The Canucks Drop Their First Game Back In a 3-1 Loss In Colorado
Abbotsford Canucks hockey returned tonight in Colorado after the AHL All-Star break, taking on the Eagles. After splitting all of their series in 2024, the Canucks looked to dominate against the Eagles and secure 4 road points, before returning home on the 17th.
The Canucks 12 and 6 formation started with familiar faces Arshdeep Bains, John Stevens, and Vasily Podkolzin kicking off the forwards. Aatu RÄty slots in with Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson, who returned to Abbotsford after spending a few games with Vancouver. Jermaine Loewen, Chase Wouters, and Marc Gatcomb are no strangers, once again lining up together, and Cooper Walker rounds out the offense centering Aidan McDonough and Danila Klimovich.
The defensemen pairings remain unchanged with Nick Cicek lining up next to Jett Woo, Matt Irwin defending with Cole McWard and Quinn Schmiemann, and Alex Kannok Liepert protecting the blue line. Arturs Šilovs gets the nod in net tonight, and he will go head-to-head with Ivan Prosvetov at the other end.
The tone of the game was set early after a scrap just 18 seconds into the game came from none other than Jermaine Loewen who dropped the gloves with Keaton Middleton. Despite registering 9 shots a piece, neither team was able to find the twine and headed into the second, scoreless after 20 minutes of play.
The second period was a true test for the goaltenders. Chris Wagner was able to get one past Šilovs early in the second off a pass from Corey Schueneman and Colorado’s all-star representative Riley Tufte. Abbotsford tried to respond but a reactive performance from Prosvetov didn’t allow the puck to see it through to the back of the net. Both teams came out swinging as the shots on goal continued to climb, but the goalies were able to hold on. It wasn’t until Nick Cicek was called for high sticking that Colorado was able to capitalize once again, with Ryan Sandelin picking up the deflection from Tanner Kero to put the Eagles up 2-0 heading into the third.
Desperate to get something going, Chase Wouters was quick to spring into action as he picked up a drop pass from Quinn Schmiemann to net his 7th of the season and 1st of the game to slice Colorado’s lead in half. A pair of back-to-back 4-minute double minors were given to each team, but both team's penalty kills sprung into action and neither were able to capitalize on the man advantage. Colorado got a late goal, the final of the game, courtesy of Spencer Smallman, who netted his 6th of the season to regain their 2-goal lead.
The Colorado Eagles take this one 3-1, and Abbotsford looks to bounce back tomorrow before heading home to take on the Wranglers for Flaunt Your Flannel Night, and our Family Day Game.
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