ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS VS LAVAL ROCKET GAME PREVIEW
Laval, QC – Halfway through their two-week road trip, the Abbotsford Canucks return to Laval for the first time since their 4-2 loss last Wednesday. The puck drops from Place Bell at 4:00pm pacific time, and will be the last time the Canucks play in Quebec this season.
Since their last meeting, both Abbotsford and Laval Rocket have played a pair games.
Abbotsford split a back-to-back with Toronto over the weekend, and Laval losing to Cleveland on Saturday before emerging victorious in a shootout against the Monsters on Sunday.
After Abbotsford’s 5-3 loss and 3-2 win against Toronto, they’re sitting 8th in the Pacific Division (6-6-0-1). With Laval’s 7-3 loss and 5-4 shootout win against Cleveland they find themselves 6th in the North Division standings (5-9-3-0).
Abbotsford’s Guillaume Brisebois and Noah Juulsen face their previous team Laval for the second time this season. Since leaving the Rocket, Brisebois and Juulsen have only faced the Rocket as an opponent 3 times each.
In 47 games with Laval, Juulsen put up 1 goal and 5 assists. He’s since put up 4 goals and 14 assists in his Abbotsford career thus far. Brisebois put up 1 goal and 1 assist in 9 games with Laval. So far in Abbotsford he’s tallied 2 goals and 6 assists. Both defencemen are yet to put up a point against Laval as a Canuck.
The pair of blue liners had stints in Vancouver earlier this season, Brisebois playing 3 games putting up 1 assist, and Juulsen playing 2 games.
The first star of Abbotsford and Laval’s matchup last Wednesday, Anthony Richard, has put up 5 goals in his last 4 games, leading Laval with 11 goals this season. He bagged his 100th career AHL goal with an empty-netter in their 4-2 win against Abbotsford.
Starting goalie from last week’s game, Cayden Primeau, who received second star of the game, saved 77 total shots between Abbotsford and Cleveland. Primeau has a save percentage of 0.895%, just 0.01% ahead of both Arturs Silovs and Collin Delia who have equal save percentages with 0.885%.
Kevin Poulin could also be the one to feature in the Laval goal this Wednesday, with a save percentage of 0.879%.
Fast Facts:
Linus Karlsson, Justin Dowling, and Christian Wolanin all lead Abbotsford in points with 11 apiece. They are also top three on the team for assists.
Christian Wolanin currently sits in 11th for defencemen points in the league overall.
Lane Pederson leads Abbotsford in goals with six, four of which were scored in the last three games.
Phil Di Guiseppe and Michael Regush both returned to the roster from injury last weekend.
Sheldon Dries continues to play in Vancouver, only spending two days in Abbotsford so far this month.
Abbotsford and Laval both have the lowest penalty kill in their respective divisions. Abbotsford at 72% and Laval at 67.6%.
Laval has won 4 of their 5 total wins this season on home ice.
Leading scorer Anthony Richard also leads Laval in penalty minutes with 20. Jett Woo leads Abbotsford with 26.
After Wednesday’s game, the Abbotsford Canucks are off to Calgary to play the Calgary Wranglers for the first time in both franchise’s history.