The Canucks defeat the San Diego Gulls 3-2 in tough battle

The Abbotsford Canucks are back at home after the All-Star break and debuted their green jerseys as they took on the San Diego Gulls.

Artūrs Šilovs started in net for the Canucks tonight, for his 100th game as an Abbotsford Canuck. He took on Calle Clang at the other end.

With the NHL on their 4 Nations break, the Abbotsford Canucks got a big boost to their lineup, with a bunch of familiar faces returning to the club. Nils Åman lined up next to Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson, and the trio of Arshdeep Bains, Aatu Räty, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki followed suit. Sammi Blais and Phil Di Giuseppe bookended Ty Mueller, and Tristen Nielsen, John Stevens, and Chase Wouters rounded out the offense.

On defense, Victor Mancini made his Abbotsford debut on home ice, next to Elias Pettersson, who returned to the club for the 4 Nations break. Christian Wolanin and Jett Woo paired up, and Kirill Kudryavtsev lined up next to Cole McWard to solidify a depth-filled lineup.

The first period remained scoreless despite close chances and a few man advantages to each team. Oscar Dansk took over in net for the Gulls after Calle Clang left the game with an injury around 7 minutes in. Despite the change, the netminders stayed sound, keeping it a scoreless game into the second period.

The next 20 minutes was a completely different game. The scoring floodgates opened and the teams found their stride. It started when Sam Colangelo found the loose puck that snuck past Šilovs and tucked it home just 54 seconds to give the Gulls a lead. It didn’t take long for the Canucks to respond, when just a few minutes later, Linus Karlsson started down the ice, wrapped around the net, and tucked it home to tie up the game. The goaltenders stood tall for the next 10 minutes, but it was Sam Colangelo who grabbed his second of the game with a sharp-angle shot that made its way to the back of the Canucks net. The Gulls had a 2-1 lead, but Abbotsford responded quickly once again. A minute later, Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty found themselves on a rush down the ice, where Bains set up Räty for the perfect wide-open back door shot. Aatu Räty cashed in on the open net and the game was squared up a 2 with 5 minutes left in the period. A late penalty was called on the Canucks, and they closed out the period on the man advantage. Despite a bunch of goals, they were in the same position as they were at the end of the last period, all tied up.  

The teams had 20 minutes to get to get on the board and avoid overtime. The goaltenders were sharp, not allowing anything to get by. 10 minutes had passed, and the game was still tied, but after an initial shot by Max Sasson bounced back, Linus Karlsson swooped in and put the rebounded puck back in the net. The Canucks had their first lead of the game and were determined to hold on to it until the end. With time ticking, a late penalty to the Gulls didn’t help their comeback case, but after successfully killing it off, they pulled their netminder with less than a minute remaining. The Canucks prevailed and didn’t allow the Gulls to take advantage, and as the time expired, the Canucks defeated San Diego 3-2.

They will rematch tomorrow, before getting ready to take on the Colorado Eagles once again this weekend for Country Night and their Family Day game.

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