The Abbotsford Canucks fall 6-4 to the San Diego Gulls after letting in 5 unanswered goals in the third period
The Abbotsford Canucks kicked off their 4th game against the San Diego Gulls tonight at Pechanga Arena and looked to sweep the weekend series following a 3-1 victory last night.
Jiřï Patera got his back-to-back start tonight, after being just 52 seconds away from a shutout last night. Like last weekend, the Gulls swapped net minders and Oscar Dansk got the nod in net at the other end.
A notable change to the Canucks lineup tonight, Nils Åman made his season debut with Abbotsford tonight, after clearing waivers this morning. He centered Aatu Räty and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, getting first-line minutes. John Stevens slotted in with Max Sasson and Tristen Nielsen, and Ty Mueller and Carsen Twarynski bookended Chase Wouters. Ty Glover returned to the lineup and paired up with Cooper Walker and Dino Kambeitz to round out the offence.
At the blue line, there was no change to the top line consisting of Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo, and Elias Pettersson and Cole McWard. Christian Wolanin joins Layton Ahac to solidify the defence and closed out the Canucks lineup.
The first period was slow to start, but once it got going, the floodgates opened. The Canucks first killed off two consecutive penalties, before they had their go at the powerplay. Just a minute into their first powerplay of the game, the Gulls drew their second penalty, leaving the Canucks on the 5-on-3. Just as the first powerplay expired, Jonathan Lekkerimäki ripped one home on the man advantage to get the Canucks on the board. Just 2 minutes later, Nils Åman passed the puck in front to Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who was able to tuck it up under the bar to secure his second of the game, and a 2 goal lead for the Canucks heading into the second period.
Unlike the first, the second period got off to a quick start when Max Sasson was able to pick up the rebound off of Elias Pettersson’s shot just a minute and a half in, to put the Canucks up 3-0. The Gulls, still looking to get on the board, kept hitting a roadblock as they drew some penalties. When they finally returned to 5-on-5 hockey, Nikita Nesterenko was able to get things started for the home team, putting the Gulls on the board with just over halfway to play in the period. The goaltenders were able to hold it to just one goal a piece and the Canucks had a 3-1 lead into the third.
Off the draw, Cole McWard ripped one from the point just 47 seconds into the final frame. The Canucks restored their 3-goal lead very early on and maintained it for half of the period. The Gulls then placed Calle Clang in net, hoping for a change of pace. At the 10-minute mark, Rodwin Dionicio netted his first AHL goal and cut the Canucks lead to 2. Two minutes later, Ryan Carpenter got one past Patera on the powerplay to make it a one-goal game. Just over a minute later, Roland McKeown tied the game after lighting the lamp once again for San Diego. Sam Colangelo was next to get his name on the score sheet, and for the first time tonight, the Gulls had the lead with three and a half minutes left. The Canucks, looking to tie it back up and force overtime, pulled their goalie, but it was Nikita Nesterenko who capitalized on the empty net to get the Gulls' 6th goal of the game.
Despite holding the lead for 50 minutes, 5 unanswered goals in the third period from the Gulls meant the Canucks would drop this one, 6-4.
Abbotsford will head to Ontario for their first match of the season to close out their Californian road trip on Wednesday night. The Canucks will then return home for a 4 game stint against the Condors and Firebirds for some action packed games, including Country night and Movember night.
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