Abbotsford Canucks vs Toronto Marlies Series Preview
Toronto, ON – After their 4-2 loss in Laval, the Abbotsford Canucks are taking on Toronto this weekend with back-to-back games against the Marlies. The Canucks are currently holding their ground at 8th in the division.
The Canucks and Marlies faced each other 4 times last season, each team sweeping a road 2-game series. Abbotsford and Toronto haven’t seen each other since their series in late March at the Abbotsford Centre. The Canucks suffered losses against the Marlies in both games, losing 5-3 and 4-3 (OT), respectively.
With the Abbotsford Canucks’ Wednesday night 4-2 loss to Laval Rocket, the team currently sits 5-5-0-1. Lane Pederson, Tristen Nielsen, and Christian Wolanin have kept the Canucks on the scoreboard over the last two games. Nielsen and Pederson both scored one goal each during the 3-2 loss to Henderson and 4-2 loss to Laval. Christian Wolanin collected three assists over both games.
Lane Pederson joined Abbotsford 5 games into the season from the Chicago Wolves and is currently averaging a point per game (3G, 2A). After Wednesday’s game, Tristen Nielsen sits 3rd in Abbotsford for points with 8 (3G, 5A). The forward is already ahead of last season’s assist total where he tallied 4 helpers in 41 games.
Christian Wolanin is leading the Abbotsford defencemen in points with 7 (1G, 6A). Wolanin also leads Abbotsford defencemen in shots on goal with 22. Next closest is Jett Woo who trails by 5 with 17.
At 9-2-1-0 Toronto sits first in the Northern Division and second in the overall league with 19 points to date. Out of 12 games so far this season, Toronto has only suffered two losses to the Grand Rapids Griffins and one loss to the Rochester Americans. This could easily change after Friday night’s game where they take the Belleville Senators.
Toronto and Belleville faced each other on November 5th where Toronto beat them 5-2. Last season, the Marlies and Senators played 12 games against each other, with Toronto winning 7 of them. However, Toronto suffered a 5-2 loss to the Senators during their final game of the season. The Marlies currently have three players in the top 10 for total goals for the entire league.
Joey Anderson sits in 4th with 8 goals and 16 points in total. In 7th sits Adam Gaudette who has 8 goals as well and 10 total points. Not far behind is Logan Shaw in 9th with 7 goals up on the board, 4 of which were scored on a power play. Shaw has 16 points in total. Both Gaudette and Shaw are newcomers to the Marlies this season.
Fast Facts:
Abbotsford is looking to finally sweep a two-game series this weekend. They haven’t recorded back-to-back wins against the same team yet this season.
Lane Pederson went the first 4 games of the season without a point with the Chicago Wolves. He has since put up 5 points in his first six games with Abbotsford.
Wednesday’s game against Laval was Christian Wolanin’s 100th AHL game. 11 of which were played with Abbotsford.
Toronto missed out on the playoffs last season, finishing the year with 79 points (37-30-4-1). Abbotsford clinched a playoff spot with 84 points (39-23-5-1).
Toronto’s Logan Shaw was named the AHL Player of the Week earlier in November after putting up 9 points in 3 games (5G, 4A).
Marlies’ Goalie Dryden McKay secured one point in his first ever AHL game with an assist on Seymon Der-Arguchinstev’s goal against Grand Rapids last week.
Toronto’s Adam Gaudette made his AHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks’ former affiliate, the Utica Comets. He played with the Comets for 2 seasons, crossing paths with Abbotsford’s John Stevens, Vincent Arseneau, and Guillaume Brisebois.
The two teams will face each other at Scotiabank Arena at 10:30 AM PST on Saturday. Their Sunday game will take place at the Coca-Cola Coliseum at 1 PM PST.
After this weekend, the Abbotsford Canucks are heading back to Laval to redeem themselves after Wednesday night’s loss with a midweek game against the Rocket.