The Abbotsford Canucks have a chance to advance tonight when they face the Colorado Eagles in Game 4 of their American Hockey League Pacific Division Final.
Abbotsford holds a 2-1 series lead after a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 on Wednesday night. A victory tonight and the Canucks would move on to the AHL Final Four.
What we know
Linus Karlsson was the hero on Wednesday, netting the winner at 18:47 into overtime. The goal was his team-leading fifth of the playoffs, which leaves him one off the AHL postseason lead. He has now scored in three of the last four games and is on his second four-game point streak of the playoffs.
Victor Mancini and Max Sasson had the other Abbotsford goals. Sasson’s third of the playoffs came midway through the third period after Colorado took a 2-1 lead to the final frame. Mancini is now up to five points in the team’s 10 playoff contests and leads all Abbotsford defencemen in postseason scoring.
Arturs Silovs gave up an early goal, but then went into lockdown mode, finishing with 35 saves on the night as Colorado outshot Abbotsford 37-33, including 7-5 in overtime.
Rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki had primary assists on the first two Abbotsford goals of the night. He’s now had back-to-back two point performances and has been in on four of the last six goals the Canucks have scored.
Abbotsford is 7-3 through its first 10 playoff games. Surprisingly, Arshdeep Bains, who led the AHL Canucks in scoring in the regular season, has yet to score a postseason goal and has just one assist in his last seven contests. And Sammy Blais, who leads the team with 10 playoff points, has gone seven games without a goal.
Including regular season (16-1-1) and playoffs (7-3), Abbotsford is 23-4-1 in its last 28 games.
The opponent
Despite never trailing on Wednesday, Colorado suffered its first home ice loss of the playoffs. John Ludvig and Jake Wise each scored their second goals of the playoffs for the Eagles. Wise has scored in back-to-back games and leads the Eagles with two goals in the series. Trent Miner made 30 saves in goal.
The Eagles now face elimination for the first time in the playoffs. After going 0-for-3 with the power play on Wednesday, Colorado is 0-for-9 in the series so far. The highest-scoring team in the AHL during the regular season has been limited to seven goals (including an empty-netter) through the first three games of this series.
Matthew Phillips leads the Eagles with eight playoff points, followed by Jayson Megna with seven and Tye Felhaber with six. That trio has recorded just an empty net goal and two assists through three games of this series. Phillips, Megna, Felhaber and Jacob MacDonald combined for 90 regular season goals. Megna’s Game 2 empty-netter is the only goal from those four in this series so far.
Series at a Glance
Game 1: 2-0 Abbotsford
Game 2: 5-3 Colorado
Game 3: 3-2 OT Abbotsford
The Canucks have outscored the Eagles 8-7 in the series. Abbotsford holds an 87-80 edge in shots on goal. The Canucks are 2-for-8 (25%) on the power play while the Eagles are 0-for-9.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki leads the series with four points. Sammy Blais, Linus Karlsson and Victor Mancini all have three apiece.
If necessary, Game 5 will be played at 2 pm PT on Monday afternoon.
Around the AHL Playoffs
Texas leads Milwaukee 2-1 in the other Western Conference series.
Charlotte swept the two-time defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears to advance to the Eastern Final. Laval leads Rochester 2-1 in the other Eastern semi-final.
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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