A pair of third period collapses led to the Abbotsford Canucks dropping games to the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday (Dec. 20) and Saturday (Dec. 21).
The Canucks held 2-1 leads early into the third period in both games, but allowed three goals each night to lose both games 4-2.
Puck is dropped for this afternoon鈥檚 game. Heated rival is in town for game two of the series
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Saturday's afternoon game saw Tucson's Josh Doan score on a powerplay goal just 2:06 into the game and that held until Danila Klimovich wired home a power play goal of his own at 10:06 of the second.
Klimovich is now tied with Jonathan Lekkerim盲ki for the team lead in goals with 11. He's also well on his way to break his AHL career mark for goals in a season, which was the 17 he scored in 2022-23.
Klimovich with a rocket, tie game
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford's John Stevens put Abbotsford up 2-1 at 4:22 of the third after a bizarre bounce fooled Roadrunners goalie Dylan Wells. Tucson responded just 88 seconds later when Hunter Drew tied the game back up. Austin Poganski scored the game-winner for the Roadrunners at 13:29 and Cameron Hebig added an empty net goal at 19:24.
If you're a goaltender.... 馃槒
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Nikita Tolopilo made 25 saves in the loss, which was his first setback this month. Defenceman Guillaume Brisebois led the Canucks with five shots, while Lekkerim盲ki recorded four.
The game was a typical Tucson-Abbotsford affair, with a lot of play after the whistle. A scrum in the first period saw the Roadrunners rough up Lekkerim盲ki enough that he drew blood. The physical play of Abbotsford forwards like Klimovich and Sammy Blais helped turn the tide in the second, but it ultimately wasn't able to be sustained.
The Canucks did call up enforcer Jermaine Loewen from the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings, but he did not dress on Friday or Saturday despite the two team's penchant for violence against each other. Earlier this season saw Roadrunners defenceman Montana Onyebuchi deliver a late hit to Mark Friedman, which resulted in a concussion. Onyebuchi and Friedman played in both games and nothing major occurred.
Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra said he doesn't want his time to be involved in things after the whistle.
"Our focus is on fielding the best lineup," he said, when asked about the decision to not use Loewen. "And over the last couple of weeks our guys that have been performing were given the opportunity to compete tonight. We feel like we don't need to address those issues on the ice. Our mindset is to play hard and win the game as opposed to getting into the extra-curricular stuff after the whistle."
"It's a valuable lesson to us, in that it's difficult to win. The level of consistency and execution has to be on at all times and there were moments in both yesterday's game and today where thats the deciding factor."
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Head Coach Manny Malhotra addressed the media following this鈥�
The weekend also saw the Abbotsford debut of forward Sammy Blais. He last appeared for the team on Oct. 19 and then suffered an injury. Blais recorded three shots in the two games against Tucson and was a -3. His physical play was noticeable. Malhotra said he was pleased with his play, but there was still some rust. He expects that to be shaken off in the coming weeks.
Malhotra also confirmed that defenceman Jett Woo is out day-to-day after suffering an injury in Friday's game.
Final.
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Friday's game followed a similar script to Saturday, with the Canucks instead holding a 2-1 lead after two and then again allowing three unanswered goals in the final frame.
Lekkerim盲ki and Klimovich scored for Abbotsford and they outshot Tucson 33-26 in the loss.
The game featured the AHL return for goalie Arturs Silovs, but he posted his first loss in three appearances this season. The Canucks penalty kill went a perfect three-for-three, including killing off two seperate 5-on-3 situations.
Wolanin led all players with six shots on goal, with Lekkerim盲ki and Aatu R盲ty both recording five. Abbotsford finished the six-game home stand at 4-2.
Rematch tomorrow. 馃槫
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Reported attendance for the games was 4,242 on Saturday and 3,989 on Friday.
The pair of losses has slipped the Canucks into seventh place in the Pacific Division and they now have a record of 14-12-0-1.
The club now has a bit of a holiday break and next play in Calgary against the Wranglers on Dec. 30. The next home game is on Jan. 10 when the Henderson Silver Knights come to town.
