ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS VS COLORADO EAGLES SERIES PREVIEW
The Abbotsford Canucks welcome the Colorado Eagles to Abbotsford Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday night for the first two games of an eight game season series. The puck will drop at 7:00pm PST for both games.
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Abbotsford went 2-1-1 against the Eagles in 2022-23, with a win in Colorado thanks to a Nils Höglander shootout winning goal, as well as a 4-2 victory on home ice in March which brought Aatu Räty his first two goals as a Canuck.
Colorado also won a road match up in a shootout last season, winning 2-1 in Abbotsford.
The Eagles’ leading goal and point scorer from a season ago, Charles Hudon, is no longer with the organization, and has since signed a two-year deal with the Ontario Reign. Next up on that list was Alex Galchenyuk, who was traded to the Nashville Predators in the off-season.
Callahan Burke lead the Eagles out of returning 2023-24 players in goals (16), assists (23) and points (39), and was reassigned to Colorado by the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Burke picked up a pair of goals against Abbotsford last season, but missed in his shootout attempt on March 12th.
Defending the Eagles’ net will be the tandem of Justus Annunen and Arvid Holm, who are a combined 2-1-0-0 on the season so far. Trent Miner stopped 22 of 25 shots in Colorado’s season opener against Grand Rapids, but was reassigned to the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) on Thursday.
Since the start of the season, Colorado has gone 2-2-0-0, scoring 12 goals and conceding 12 in the process. All four Eagles games have been against Grand Rapids, with a pair on the road and a pair at home in Loveland, Colorado. They dropped the first two fixtures 3-2 and 5-2, before racking up a pair of home wins by scores of 6-3 and 2-1.
Their 12 goals conceded is tied for the seventh-fewest by a team with multiple wins, and have recorded the 4th fewest penalty minutes in the AHL.
As for Abbotsford, they come into this series off the back of a pair of home defeats to the Calgary Wranglers, falling 3-2 and 7-6 in last weekend’s Home Opener Weekend.
Nils Åman and Vasily Podkolzin come into the Eagles series averaging a goal a game, each tallying four times on the season so far, including an Åman hat-trick on Saturday night. Christian Wolanin is riding a four game point streak, with six assists to his name to open the season. Arshdeep Bains leads the team in points with 7 (1G, 6A), and is tied for the third most points in the league.
Akito Hirose and Josh Bloom both made their AHL debuts against Calgary, while Aidan McDonough, Cole McWard and Nikita Tolopilo made their AHL debuts in Laval against the Rocket on Opening Weekend.
Artūrs Šilovs and Nikita Tolopilo have been the two netminders to feature for Abbotsford so far this year, going for a combined 2-1-1, with a combined save percentage of .878.
Following this mid-week series, Abbotsford heads down south for a three-game California road trip, stopping in San Diego on Friday night and Ontario on Sunday afternoon. The trip wraps up on Tuesday with a first ever visit to Coachella Valley to face the Firebirds on Halloween night. The Canucks then return home for a four game home stand where they’ll face the Henderson Silver Knights on November 3rd and 4th (Diwali Night), and the Bakersfield Condors on November 9th and 11th.
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