The Canucks fall 4-1 against the San Diego Gulls to spilt the series.

Last night, the Abbotsford Canucks dominated the game to defeat the San Diego Gulls 3-1 in their Home Opener. Tonight, the Canucks looked to do the same thing and hoped to sweep this series, 2-0.

Back between the pipes again tonight was Nikita Tolopilo, after leading the Canucks to victory in all of his starts so far this season. He will face off against Oskar Dansk, a new face from last night.  No notable changes were made to the defensive line tonight, putting forward the same 3 lines consisting of Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo, Elias Pettersson and Mark Friedman, followed by Kirill Kudryavtsev and Cole McWard.

Philip Di Giuseppe made his season debut tonight with Abbotsford, bookending Aatu Räty with Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Max Sasson centered Danila Klimovich and Ty Mueller, followed by Tristen Nielsen, Chase Wouters, and Nate Smith. Rounding out the offense were Carsen Twarynski, John Stevens, and Dino Kambeitz.

The Gulls came out swinging and were all over the Canucks in the first period. A couple of great chances from the Canaucks but it was ultimately Sam Colangelo of the Gulls who was able to pick up the rebound and sneak one past Tolopilo to get the lone goal of the period. San Diego headed into the second period up by 1, after 11 shots on net.

The second period didn’t go as planned for the Canucks. Not much to report on for the first half, but Ronald McKeown changed things when he rifled one over the line after a pass from Carson Meyer to put the Gulls up 2 – 0. Five minutes later, Chase Wouters got called for hooking, and 20 seconds later Jett Woo followed him in, leaving the Gulls on a 5 on 3. Jansen Harkins was the one to capitalize, extending San Diego’s lead to 3 goals. With the Canucks still killing Woo's penalty, Jansen Harkins got another one just 1 minute later, and the Gulls had a 4 goal lead moving into the final frame.

The Canucks now hungry to get something going, generated a ton of chances but everything was just missing the target. Chase Wouters found himself on a breakaway but was tripped on the way there. A penalty shot was awarded and he scored the first penalty shot in franchise history to cut the Gulls lead to 3. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get the momentum going and the Canucks dropped this game 4-1 to split the series.

The Canucks return on Tuesday, Oct 29th for Diwali Night and October 30th for Trick or Treat night when they take on the Tucson Roadrunners.

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