With a win in Game 5 tonight, the Abbotsford Canucks will win their fourth series this postseason and advance to the AHL’s Calder Cup Final.

But the Texas Stars won’t be an easy out. They fought back despite being outshot in the third period, tying the game with 19 seconds remaining to push it to overtime. However, the Canucks dominated the two overtime periods, outshooting the Stars 17-5 and walked away with the 3-1 series lead.

Canucks Head Coach Manny Malhotra changed up his personnel following Game 3’s loss. Struggling top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki took line rushes in warmups but did not join his teammates coming out of the tunnel, indicating that he was made a healthy scratch. Sammy Blais did not take warmups and missed the game as well. There is no update on his status at this time.

Danila Klimovich and Dino Kambietz entered the lineup.

Klimovich’s unbelievable individual effort capped off the game for the Canucks in double overtime. If you haven’t seen it, we’ll just leave it here for you:

This was the Belarusian forward’s first game since Game 4 against Colorado and only his eighth game this postseason. The 25-goal scorer in the regular season has two goals and zero assists through the playoffs.

The Canucks got some much-needed depth scoring after as Tristen Nielsen had a pair of goals as well. He connected on the power play in the first period to give the Canucks their first lead of the game. His second goal was another fantastic individual effort:

This was Nielsen’s first goal since Game 3 against Tucson in the first round and his first two points of the series. Nielsen now sits with four goals and six points through 16 games, and has the team’s worst plus-minus (-5).

Linus Karlsson continues his dominance in this series, collecting his sixth and seventh points in just his four games against the Stars. He picked up the Canucks’ opening goal and added the primary assist on Victor Mancini’s goal in the middle frame. This pushes Karlsson into a tie with Stars forward Justin Hryckowian for second in the AHL in points (17), trailing another Star, Cameron Hughes, by two points. With the goal, Karlsson now leads the AHL in goals (9), one ahead of Hryckowian and Kole Lind.

Victor Mancini broke his five-game pointless streak with his goal that deflected off a Stars player in front to find the back of the net. He would add the primary assist on Klimovich’s game-winner. His defensive partner, Christian Wolanin, also picked up a pair of assists, notching his fourth point in as many games this series.

Top-line centre Max Sasson broke his five-game pointless streak as well, picking up the primary assist on Karlsson’s opening goal. With how Karlsson is playing right now, he seems to be the player Malhotra trusts to put on somebody’s line to get them going.

Arshdeep Bains had his four-game point streak snapped. The 24-year-old is still searching for his first goal in these playoffs. He had two chances to score in the first overtime period. Bains had an open slot shot that he fanned on, and nearly ended the game in the dying seconds of the first overtime period.

Arturs Silovs walked away with the victory, but it hasn’t been a fantastic two outings in Texas. He has allowed nine goals in the last two games, holding a 3.96 goals against average with a .866 save percentage. It was only a matter of time before the Stars’ high-flying offence was going to make their mark on this series, so it’s hard to blame him. However, this is the longest stretch of games played consecutively.

The Stars’ big guys continue to carry the load for them. They have five of the top six point scorers in these playoffs: Cameron Hughes (19), Justin Hryckowian (17), Kole Lind (15), Matej Blumel (14), and Kyle Capobianco (12).

Blumel opened the games scoring with a goal from the same spot as both his goals in Game 3. The AHL regular season leading goal scorer now has three goals and four points in his last two games. Hughes grabbed a pair of points to extend his playoff point lead to two.

Heading into the Conference Finals, Hryckowian led the AHL in postseason goals. He netted his first goal of this series with 19 seconds to go after tipping a Lind shot. Jack Becker scored the other goal for the Stars, picking up his second point in as many games.

Remi Poirier has been excellent this postseason, holding a 2.05 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. He was even better through the first three games, carrying a 1.92 goals against average and a .939 save percentage heading into Game 4. However, after allowing four goals on just 11 shots, the Stars made a goaltending change as regular season starting goalie Magnus Hellberg led his team out for the third period.

Hellberg kept his team alive through the third and the first overtime period. The Swedish netminder stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced and was only beaten by Klimovich’s overtime winner. It remains unclear who will start tonight for the Stars.

Game 1: Abbotsford 3, Texas 2 (OT)

Game 2: Abbotsford 1, Texas 0

Game 3: Texas 5, Abbotsford 2

Game 4: Abbotsford 5, Texas 4 (OT)

With a win tonight, Abbotsford can punch their ticket to the Calder Cup finals and a date with the Charlotte Checkers.