The Abbotsford Canucks have a second chance to advance to the second round of the American Hockey League Calder Cup playoffs when they face the Tucson Roadrunners tonight at Abbotsford Centre.
The best of three opening round series has been boiled down to a one game winner take all showdown after the teams split games on Wednesday and Thursday.
What we know
Abbotsford needs to find a way to convert on the many scoring chances it squandered in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Tucson. The Canucks peppered Roadrunners goalie Jaxson Stauber with 39 shots but Linus Karlsson was the only one able to beat him. Karlsson’s goal early in the third period gave Abbotsford life with plenty of time remaining. However, the Canucks were unable to capitalize on the momentum despite a power play midway through the third period trailing by two.
After scoring twice with the man-advantage in the series opener, the Canucks went 0 for five on the power play on Thursday. That included the first four power play opportunities of the night. The power play went two for six in the series opener. So it is two for 11 (18.2%) in the playoffs while also allowing a shorthanded goal in the opener.
Max Sasson led the Canucks with five shots in Game 2 and leads the team with nine shots in the series so far. However, Sasson has been limited to just a single assist through two games. Karlsson and Sammy Blais lead the Canucks with two goals apiece. The Canucks need the likes of Sasson, Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Danila Klimovich to produce.
The Canucks are expected to go with Arturs Silovs in goal for a third straight game. He has allowed three goals in each of the first two games in this series.
Manny Malhotra made one line-up change for Game 2 inserting Cole McWard on defence in place of Kirill Kudryavtsev.
The Canucks are 17-2-1 in their last 20 games.
The opponent
Tucson has scored six of the last seven goals in this series. Ben McCartney had a pair of goals and an assist in Thursday’s 4-1 victory. He and Travis Barron share the team playoff scoring lead with three points apiece.
Kailer Yamamoto scored his first of the series to give the Roadrunners a 3-0 lead in Game 2. Yamamoto has also taken four minor penalties through the first two games.
Jaxson Stauber will surely get the call in goal again tonight. The 25-year-old appeared in six games for the Utah Hockey Club this season.
Tucson entered the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Pacific Division and is looking to pull off a considerable upset.
There were 3670 fans in attendance for the series opener on Wednesday. The announced attendance for Game 2 on Thursday was 4062.
If Abbotsford advances, the Canucks will open the best of five second round on home ice. The opponent and the dates for those games will be determined at the conclusion of the first round of the playoffs.
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 game. 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.
