Abby Hangs 8 on the Moose, Cruise to 8-2 Win

Abbotsford, BC - The Abbotsford Canucks (18-15-3-1) won for the third consecutive game on Friday night at Abbotsford Centre, beating the Manitoba Moose (25-13-2-1) 8-2. Spencer Martin was victorious in net and Arvid Holm was saddled with the loss for the visiting Moose.

1-2-3, it’s easy as A-B-C. Jack Rathbone stayed hot on Friday night as the blueliner opened the scoring for the Canucks at the 1:23 mark of the first period. Rathbone went to the backhand and beat Holm up high. Will Lockwood and Matt Murphy had the helpers, but Rathbone did the dirty work himself as he stickhandled his way to the net all the way from the blue line to give Abby a 1-0 lead.

Despite being slightly wonky, Leon Gwanke tied the game for the Moose on powerplay at the 6:14 mark of the first period. Declan Chisholm and Cole Maier had the helpers on the tying goal for the Moose.

Nic Petan was not interested in participating in a tie game and made his opinions known in the first period. The Delta, BC product scored at the 10:34 mark to give the Canucks a 2-1 advantage. Petan Man was not satisfied with just a one-goal lead and doubled the Canucks’ margin with another goal 21 seconds later. All told, Justin Dowling and Will Lockwood both had a pair of assists on the Petan goals.

Next up in the spotlight was Phil Di Giuseppe. The Toronto, ON product was not content with the two-goal advantage and decided to put the game out of reach early. Di Giuseppe scored at the 18:04 and the 19:23 mark to make it 5-1 for the home side after the first 20 minutes.

Sheldon Dries added to the considerable lead in the second period, scoring the sixth goal of the contest at the 7:07 mark of second period. Di Gisueppe and Matt Murphy had the helpers for the Canucks.

Dries wanted more and got more in the early stages of the third period, scoring to make it a 7-1 game for the Canucks 41 seconds into the third period. John Stevens had the assist on the powerplay marker for Abbotsford.

Manitoba made it a 7-2 game but Dries once again lit the lamp at the 9:53 mark of the third period to make it 8-2 for the home side. The goal gave Sheldon a hat trick. Nic Petan and Justin Dowling had the helpers on the powerplay goal.

8-2 is how this one ended as the Canucks cruised to an easy win on Friday night.

NOTABLES

• Justin Dowling had his first four points as an Abby Canuck, recording four helpers on the night.
• Will Lockwood had three first period assists for the Canucks. The former Michigan Wolverine now has 19 points (8-11-19) on the season.
• Sheldon Dries registered his second hat-trick of the season and it was his first natural hat-trick of the season.
• Dries not leads the Abby Canucks with 37 points (20-17-37) and 20 goals. His 37 points represent a new career high for the former Western Michigan star.
• Jack Rathbone had a pair of points tonight, scoring one goal and assisting on another. The Harvard alum now has 17 points (4-13-17) in 17 games this season for Abbotsford.
• Nic Petan is a man among men on the ice. With a pair of goals tonight, Petan now has 30 points (9-21-20) this season in 26 games played.
• Matt Murphy is currently signed to a PTO but the D-Man is putting up points as of late for the Canucks. Murphy had three assists tonight, setting a new AHL career high for helpers.
• Phil Di Giuseppe had three points (2-1-3) in the win. The pizza man has 30 points (10-20-30) on the season, tying him for third on the team in points scored.
• Dries led the club with six shots on net.
• Spencer Martin registered his eighth win of the season tonight for Abby.
• Martin turned aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced on Friday night.
• Abby matched their franchise high for goals in a game with eight and have scored a total of 21 goals in their last three contests.

QUOTEABLES

“Might be going back to pee-wee for that one. Definitely not in pro hockey and not in college, so youth or junior for sure.” – Forward, Sheldon Dries on the last time he had two hat tricks on a single season.

“I’m getting more and more comfortable each day. It’s a really good group of players and teammates in that room. The coaching staff is excellent, they have built a great culture. Even right from day one, the coaches have done a great job of giving me all the ins and outs. It was nice to get those three assists tonight, but to be honest, I just got the pucks to the forwards and they did the rest of the job.” – Defenceman, Matt Murphy.

“Everyone is playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of swagger. There’s obviously a lot of chemistry up and down the lineup right now. We’ve had the talent all year, but it’s nice to see it come together.” – Forward, Will Lockwood on the offensive success as of late.

THREE STARS

1. Sheldon Dries, ABB (3-0-3)
2. Justin Dowling, ABB (0-4-4)
3. Nic Petan, ABB (2-1-3)

PHOTO OF THE GAME

Will Lockwood and teammates celebrate tonight's 8-2 win against the Manitoba Moose.

UP NEXT

The Abbotsford Canucks (18-15-3-1) will battle the Manitoba Moose (25-13-2-1) again on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm from Abbotsford Centre. The Canucks will enter play in sixth place in the Pacific Division with 40 points. The Moose currently sit second in the Central Division with 53 points.