Nikita Tolopilo and the Abbotsford Canucks pitched a pair of shutouts against the Manitoba Moose with wins at home on Saturday (Dec. 14) and Sunday (Dec. 15).
Tolopilo made 15 saves on Saturday and 27 on Sunday to earn the victories.
Abbotsford has now won four straight and are undefeated in the month of December.
Sunday's game was head coach Manny Malhotra bobblehead night, which turned out to be appropriate as Malhotra will likely be nodding approvingly in the days that followed the 4-0 win.
Kambeitz puts Abbotsford up 1-0
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford's Dino Kambeitz opened the scoring at 2:26 after redirecting a Cole McWard shot and Tolopilo made 13 saves in the opening frame.
Defenceman Christian Wolanin scored on the power play at 2:16 of the second and then 46 seconds later captain Chase Wouters scored on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 3-0. Aatu R盲ty added a goal in the third period.
Wolanin makes it 2-0 with a power play goal
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Wouters with a shorthanded goal makes it 3-0
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Wouters and Arshdeep Bains both scored two points and Ty Mueller led the Canucks with five shots on goal. Abbotsford outshot Manitoba 33-27.
Sunday also marked the AHL debut of Sward played with the Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association, Fraser Valley Thunderbirds and the Yale Hockey Academy. He played in the WHL with the Spokane Chiefs, Winnipeg Ice and Wenatchee Wild.
Sward was chosen in the fifth round, 146th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2022 NHL Draft. His rights were then dealt to Colorado in March, but Colorado chose not to re-sign him. He joined the Winnipeg Jets organization this fall and has played 14 games with the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers this season.
Reported attendance on Sunday was 3,807.
MAKE NO MOOSETAKE, CANUCKS SHUTOUT MANITOBA AGAIN!!!!
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Saturday's game was the annual Teddy Bear Toss and the Canucks dominated with a 3-0 win. They held the Moose to just 15 shots.
Defenceman Jett Woo was the illustrious Teddy Bear Toss goal scorer, allowing fans to throw the bears at 9:28 of the first period. Linus Karlsson added goals in the second and third periods. He now has five goals in seven AHL games this season. Karlsson also led all players with eight shots on goal. The Canucks fired 37 shots at the Moose goalie.
JETT WOO MADE IT RAIN TEDDY BEARS 馃Ц
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Abbotsford was also not assessed a minor penalty on Saturday, which is an extremely rare occurrence.
Reported attendance on Saturday was 5,532.
The Canucks are now in sole possession of fourth place in the AHL's Pacific Division and have a record of 14-10-0-1. Abbotsford is also 8-2 in the last 10 games.
A BEARY SHUTOUT CHRISTMAS 馃巹馃Ц
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The team's home stand continues with games against the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday (Dec. 20) and Saturday (Dec. 21). The Saturday game is an 2 p.m. face-off and is being promoted as Ugly Christmas Sweater Night. That will be the team's final home game of the calendar year.
The club hits the road to start 2025 and return home to host the Henderson Silver Knights on Jan. 10 and 11.
