The Canucks drop game two against the Eagles 5-4 in overtime.
The Canucks took on the Eagles for game two of their playoff series, and they looked to secure the win once again tonight.
Backstopping for the Canucks once again is Zach Sawchenko, who posted a .928 SV% in the series opener. Abbotsford changed things up, choosing to go back to the 12 and 6 formation, with the lines remaining the same as Wednesday. Christian Wolanin and Nick Cicek kicked off the backend, followed by Matt Irwin and Filip Johansson, where Akito Hirose and Cole McWard closed it out.
Up front, the Canucks had the unchanged trios of Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson, as well as Tristen Nielsen, Marc Gatcomb and Sheldon Dries. John Stevens continued to center Aidan McDonough and Arshdeep Bains, and Cooper Walker slotted back into the lineup alongside Chase Wouters and Ty Glover.
Not the start the Canucks were hoping for, when Brad Hunt intercepted a turnover and passes in front to Nikolai Kovalenko who opens the scoring for the Eagles. Just over a minute later, Tanner Kero extends the Eagles lead to 2, picking up his first post-season goal. The Canucks down by two, were desperate to get something going before the end of the period. With just 50 seconds left to play, Tristen Nielsen shoots on Ivan Prosvetov, and Aatu Räty is right there to tip home the goal for the Canucks. The Canucks cut the Eagles lead in half, and were down by 1, heading into the second period.
The Eagles domination continued into the second when Callahan Burke scored his second goal in the postseason to extend the Eagles lead 3-1, just 6 minutes into the period. A few minutes later Spencer Smallman scored an unassisted goal to give the Eagles a 3-goal lead. Without hesitation, the Canucks needed to get back into the game quickly, and just over a minute later Christian Wolanin snuck around and got the puck past Prosvetov to cut the Eagles lead in half once again. The Canucks found themselves on a powerplay late in the period, and this time Linus Karlsson ripped one home for his second playoff goal, to bring the Canucks within 1, heading into the final frame.
Desperate to keep this game alive, Abbotsford needed to score another one to at least force overtime. The period kicked off with 4 straight penalties, 2 to each team. Nothing came of the special teams, but once things got back to regular 5 on 5, Akito Hirose was the hero that tied the game up at 4, scoring his first-ever AHL Career Goal. Some close chances for both teams, but the defense core along with the goal tenders didn’t allow anything more to come through, and the teams were headed into overtime.
The Canucks came close, but ultimately Brad Hunt ripped it home 3 minutes into overtime to force game 3 on Sunday, where Abbotsford will look to bounce back in a do-or-die game.