The Abbotsford Canucks can claim the Calder Cup tonight when they host the Charlotte Checkers in Game 5 of the American Hockey League championship series. 
The Canucks have won back to back games on home ice to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best of seven series.

What we know

Abbotsford rattled off a fifth straight home playoff victory on Thursday beating Charlotte 3-2. Rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored twice including the opening goal 1:15 into the game and the game winner early in the third. Arshdeep Bains continued his run of hot play scoring the 2-0 goal midway through the second period and now has six goals in his last six games. Bains and Sammy Blais lead this series with six points apiece.
The Canucks have outscored the Checkers 9-3 in the two games played in the Fraser Valley. Overall in the final series, Abbotsford has outscored Charlotte 15-9.
Arturs Silovs continues to shine. He stopped 32 of 34 shots on Thursday for his 15th win of these playoffs. Silovs has turned aside 90 of the 96 shots he’s faced in this series. In four games against Charlotte, he has a 1.97 GAA and a .943 save percentage.
In their 12th home game of the playoffs, Abbotsford finally surrendered a power play goal on Thursday. The team’s penalty kill is 36 for 37 on Abbotsford ice. And including a shorthanded goal earlier in the playoffs, the Canucks PK has now scored once and allowed one goal in a dozen home games. The remarkable penalty kill has been a part of Abbotsford posting a 10-2 record at home in the postseason.
Thursday’s crowd was 7161 – the largest crowd ever for an AHL game at Abbotsford Centre. It was the fourth straight sellout in this championship series.
Coming off back to back victories, it’s unlikely Abbotsford will make any changes to its line-up for tonight’s potential Cup clincher.

The opponent

The Checkers face all of the hockey clichés: their backs are against the wall, there is no tomorrow, it’s do or die unless they find a way to grind out a victory tonight. Charlotte will lean on the fact it has not lost three straight games in the playoffs and will hope that remains the case after tonight’s contest.
Kyle Criscuolo and Jack Devine scored their goals on Thursday as Charlotte outshot Abbotsford 34-23. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced. He’s 1-3 in this series with a 3.09 GAA and an .851 save percentage in the series.
The Checkers need some of their top scorers to make some noise to extend this series. Justin Sourdif has a goal and two assists in the first four games. John Leonard has one goal and one assist. Jesse Puljujarvi has no goals and a lone assist so far while Will Lockwood has yet to find the scoresheet in the final. Sourdif and Leonard lead the series with 17 shots apiece.
Oliver Okuliar is the only Checkers player to score twice against Abbotsford netting first period goals in Games 1 and 3.
Per the AHL, three teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the Calder Cup. The last one was the 1949 Providence Reds which was 76 years ago.

The series at a glance

Game 1: Abbotsford wins 4-3 in 2OT
Game 2: Charlotte wins 3-2 in OT
Game 3: Abbotsford wins 6-1
Game 4: Abbotsford wins 3-2
Canucks have outscored the Checkers 15-9. Abbotsford is 5/16 on the power play while Charlotte is 3/17. Sammy Blais and Arshdeep Bains share the series scoring lead with six points apiece. Charlotte holds a 159-95 edge in shots on goal.
If necessary, Game 6 is scheduled for Monday in Charlotte. A Game 7, if needed, would be played on Wednesday at Bojangles Coliseum.
Make sure to join the Rink Wide postgame live stream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive coverage of the Abbotsford Canucks through the AHL playoffs. When the final buzzer sounds, be sure to log onto Rink Wide and join the YouTube live chat to discuss the game with other Canucks fans. Subscribe to the Rink Wide YouTube channel and never miss an episode.

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