The Abbotsford Canucks fall 5-3 in a hard fought battle against the San Diego Gulls

The Abbotsford Canucks kickstarted their road trip with a one-game standoff against the San Diego Gulls.

Ty Young got the start in net tonight following his recall to the team, and he faced off against Oscar Dansk for the Gulls.

The Canucks lineup was vastly different from their last few games, following a series of transactions between the Vancouver Canucks and their ECHL affiliate Kalamazoo Wings. Nate Smith rejoined the team following an injury and lined up next to Sammy Blais and Max Sasson to get things going. Tristen Nielsen and Danila Klimovich bookended Ty Mueller, and Chase Wouters centered Carsen Twarynski and Dino Kambeitz. Josh Bloom and Ben Berard slotted into the lineup on either side of Cooper Walker following their recent call-up to the team, and the offense for the night was complete.

There was not as much change to the blue line, as Christian Wolanin and Jett Woo stuck together, as well as Kirill Kudryavtsev and Victor Mancini. Joe Arntsen and Cole McWard joined forces to solidify the Canucks lineup for the night.

Despite missing some key pieces in the lineup tonight, Abbotsford came out strong, taking possession of the puck for the majority of the period. Oscar Dansk made some great saves, keeping the Gulls in the game, but the Canucks continued to outshoot them. Around 14 minutes in, Coulson Pitre got the Gulls on the board when he tucked home the pass from captain Ryan Carpenter giving them the lead. Penalties were exchanged before the end of the period, but the Canucks couldn’t tie it up before the 20 minutes was up.

The next period had to be a big one if the Canucks wanted to get back into the game. The Gulls didn’t ease up, coming out stronger than they had in the first period. The Canucks continued to apply pressure, registering multiple shots on net, but Oscar Dansk had plans of his own. It took another 14 minutes in the period before anyone saw results, but this time it was in favour of the Canucks. Sammy Blais ripped a shot from the left circle, that made its way to the back of the Gulls net, and the game was tied up at 1. Shortly after that, Ty Young made the save of the game, robbing Tristen Luneau from grabbing the lead, and the teams were tied into the final frame.

A change of pace from the first 40 minutes, the final period exploded with goals. The Canucks started down a man, but they were successfully able to kill it off. Unfortunately, just 25 after returning to even strength, Coulson Pitre secured his second of the game, giving San Diego the lead once again. It didn’t take long for that to be extended, because just a minute and a half later, Sam Colangelo extended their lead to 2 when the puck squeaked through the legs of Ty Young. Although down, the Canucks were not out, because just a few minutes later, Ben Berard made his presence known when he fired a shot from the edge of the left circle to bring the Canucks back within one. Four minutes later, Dino Kambeitz battled through bodies, ripping the puck top shelf to even up the game at 3 with less than 10 minutes left. Both teams were back in the same position, battling to avoid overtime, but it was the Gulls who would strike next when Tristan Luneau got his revenge, pulling the Gulls ahead once again, with 6 minutes remaining. Not giving up, the Canucks pulled their netminder with less than 2 minutes to go, with the hope of tying up the game, but after a few shots on net, the Gulls got a hold of the puck and Nikita Nesterenko secured the empty net goal. Despite their best efforts, the Canucks fell 5-3 to the San Diego Gulls in a hard-fought battle.

The team will travel to Tucson over the coming days to take on the Tucson Roadrunners before heading north to see the Calgary Wranglers.

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