THE CANUCKS DEFEAT THE GULLS IN A 3-1 VICTORY
The Abbotsford Canucks headed back on the road, kicking off a 3-game Californian visit with a Saturday night game against the San Diego Gulls. The Canucks and Gulls saw each other just last week when the Canucks held their Home Opener weekend, where they split the series 1-1.
Jiří Patera got his first go at the Gulls tonight, going head-to-head with Calle Clang at the other end. The Canucks once again returned to an 11 and 7 formation, and kicking things off were John Stevens, Aatu Räty and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Tristen Nielsen and Carsen Twarynski bookended Max Sasson, and Chase Wouters centered Ty Mueller and Cooper Walker. Rounding out the offense were Nate Smith and Dino Kambeitz.
On defense, Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo continued to pair up, and Elias Pettersson and Kirill Kudryavtsev followed suit. Layton Ahac suited up for his debut as an Abbotsford Canuck, and he lined up next to Cole McWard, as Christian Wolanin completed the Canucks lineups as the 7th defenceman.
After splitting the series last weekend, both teams were eager for the go-ahead game. Not a ton of action for the first half of the game, but it was John Stevens who netted the first goal of the game after a cross-feed pass from Aatu Räty, and the Canucks had the first lead of the game after 9 minutes of play. No one else was able to light the lamp, with both goaltenders on the ball, stopping the rest of the shots this period, and the Canucks headed to the dressing room up by 1.
The puck dropped on the second period and although ahead, the Canucks were still looking for some more insurance. A quick delay of game penalty was called on the Canucks just under 2 minutes into the period. That did not stop John Stevens and Aatu Räty, when they found themselves on a 2-on-1, just 30 seconds into killing the penalty. With a pass across from Stevens, Räty was able able to tuck it past Calle Clang and the Canucks had a two-goal lead. Nate Smith followed that up with another shorthanded breakaway chance, but Clang mustered up the stop. There were some more great chances, but Patera held strong, ensuring the Canucks would head into the third up by 2.
The Gulls were now desperate to get on the board but the Canucks did not step off the gas. Both teams were on their best behaviours now, with no one drawing penalties, but neither team could get a goal. After 15 minutes of play, the score remained unchanged, and the Canucks still had the lead. There were a ton of great chances for the Gulls in their attempt for a comeback, but Patera wasn’t budging. San Diego pulled their goalie with 3 and a half minutes to play, pulling their last-ditch effort to generate more offence. Instead, it was Aatu Räty who picked up the loose puck and put it in the empty net to notch the Canucks third goal of the game. Just 53 seconds away from his second shutout this season, Roland McKeown was able to tuck one past Patera to get the Gulls on the board and cut the Canucks lead to 2, but it still wasn't enough to complete a comeback.
The Canucks defeat the Gulls in a 3-1 victory tonight, to pull themselves ahead in the season series. John Stevens also notched his 100th point as an Abbotsford Canuck and stayed hot to total a combined 6 points with Aatu Räty tonight.
The two teams will rematch tomorrow at 5 PM in San Diego, before heading to Ontario for their first match of the season against the Reign. The Canucks then return home for a 4 game stint against the Condors and Firebirds for some action-packed games, including Country Night and Movember Night.
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