the canucks close out their season series against the Condors with a 4-1 win
The Abbotsford Canucks take the ice again against the Bakersfield Condors tonight, following yesterday’s 4-1 loss, for their final season matchup of the season.
Nikita Tolopilo gets another chance in net tonight, and he will face familiar netminder Jack Campbell for the Condors. Nick Cicek and Jett Woo stick together at the blue line, along with Matt Irwin and Filip Johansson. Guillaume Brisebois returns to the Canucks lineup tonight for the first time since September 2023, and he will man up with Cole McWard.
On the front end, Tristen Nielsen, Sheldon Dries, and Linus Karlsson kick it off, followed by Aidan McDonough, John Stevens, and Arshdeep Bains. Max Sasson also returns to the lineup tonight, and he will center Aatu Räty and Marc Gatcomb, and Chase Wouters, Dmitri Zlodeev with Ty Glover round out the men on the ice.
The Condors didn’t waste any time in the puck drop, as Matvey Petrov picked up Dylan Holloway’s rebound to make it 1-0 Bakersfield, after just 1 minute and 10 seconds. The Canucks had a great chance from Sheldon Dries but Campbell blocked the shot to maintain the Condors 1-goal lead. The Canucks didn’t release pressure, as time was ticking down, but Tristen Nielsen picked up Linus Karlsson’s rebound and put it past Campbell for his 10th of the season and knotted the game up at 1 heading into the second period.
The second period was a slower one, but the Canucks continued to outshoot the Condors 15-7. The lone goal in all of those shots goes to Max Sasson, who also picked up the rebound from Marc Gatcomb to net his 14th goal of the season after being absent for the last few games. Some good shots from both sides, but the goaltenders stopped all the other shots in the second period. The Canucks had a 2-1 lead into the third period.
In the third period, the Canucks looked to maintain their lead through the end of the game. The Condors generated some good looks on Tolopilo, but he was able to hold on. Just after the halfway mark of the third period, Linus Karlsson passed in front to Sheldon Dries, who found the wide-open net to add some insurance with his 22nd goal of the season. With the Canucks up 3-1 and 8 minutes to play, the Condors kicked it into high gear. They pulled Jack Campbell with three minutes to play, but fortunately for the Canucks, Sheldon Dries centered one straight down the ice and into the empty net. This empty netter came as his 23rd goal of the season, and the Canucks found themselves with a 3-goal lead.
The Canucks take this one 4-1, in their final matchup of the season against the Condors. They will play again this weekend as they take on the Henderson Silver Knights for Top Dogs Night.