The Canucks fall 8-4 against the Ontario Reign to conclude their roadtrip

The Abbotsford Canucks closed out their California road trip with a one-stop visit to Ontario to take on the Ontario Reign. This is the first meeting between the two teams since round two of the playoffs, where Ontario came out on top.

Arshdeep Bains made his Abbotsford debut this season, fresh off a successful stint and his first NHL goal up with the big club, the Vancouver Canucks. He would wing Nils Åman, also a fresh pair of legs to the Abbotsford lineup, with Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Max Sasson centered John Stevens and Danila Klimovich, followed by Tristen Nielsen, Ty Mueller, and Chase Wouters. Ty Glover and Cooper Walker paired up as the final 2 forwards tonight.

On defence, the team shook things up, switching up some pairings from the past few games. Layton Ahac got some top-line action alongside Jett Woo, and Elias Pettersson paired up with Cole McWard. Veteran Guillaume Brisebois lined up next to rookie Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Christian Wolanin hung out as the 7th defencemen, rounding out the blue line.

Nikita Tolopilo got the nod in net tonight and faced netminder Eric Portillo at the opposing end.

It was a 'blink-and-you-miss-it' kind of first period. The first goal of the game went quickly to the Ontario Reign, as their star forward Samuel Fagemo opened the scoring just 3 and a half minutes into the game. Taylor Ward took the next shot in the game, and the puck found the back of the net once again, giving the Reign an early 2-goal lead less than a minute later. The Canucks then found themselves on a powerplay, and Danila Klimovich was able to capitalize with a snipe from the point to get the Canucks on the board and cut the Reign’s lead in half. Arshdeep Bains got his first assist of the season on Klimovich’s goal. The momentum shifted quickly, when just 20 seconds later Charles Hudon lit the lamp, restoring the Reign’s 2-goal lead. The game settled down for a little bit, with the Canucks getting some grade-A chances, but couldn’t capitalize. After the halfway point, Jeff Malott sealed the deal in the first period, getting his first goal of the season to give Ontario a 3-goal lead heading back to the dressing room.

The Reign once again were the first to strike, just over 3 minutes in, when Charles Hudon netted his second goal of the game, giving them a 4-goal cushion. The Canucks had to step on the gas to get themselves back into this game. 5 minutes later, Ontario was called for hooking and the Canucks caught a break, and headed to the powerplay. Jonathan Lekkerimäki did what he does best and fired one home on the man advantage to lessen the deficit, 5-2. Not long after, the Canucks continued putting pucks on net, but it was John Stevens who shot in front and Ty Mueller was there to deflect it in, bringing the Canucks within 2 once again. This goal came as Ty Mueller’s first AHL goal and helped the Canucks inch closer to a sought-after comeback.

Keeping with the pattern, The Reign once again opened the scoring in the final frame, as Tyler Madden completed the tic-tac-toe sequence to put them up 6-2. Quick to respond, however, was Arshdeep Bains when he picked up his own rebound to sneak one past Portillo to bring them within 2 for the third time this game. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long as a late powerplay for the Reign meant Jack Studnicka would find a way to get on the board and score their 7th goal of the game. In a last-ditch effort by the Canucks to close the gap, Tolopilo was pulled from the net to give the team an extra body on the ice. The puck got past the blue line and despite the defencemen’s best effort to stop them, Samuel Fagaemo was just that much quicker and was able to solidify the empty net goal, bringing their tally up to 8 goals.

The Canucks couldn’t complete the comeback after dropping 4 goals early in the game and lost this one 8-4 against the Ontario Reign.

The team finally returns home for a 4 game stint against the Condors and Firebirds for some action-packed games, including Country Night and Movember Night, kicking off at the Abbotsford Centre on Saturday night!

To purchase tickets to an upcoming game, click HERE.