CANUCKS FALL 5-2 ON HOME ICE TO HENDERSON SILVER KNIGHTS

For the first time in nine days, the Abbotsford Canucks ¬hit the ice at Abbotsford Centre to take on the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday.

Josh Passolt and Ty Glover both made their Abbotsford Centre debuts, as they played with Alex Kannok Leipert as their linemate. Matt Irwin returned from injury, slotting in along side Filip Johansson on defence, while Nikita Tolopilo started in the Abbotsford net. Jiri Patera would start between the pipes for Henderson.

It would take just six minutes, but the two top scorers in the AHL would connect to open the scoring. Arshdeep Bains took the puck across the Henderson blue line before slamming on the breaks, and sending a cross-ice pass towards Christian Wolanin. Wolanin broke forward and roofed the puck past the glove of Patera for his second goal of the campaign. Jett Woo picked up the secondary assist while Bains extended his point streak to seven games with the helper.

Just after the midway mark of the opening period, Mason Primeau took advantage of a loose puck in front of Tolopilo, beating the netminder and levelling the game at one. The tally would be Primeau’s first of the season, and the last scoring action of the period.

Both teams went back down the tunnels to the dressing room as the clock hit zero, with neither side having an advantage on the score sheet.

It seemed as though that the middle frame would be a stalemate, until the Canucks would run into some penalty trouble in the final minutes. With a two man advantage, Henderson would score the go ahead goal with seven seconds left in the period, coming from the stick of Daniel D’Amato. Despite being outshot 13-4 at that point of the period, D’Amato’s first of the year gave Henderson the lead heading into the third period.

Henderson started out the final frame with a pair of goals 36 seconds apart, coming from Byron Froese and Sheldon Rempal. Abbotsford pulled within striking distance thanks to Jett Woo letting fly a slick wrist shot with ten minutes remaining. Nils Åman won the puck back to Woo on an offensive zone face off while it was four-on-four.

Woo’s second of the season wouldn’t be enough as Henderson grabbed an empty net goal and emerged as 5-2 winners.

Jett Woo registered his first multi point game of the season, while Bains and Wolanin each added to their league leading point totals. Tolopilo made 18 saves on the night, while Patera turned aside 31 of Abbotsford’s 33 shots for his fourth win of the season.

The two teams will meet up again tomorrow night for Diwali Night at Abbotsford Centre. Following this weekend, the Canucks will host the Bakersfield Condors on Thursday and Saturday night next week, before embarking on a four game road trip. After their stops in Henderson and Calgary, Abbotsford will return home for another four game home stand, featuring Teddy Bear Toss on Saturday December 2nd.

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