The Canucks fall 4-2 to the Wranglers in a New Years Day showdown
The Abbotsford Canucks wasted no time getting back to work in the new year, as they took on the Calgary Wranglers for an early afternoon game at the Saddledome.
No change between the netminders as Artūrs Šilovs got another chance to take on Devin Cooley in an attempt to even the series.
Head Coach Manny Malhotra shook things up offensively, starting with Sammy Blais moving up next to Nils Åman and Linus Karlsson and Danila Klimovich and Arshdeep Bains bookended Ty Mueller. Aatu Räty joined Nate Smith and Chase Wouters before Ty Glover drew back in next to John Stevens and Dino Kambietz to round out the offense.
On the backend, Elias Pettersson and Mark Friedman got things started together and Christian Wolanin paired up with Jett Woo. Akito Hirose got a spot back in the lineup tonight next to Kirill Kudryavtsev to complete the duos this afternoon.
The Canucks were looking for revenge this afternoon hoping to get on the board early and set the tone for the game. Unfortunately, the goaltenders had other plans, shutting down every opportunity with some massive saves. Thanks to Šilovs and Cooley, the game remained scoreless into the second period.
The Canucks started the period down a man but continued to shut down all of the Wranglers' opportunities. Despite applying pressure, the teams continued to get goalied. It wasn’t until almost 17 minutes into the period that the deadlock would finally break. The Canucks drew their 5th powerplay of the game, but this time Sammy Blais would cash in on the advantage, deflecting in the shot from Kirill Kudryavtsev to secure the first goal of 2025. This goal came as his second of the season, and first since returning back from an injury to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead late into the second. Unfortunately, the lead didn’t last long, as Hunter Brzustewicz headed down the ice, getting Šilovs down, for Rory Kerrins to come in and net the rebound to tie the game up at 1, less than two minutes later. With Blais and Kerrins exchanging goals, neither team found themselves ahead going into the final 20 minutes stuck at 1.
With both teams looking to pull ahead in the final frame, the Wranglers had the advantage when back-to-back delay of game calls were given to the Canucks, leaving Calgary on the 5 on 3 for just under 2 minutes. After successfully killing off most of it, ultimately it was Martin Frk who found the back of the net to pull the Wranglers ahead 2-1. The score remained untouched for the next 0 minutes, but as time was ticking down, Calgary headed down a stretch, and Rory Kerins doubled down securing his second of the game and pulling the Wranglers ahead by 2. 40 seconds later, Šilovs went to the bench to allow for an extra attacker, and Christian Wolanin was able to capitalize on a seeing eye shot straight to the back of the Wranglers net to bring them within 1, once again. After the play had resumed, Šilovs made his way to the net once again, but this time it was Sam Honzek who picked up the loose puck and put it in the empty net to give them their 4th of the game.
Abbotsford fell 4-2 to the Calgary Wranglers and dropped this series 0-2. The Canucks will now head eat to Laval to take on the Rockets for their first contest of the season before returning home.
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