The Abbotsford Canucks pick up a 4-2 victory against the Bakersfield Condors on their first stop of the road trip
The Abbotsford Canucks kicked off their 6 game road trip in California with a game against the Bakersfield Condors for a midweek matinee game. The last time these two teams met, they split the series, each walking away with a win.
Ty Young got the start once again, after his AHL debut against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Saturday, and he took on Olivier Rodrigue at the other end.
After a transaction with Vancouver prior to the game, the Abbotsford lines shifted once again, with Ty Mueller, Max Sasson, and Danila Klimovich kicking things off. Nils Åman centered Carsen Twarynski and Tristen Nielsen, and Dino Kambeitz drew back into the lineup, alongside Nate Smith and Chase Wouters. Ty Glover, John Stevens, and Cooper Walker stuck together, after putting up points in their last few games.
On defence, Akito Hirose and Jett Woo paired up, followed by Guillaume Brisebois and Christian Felton. Kirill Kudryavtsev and Cole McWard rounded things out on the back end to complete the Canucks lineup this morning.
The rivalry between the two teams was evident today when a fight broke out less than two minutes into the game. A couple of penalties were exchanged between the two teams after that, but it was ultimately Max Sasson who capitalized when he backhanded the rebound into Bakersfield's net to notch the first goal of the game, getting the Canucks on the board first. The Condors were unable to respond in the first 20 minutes, and Abbotsford held the lead through to the second.
A quick start to the second period, saw Abbotsford extending their lead early on. A quick rip from Danila Klimovich went straight to the back of the Condors' net before Olivier Rodrigue had a chance to stop it. Abbotsford now had a 2-goal lead. It was scoreless for the next 10 mins, until former Abbotsford Canuck Alex Kannok Leipert, netted his first of the season with a long shot from the blue line, and the Condors were on the board. It didn’t take long before the Canucks would respond when a one-timer from the blue line made its way to the back of the net thanks to Cole McWard. Abbotsford restored their 2-goal lead and would head into the final frame up 3-1.
Looking for some more insurance, the Canucks drew up the perfect tic-tac-toe situation to extend their lead 4-1. Tristen Nielsen passed across to Nils Åman, who passed back for Carsen Twarynski to net their fourth goal of the game! Four minutes later, however, Phil Kemp secured his Gordie Howe Hat Trick after scoring on Ty Young, cutting the Canucks lead in half once again. With time running out, the Condors pulled their netminder with the hope of getting them back into the game, but Ty Young stopped all remaining shots to secure his first AHL win!
The Canucks take game one of their road trip with a 4-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors. Abbotsford will head to Henderson next for their first meet of the season, before going back to Bakersfield for another stand-alone game.
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