The Canucks Fall 5-2 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds

The Abbotsford Canucks looked to close out their road trip on a high note, going for their 9th straight victory, taking on the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Nikita Tolopilo got the start in net tonight for the Canucks, and he went up against Nikke Kokko for the Firebirds.

The first line stayed strong, keeping Sammy Blais, Ty Mueller, and Danila Klimovich together to start things off.  Arshdeep Bains got some new linemates, with Nils Åman and Nate Smith joining him, and Tristen Nielsen lined up next to John Stevens and Dino Kambeitz. Carsen Twarynski and Cooper Walker slotted back into the lineup tonight, bookending Chase Wouters to round out the 12 forwards.

There were no changes to the backend tonight from the last game, with Erik Brännström and Jet Woo kicking things off. Guillaume Brisebois stuck with Cole McWard, and Christian Wolanin and Kirill Kudryavtsev closed off the defensive pairings to solidify the Canucks lineup tonight.

This was expected to be a tough game, with both teams having something to prove. As soon as the puck dropped, the teams got right to it, creating a very even matchup on the ice. The goaltenders brought their A game and each team played equal amounts of offense and defense. Abbotsford had the slight upper hand, being granted two powerplay opportunities, but Coachella killed them both off to keep the game scoreless through 20 minutes of play. When the buzzer went at the end of the period, chaos ensued on the ice and penalties were dealt. This meant Abbotsford would start the second period off down a man.

The second period finally saw some scoring action. The Canucks were able to kill off their penalty, and the first 2 minutes of the period were burned. The teams continued to play high pace hockey, but the Canucks found themselves down a man once again. They were almost able to clear, but with time running out, Jagger Firkus took a shot from the point that beat Tolopilo and the Firebirds were the first on the board. Less than 3 minutes later, Erik Brännström received a pass from Carsen Twarynski, where he one-timed the puck right to the back of the Firebirds net, to puck up the equalizer. With the game tied once again, the teams continued fighting for the go-ahead goal. The clock was running down on the period, but the Canucks found themselves heading down the stretch, where Danila Klimovich stickhandled his way to the crease, before putting it top shelf to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead in the game.

The Canucks had 20 more minutes to get through. Although coming into the final frame with the lead, they had to continue putting up pressure to ensure a win. It didn’t take long before the Firebirds tied up the game, when a shot by Nikolas Brouillard leaked through Tolopilo's legs, just a minute and forty-one seconds in. An offensive penalty was called on the Canucks, and the Firebirds capitalized once again with a goal from Ben Meyers. Unfortunately, another penalty was called on the Canucks on that play, which meant the Firebirds would start another powerplay right away. Daniel Sprong would be the one to capitalize this time, giving Coachella a 4-2 lead. Just over a minute later, Jacob Melson found himself alone in the Canucks zone, where he got his name on the score sheet, pulling the Firebirds ahead, 5-2, less than 5 minutes in. The rest of the period remained scoreless, despite a few more powerplay chances for the Firebirds, but the Canucks couldn’t get the game back before the end of the game.

The Firebirds snapped the Canucks win streak, as they fell 5-2 against Coachella. The team will regroup on their way home, before taking on the top seed, Calgary Wranglers, ahead of the All-Star break.

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