The Canucks fall 4-3 in a hard fought battle against pacific division rivals.

The Abbotsford Canucks returned from their Christmas break in Calgary to take on their Pacific division rivals the Calgary Wranglers at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Artūrs Šilovs started in net for Abbotsford Canucks, facing familiar net-minder Devin Cooley at the other end.

Kicking things off for the Abbotsford was trio Arshdeep Bains, Nils Åman, and Linus Karlsson. Aatu Räty centered Samy Blais and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, followed by Ty Mueller, Nate Smith, and Danila Klimovich. John Stevens and Dino Kambeitz bookended Chase Wouters to complete the team's offense.

On the backend, Elias Pettersson and Mark Friedman got things started, followed by the familiar pairing of Christian Wolanin and Cole McWard. Rounding things out was Kirill Kudryavtsev and Jett Woo to close out the team's lineup for the night.

The game got off to a quick start, leaning in favour of the Wranglers. Just a minute and 11 seconds into the game, Artem Grushnikov ripped a laser from the blue line that went right past Šilovs to give the Wranglers an early 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Calgary found themselves in a good spot when William Stromgren was waiting on the doorstep to stash home the rebound, extending the Wranglers' lead to 2. The Canucks had their chances on the powerplay, as well as Åman’s shorthanded breakaway, but Devin Cooley was lights out for Calgary, preventing Abbotsford from getting themselves on the board before the end of the period.

The second period saw the Canucks battle to get back in the game. After a penalty call was dealt to the Wranglers, the Canucks had another chance to put the powerplay to use. After about a minute, the group headed on a stretch down the ice, when Sammy Blais passed across to Aatu Räty, who then passed in front to Jonathan Lekkerimäki who released a rocket to the back of the Wranglers' net. Lekkerimäki secured his 12th goal of the season, and 6th powerplay goal to bring the Canucks within one. Neither team was able to score again this period, despite some close chances, and the Wranglers maintained their lead into the final frame.

Looking to continue their momentum, the Canucks team continued to apply pressure on the home team. Both teams found themselves in a scoring drought beginning early in the second, and continuing until over the halfway point in the third period. It was ultimately Nate Smith who broke it, after tipping in a shot from Jett Woo to tie the game up at two, with just over 4 minutes left in the game. It didn’t take long for the home team to respond, when less than 2 minutes later, Clark Bishop snuck one past Šilovs, giving the Wranglers their first goal since early on in the first period, and the go-ahead goal once again. With time running out, the Canucks pulled their netminder for an extra body on the ice, but a rolling puck sent down the ice by Clark Bishop, found its way into the empty net to give the Wranglers a 4-2 lead. Just when you thought the game was over, the Canucks maintained pressure, and Linus Karlsson found the back of the net with just 9 seconds left in the game to once again bring the Canucks within 1. Unfortunately, it was a little too late, and the Canucks fell 4-3 against the Calgary Wranglers in a hard-fought battle.

The Canucks will continue their stint against Pacific division rivals on Wednesday for a New Years Day game, before heading east to take on the Laval Rocket for their first meet of the season.

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