The Canucks defeat the Colorado Eagles 2-1 in overtime
The Abbotsford Canucks are back on the road, this time taking on the Colorado Eagles on a quest to climb up the Pacific division standings. The Canucks are coming off a 5-2 win in Manitoba, but haven’t been able to crack the Eagles in their last 4 matchups.
Starting in net tonight for the Canucks is Nikita Tolopilo, and he will be going head-to-head with Ivan Prosvetov. Helping protect the back end is defensive duo Nick Cicek and Jett Woo, followed by Christian Wolanin and Guillaume Brisebois. Rounding out the men at the blue line is Matt Irwin and Filip Johansson.
No change to the top offensive line, as Tristen Nielsen, Sheldon Dries, and Linus Karlsson stick together. Jonathan Lekkerimäki finds himself on a line with Aidan McDonough and John Stevens as he dresses for his first AHL game. Max Sasson continues to center Aatu Räty and Marc Gatcomb, and Dmitri Zlodeev and Ty Glover wing on either end of Chase Wouters to close out the Canucks lineup.
It was a fairly even first period, with both teams registering 6 shots a piece. A few dangerous opportunities but both goaltenders were able to hold on to keep the score minimal. The Canucks found themselves on a powerplay mid-way through the first, but Ondrej Pavel intercepted a pass and sniped one through Tolopilo to put the Eagles up 1-0 on his 6th goal of the season. Another powerplay was granted to the Canucks right after but they found no success, and they headed into the second down by 1.
An early start to the second period after Max Sasson found the back of the Eagles' net after a series of passes between Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Aidan McDonough. Max Sasson registered his 17th of the season with the equalizer, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki notched his first-ever AHL point. A few penalties were given to the Canucks but their penalty kill was successful every time and no one was able to find the back of the net for the rest of the period. It was tied at 1, heading into the third.
Tied at the beginning of the third, both teams were looking for the go-ahead goal and looking to avoid overtime. Both teams got caught up in penalties, but neither were able to capitalize and take home the win in regulation.
They headed into overtime where Jett Woo called game just a minute and a half in, when he picked up a great feed from Sheldon Dries and ripped it past Prosvetov for his 6th of the season. The Canucks picked up a win in Colorado and add another 2 points to their tally. They'll look to carry this momentum into tomorrow’s game where they will close out their season series against Colorado, before returning home to take on the Manitoba Moose and then the Coachella Valley Firebirds.