THE CANUCKS GET BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN WITH A 4-2 VICTORY OVER THE BAKERSFIELD CONDORS
The Abbotsford Canucks rematched against the Bakersfield Condors tonight after dropping yesterday’s game 3-1.
Artūrs Šilovs got the call to start in net for Abbotsford tonight, facing off against Colli Delia for his 2024/25 AHL debut.
After getting some reinforcement from Vancouver Arshdeep Bains and Nils Åman returned to the Abbotsford lineup and made their home-ice debut this season alongside Tristen Nielsen. Ty Mueller winged Max Sasson with Danila Klimovich, followed by Carsen Twarynski, Chase Wouters, and Nate Smith. John Stevens centered Ty Glover and Cooper Walker, two linemates with points in the last game, to round out the offense.
On the backend, Akito Hirose paired up with Jett Woo, with Elias Pettersson and Cole McWard on their tail, and Guillaume Brisebois and Christian Felton stuck together to complete the Canucks dressing.
Looking to strike quickly, the Canucks quickly drew a man advantage. They had some great looks on net, but nothing could get through Delia. It ended up being a very tame period, mostly 5-on-5 hockey, and neither team was able to light the lamp. The Canucks held the Condors to just 4 shots in the first frame and outshot them with 11. A last-second high-sticking call to the Condors meant the Canucks would start the second period on a powerplay.
The Canucks were the first to strike in the second period when a shot from Jett Woo fired back and Akito Hirose was able to grab it and fire it straight to the back of the net. Akito Hirose netted his first career AHL goal to put the Canucks up 1-0 just 2 minutes into the period. With the helper on this goal, Jett Woo also tallied his 50th career AHL assist. A tripping call to Guillaume Brisebois meant the Condors would get the only powerplay in the second frame. Matthew Savoie would be the one to capitalize after receiving a cross-ice pass from Seth Griffith to tie the game up at 1. The teams would head back to the dressing rooms all squared up.
The final frame would be a battle to break the tie, but a quick penalty call to the Canucks would leave them on a powerplay early on. Danila Klimovich would take advantage of it and send home a rocket just 3 minutes into the period, giving the Canucks a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, just over a minute later, Drake Caggiula would equalize the game once again and square it up at 2. Just after the halfway point, Max Sasson would spin around with the puck, and Ty Mueller would be there to tip it past the red line, and restore the lead, 3-1. With a few minutes left in the game, the Condors pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, but Jett Woo would be the one to ensure the win and notch the empty net goal.
The Canucks defeated the Condors 4-2 and successfully split the series to put them back in the win column.
Abbotsford will spend the week at home before taking on the Coachella Valley Firebirds at the end of the week for Hockey Fights Cancer and Movember Night, before heading on a long road trip down south once again.
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