The Abbotsford Canucks can punch their ticket to the third round of the American Hockey League playoffs with a win tonight over Coachella Valley.
The Canucks hold a 2-1 lead in the best of five series which resumes tonight at 7 pm at Abbotsford Centre.

What we know

The Canucks put themselves on the verge of advancing with a 3-1 victory on home ice on Wednesday. Nate Smith, Kirill Kudrayvtsev and Phil Di Giuseppe scored the Abbotsford goals while Arturs Silovs stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced in goal.
Silovs has allowed just one goal in his past two home games, turning aside 46 of 47 shots in the process. He has started all six Abbotsford playoff games to this point. In the playoffs, Silovs has a 2.07 GAA, a .921% save percentage and a shutout in Game 3 to eliminate Tucson in the opening round.
Smith and Di Giuseppe have both scored in back-to-back games, while Sammy Blais added an assist on Wednesday to take over the league lead in playoff scoring with seven points. Smith, who was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the postseason, has five points in the four games he’s appeared in. Meanwhile, Di Giuseppe has a four-game point streak and has points in five of the six games he’s played. Abbotsford has twelve different skaters who have found the back of the net in the playoffs. 
After surrendering early goals in the first two games in Palm Desert, the Canucks opened the scoring for the first time in the series on Wednesday night. However, it took Abbotsford 15 minutes to register its first shot on goal. 

The opponent

For the first time in the 2025 postseason, the Firebirds face elimination tonight. This is a team that has been to the Calder Cup Final in each of the past two years.
They have been held to one goal in two of the games in this series and have scored a total of seven goals in the three games so far. Ryan Winterton scored his second goal of the series early in the third period on Wednesday to cut Abbotsford’s lead to 2-1. Winterton has 11 shots through three games of this series.
Coachella Valley is still waiting for Jani Nyman to announce his presence in the playoffs. The team’s leading goal scorer during the regular season has just one point in five playoff games and has been held off the scoresheet in all three games of this series.
Goalie Nikke Kokko is 3-2 in the playoffs with a 2.11 GAA and a .915% save percentage. He was sharp on Wednesday, stopping 20 of 22 shots.

Future watch

The winner of this series will face the Pacific Division regular season champion, the Colorado Eagles, in the next round. The Eagles eliminated San Jose in four games with a 3-1 win on Wednesday night. The division final will be another best-of-five with Colorado holding home ice advantage.
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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