The Canucks drop Game 1 against the Reign, 2-1, in a close game

The Abbotsford Canucks are still down in California, this time taking on the Ontario Reign for the 7th time this season. The Canucks are up one win on the Reign, and they are looking to add another win to the series tally.

In net for the Canucks tonight is Artūrs Šilovs, who has gone 1 and 1 against Ontario this season, and he is facing familiar netminder Eric Portillo. Defensive pairings remain unchanged from last night, with duos Nick Cicek and Jett Woo, Chad Nychuk and Cole McWard, and Akito Hirose with Filip Johansson.

The group upfront consists of trio Tristen Nielsen, Sheldon Dries, and Linus Karlsson, followed by Arshdeep Bains, John Stevens, and Aidan McDonough. Chase Wouters sits comfortably between Aatu Räty and Marc Gatcomb, and Alex Kannok Leipert slots back in with Cooper Walker and Dmitri Zlodeev to solidify the offense.

Not much to report after the first 20 minutes of play. Both teams struggled to gain any productive offensive time, but The Reign severely outshot the Canucks in the first period, 11 to 5. Artūrs Šilovs however, was able to stop all the shots that came his way to keep the game scoreless heading into the second period.

The second period was also slow to get going. No goals, penalties, or powerplays for the first half of the period, until finally Chad Nychuk was called for interference, and the Canucks were down a man. Jett Woo was able to fire that puck loose, and Sheldon Dries found himself on a shorthanded breakaway, to notch his 19th goal of the season and first goal of the game. The Canucks had a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.

The Reign came out swinging in the third period, desperate to tie the game. Šilovs stopped 13 consecutive shots, making incredible saves, but that 14th shot from Francesco Pinelli was the key to tying the game up for the Reign. Pinelli notched his 7th of the season, off a feed from Joe Hicketts, and the game was knotted up at 1, past the halfway point. With just over 3 minutes to play, Luke Rowe dumps it in from the red line and it squeaks through Šilovs for his first pro goal, and game-winning goal for the Reign.

The Canucks drop this one, 2-1, but they will battle back on Wednesday, before taking on the Henderson Silver Knights.

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