHL team to call the Abbotsford Centre home, the Abbotsford Heat.

Calgary’s Jeremie Poirier ties for fourth in the league for overall rookie points, 3 points behind Linus Karlsson.

Calgary head coach, Mitch Love, has been chosen to coach the Pacific Division All-Star team at the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic on February 5th and 6th.

Abbotsford and Calgary will meet again in two weeks for a three-game homestand at the Abbotsford Centre on January 18th and 20th-21st.

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