THE ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS SWEEP THE WEEKEND SERIES WITH A 2-1 WIN OVER THE COLORADO EAGLES
The Abbotsford Canucks returned to a full crowd for a Family Day matinee against the Colorado Eagles, looking to sweep the series, fresh off a 4-1 win on Saturday.
Artūrs Šilovs got back-to-back starts against the Eagles, this time taking on Trent Miner at the other end.
The Canucks changed up the lines tonight, starting with Max Sasson centering Arshdeep Bains and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Tristen Nielsen joined Sammy Blais and Nils Åman, and Chase Wouters slotted in between Ty Mueller and Danila Klimovich. Carsen Twarynski, Cooper Walker, and Dino Kambeitz re-entered the lineup tonight, closing out the offensive group.
On defense, Kirill Kudryavtsev joined Victor Mancini, and Christian Wolanin and Jett Woo remained a duo. Joe Arntsen slotted back in next to Cole McWard and the Canucks lineup was complete.
The teams came out hot, both leveling up their games from Saturday night. There were hits, checks, and breakaways but the goalies stood tall, and the defense defended. Halfway through the period, the Canucks finally saw success when Danila Klimovich passed the puck from behind the net to Ty Mueller who was parked in front. Mueller one-timed the puck right to the back of the Eagles net to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. Colorado tried to respond but couldn’t get anything past Šilovs for the first 20 minutes, and Abbotsford led into the second period.
The second period continued to be a battle, with teams doubling their shots on net. After playing the last 20 minutes at even strength, Mancini dropped the gloves with Jedlicka, and as another Eagle joined in on the fight, Abbotsford found themselves on the first powerplay of the game. After about a minute into it, Danila Klimovich found himself picking up speed on the left side and backhanding the puck into the top corner of Colorado’s net. This goal pulled Abbotsford ahead, 2-0. Despite Colorado eventually getting themselves a powerplay, it only lasted 15 seconds before they played 4 on 4 hockey. No one else was able to get on the board before the buzzer sounded on the middle frame.
With 20 minutes to play, the Canucks looked to close out the weekend series with a sweep. The Eagles applied pressure, desperate to get on the board and at least force an overtime. The game continued to get chippy, but as time passed, the score remained the same. With 15 minutes gone, the Eagles finally found success when T.J. Tynan was able to get one past Šilovs and bring them within one. Time was expiring, and Colorado pulled their netminder to try and take advantage of an extra man on the ice, but they couldn’t seal the deal before the end of the period. Abbotsford sept their weekend series, 2-1, to secure their 12th win in 16 games.
The team will head down south to take on the San Diego Gulls in a midweek matchup before getting back to Tucson to take on the Roadrunners.