The Abbotsford Canucks finished up a five-game homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 25 with a loss against the Toronto Marlies. Facing off against the Calgary Wranglers and the Toronto Marlies, the Abbotsford Canucks saw stiff competition against two teams that are currently at the top of their respective divisions. Starting on Jan. 18 with a disappointing series of three games in four days against the Wranglers, the Abbotsford Canucks doubled their home losses for the season.
Beginning with game one at Abbotsford Centre on Wednesday night, things got off to a rough start when Artur Silovs let in two goals early in the first period that should’ve been easy saves. The shaky start turned into what was overall a weak run for the Abby Canucks, with Calgary taking the W in all three games despite a whopping 18 total power plays for Abbotsford. Surrey-born Arshdeep Bains tied things up in the second period of the first game on Jan. 18, leading to an overtime that lasted all of seven seconds before it ended in a 3-2 loss for Abbotsford. The 2nd and 3rd games didn’t get much better for the Canucks; losing 5-4 in a shootout on Jan. 20, and again lost on Jan. 21, 5-3.
Not all was bad; in a moment of redemption, Abbotsford ended their four-game losing streak with a resounding 4-0 shoutout against a tired-looking Toronto on Jan. 24. This high point was quickly dashed in game-two the next day, when Toronto seemed to find their footing and upped the intensity, delivering a 3-2 loss for Abbotsford to end their time on home ice. Silovs redeemed himself from the shaky start by keeping Abby in the final game against the Marlies, stopping 29/32 shots, and earning third star of the night.
Despite the losses, the Canucks did play well. Tristen Nielsen skated well and was a key playmaker, scoring one goal and an assist on the 20th against Calgary. Linus Karlsson scored two goals in the five games, and remains in the top five rookies in the year. Where Abby lost it was scoring and making the best of the power plays. Over the course of Abbotsford’s five-game homestand, they racked up a total of 29 power plays — and only scored four goals with the man advantage.
Truthfully, Abbotsford seemed to spend a lot of time passing the puck on their power plays, trying to set up the perfect tip or shot, but ended up allowing the Calgary and Toronto defences to set up for quick penalty kills. The teams the Canucks would be potentially facing for the Calder Cup — Colorado Eagles, the Ontario Reign, and Tucson Roadrunners — are good matchups for Abbotsford, and have taken games off Abby because of the slip ups that they still had facing Calgary. With playoffs fast approaching, this inability to capitalize on opportunities and strengthen up their offense could spell trouble for the team.
This week, our Abby Canucks started a long road trip, continuing the streak and taking two losses against the Tucson Roadrunners at the end of the month. Losing 6-2 on Jan. 28, and then fell 5-2 on Jan 29. Tough losses to start the road trip. Luckily, Abbotsford faces the San Diego Gulls next, who are last in their division — it could be a free win. Then comes a double header against the San Jose Barracuda, who sit seventh in the division. While not really in a playoff position, the Barracuda could steal some points from the Canucks and send them to a lower playoff seed, stripping them of home ice advantage.
Abbotsford’s next home games are next week on Feb. 10 and 11 against the Tucson Roadrunners.
The Managing Editor is responsible for providing support to the Executive Editor in respect to editorial workflow and administration, and an educational resource for sectional editors and volunteers. The Managing Editor is also responsible for internal editorial and volunteer relations.
