THE CANUCKS CLOSE OUT THEIR ROAD SERIES AGAINST THE CALGARY WRANGLERS WITH A MASSIVE 3-1 VICTORY
The Abbotsford Canucks take on the Calgary Wranglers once again, for their final road game of the regular season The Canucks are coming into this one after winning their last 4 road games.
Zach Sawchenko tapped in tonight, as he started between the pipes for the Canucks, as Oscar Dansk swapped in for the Wranglers. Just one change to the defensemen from last night, Elias Pettersson slotted back in as the team's 7th defenseman. Same as last night, Christian Wolanin and Guillaume Brisebois paired up, followed by Nick Cicek and Akito Hirose, as well as Matt Irwin and Filip Johansson.
Up front, no change to last night's 11 forwards, with Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson kicking things off. Sheldon Dries continued to center Marc Gatcomb and Tristen Nielsen, and Aidan McDonough and Arshdeep Bains bookended John Stevens. Holding things together upfront is the duo of Chase Wouters and Ty Glover.
The game was off to a hot start, as the Wranglers were sent to the box just 59 seconds in, leaving the Canucks on their first power play of the game. They couldn’t get it done there, but it ignited the spark underneath them, eventually leading to Ty Glover netting the first goal of the game on a rebound from Marc Gatcomb. The Canucks found themselves with a 1 goal lead just over 6 minutes into the game. A pair of penalties were dealt to each team throughout the duration of the period, but no one else found success that led to the puck crossing either goal line.
A slower second period, with just one penalty each time, but it was ultimately Rory Kerrins who squeaked the puck past Sawchenko around the halfway mark in the period to tie the game up at 1. Despite some close calls, Kerrins’ 16th goal of the season was the lone goal in the second period.
Looking to avoid overtime, the Canucks looked to pull ahead and find their go-ahead goal. Both teams hoped to find it, but a cross-ice feed from Sheldon Dries allowed Tristen Nielsen to notch his 15th of the season and put the Canucks up 2-1 with 10 minutes to play. Falling into the footsteps of last night’s game, the Canucks were up by one, and Calgary pulled their goalie with 3 minutes to go in a last-minute attempt to tie the game. Linus Karlsson was the lucky one to catch the loose puck and send it down to the empty net.
The Canucks come up with a big 3-1 victory over the Calgary Wranglers, sweep the roundtrip and take home all 4 points this weekend. They will return home and play the Wranglers two more times to close out the regular season.