Canucks fall short of comeback in Toronto, lose 5-3 to the Marlies
The Abbotsford Canucks squared off with the Toronto Marlies on Saturday morning with a visit to Scotiabank Arena. In the first game of a back-to-back series in Toronto, the high-flying Marlies were always going to be a tough clash for Abbotsford.
Christian Wolanin is the man of the moment lately, registering four assists in his last four games. He and the rest of the defence would be lined up ahead of Arturs Silovs, who was making his fourth start in five games in the Canucks’ crease. Surrey native Michael Regush also was featured in the lineup tonight, making his first appearance since October 23rd.
It would be Dylan Ferguson getting the start for the Marlies, looking to improve upon his 1-2 record as a starter this year.
His team would help him out in the early stages, with Joey Anderson burying his ninth of the year just over a minute into the contest. At the midway mark of the opening frame, Noel Hoefenmayer’s wrist shot from the point snuck past Silovs to increase the Marlies lead to 2.
Despite being level in the shot count, generating a few chances of their own, the Canucks trailed at the end of the first period by a pair of goals.
Four minutes after the end of the intermission, the Marlies picked up where they left off. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev ripped home an effort that grazed the underside of the bar, converting on the man advantage for the second time this game.
It would take 10 minutes for the Canucks to fight their way onto the scoresheet, with John Stevens getting on the rebound of a Justin Dowling shot. Sitting in front of Ferguson, Stevens pounced on the rebound and tucked home his third of the year, cutting Toronto’s lead to 3-1.
The Canucks wouldn’t stop there, with Linus Karlsson getting involved in the goal scoring action as well. Storming across the blue line with time winding down in the second period, Karlsson threw a shot towards the goal, which snuck under the pad of Ferguson. A pair of goals in the span of five minutes had the Canucks trailing by one heading into the third.
Up stepped Lane Pederson. Tristen Nielsen used some slick moves to hold onto the puck in the offensive zone. Being forced out wide, Nielsen slid the puck to a waiting Pedesron in front of the goal to make it four goals in seven games in an Abbotsford sweater.
A tie game would be as close as it would get for the Canucks, as Mikhail Abramov put the Marlies ahead with seven minutes to go. Another powerplay tally for the home side as Abramov capitalized on a scramble in front of Silovs’ net. Adam Gaudette sealed the victory for the Marlies with an empty net finish in the final minute of play.
The game ended 5-3 in favour of the Marlies, with both sides focused on Sunday afternoon’s rematch at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. The puck drops on Sunday at 4:00pm PST, and mark the midway point of Abbotsford’s six game Canadian road trip.
The full box score for today’s game can be found HERE.