ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS WEEKEND PREVIEW
The Abbotsford Canucks head down to California this weekend for the first two games of a three game road trip. They will face the San Diego Gulls at Pechanga Arena on Friday night, before squaring off with the Ontario Reign at Toyota Arena on Sunday afternoon.
WATCH HERE: AHLTV
LISTEN TO FRIDAY'S GAME IN SAN DIEGO : HERE
LISTEN TO SUNDAY'S GAME IN ONTARIO : HERE
Abbotsford comes into the weekend in second place in the Pacific Division, with a record of 4-1-1. The team opened the year with two road wins in Laval against the Rocket, winning 7-4 and 4-3 before returning home to face the Wranglers. They fell in a pair of one goal games, 3-2 and then an Overtime loss in a 7-6 thriller. Abbotsford wrapped up their home stand with a pair of mid-week games against the Colorado Eagles, winning 2-1 in Overtime, and then 5-2 on Wednesday night.
San Diego is sitting in 8th place in the division, going 2-2-0-0 to start their season. Three of their four games came against the Ontario Reign, winning both games on the road before suffering a 3-2 defeat on home ice. Their previous game was against the Tucson Roadrunners, dropping a close contest in Arizona, 2-1.
The Reign enter the weekend in 5th place in the division, sitting with a 3-2-0-0 record. After dropping their first two games against the Gulls, Ontario have rattled off three consecutive wins in San Diego, in Bakersfield and in Coachella Valley. They have one more game on their road trip before hosting the Canucks, and that will be on Friday morning when they play in Henderson.
Christian Wolanin enters the weekend on a six game point streak, picking up nine assists to start the year. Nine points is enough to lead all defencemen in scoring, and ties the amount of the second most points scored so far this year. The man Wolanin is tied with for 2nd in AHL scoring? Fellow Canuck Arshdeep Bains. Bains’ two goals and seven assists sits behind only Laval’s Joshua Roy for overall scoring.
John Stevens is tied for the most shorthanded goals so far this year, with two. The only other skater with two goals on the penalty kill is San Diego’s Pavol Regenda. Regenda leads the Gulls in total goals scored with four, with one coming at even strength and the other on the man advantage. Both he and rookie Olen Zellweger each have four points to start the year, behind only Trevor Carrick with five (1G, 4A).
Ontario’s scoring leaders is new to the organization, and previously lead the Colorado Eagles in goals and points last season. Charles Hudon has two goals and two assists in five games the year, tied for the most in each category. His four points is the most on the team, and is also the most penalized with 10 penalty minutes so far.
In net for Abbotsford will be the tandem once again of Artūrs Šilovs and rookie Nikita Tolopilo. Tolopilo is 2-0-0-0 in the first two games of his AHL career, registering a .949 save percentage in his wins against Laval and Colorado.
For San Diego, Alex Stalock and rookie Calle Clang have shared the net evenly, each winning one of their two games and posting up a .945 and .919 save percentage respectively. In the Reign’s net will be either David Rittich or Erik Portillo, with Rittich playing in four of their five games so far this season.
After the weekend wraps up, Abbotsford will have one more game on this road trip as they will take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena on Tuesday 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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