The Abbotsford Canucks open the American Hockey League’s Western Conference Final tonight at home against the Texas Stars. Face off is set for 7 pm.
The best-of-seven series will follow a 2-3-2 format. Abbotsford has won the opener of all three of its previous series in these playoffs.

What we know

Arturs Silovs will try to pick up where he left off with a 34-save shutout in a 5-0 win over Colorado on Monday. Silovs is 8-3 in the postseason, and four of his victories have been shutouts. He surrendered just nine goals on 143 Eagles shots. 
Linus Karlsson and Phil Di Giuseppe each scored twice in the elimination game against Colorado. Karlsson now has a share of the AHL playoff lead with seven postseason goals. Those players were two of nine Abbotsford skaters to score in the previous round. A total of 16 players found their way onto the scoresheet.
Sammy Blais continues to lead the Abbotsford scoring charge with 11 points in the postseason. He has gone nine games without a goal. Karlsson is one point behind Blais for the team lead, while Di Giuseppe is three back.
Karlsson paced the Abbotsford attack against Colorado with four goals and five points in the previous round. Rookies Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Ty Mueller each had four points against the Eagles. 
Max Sasson had just one point – a goal – against Colorado. However, he leads Abbotsford and is second in the AHL playoffs with 38 shots on goal. He is two back of Milwaukee’s Kiefer Bellows, whose season is over. 
Based on Wednesday’s practice, rookie Kirill Kudryavtsev will remain in the Abbotsford lineup and will run the second power play unit. Aaty Räty, out since Game 2 of the second round against Coachella Valley, was back on the ice with the non-skating group yesterday. He is officially listed as day-to-day and appears to be a possibility to play later in this series. 
The Canucks are 5-2 on home ice in the playoffs with three of those wins by way of shutout.

The opponent

The Stars are no strangers to opening postseason series as the visitors and the lower seed. They have started their two previous series in these playoffs on the road and opened with wins in Grand Rapids and Milwaukee.
Remi Poirier is expected to get the start in goal tonight. He is 4-1 in the playoffs with a 1.87 GAA, .926% save percentage and a shutout.
AHL playoff scoring leader Justin Hryckowian carries a five-game goal-scoring streak into action tonight. The league’s Rookie of the Year also has points in all eight games he has played. Linemate Cameron Hughes is also on an eight-game point streak.
Former Canuck Kole Lind is having a strong playoffs with six goals and five assists. With those three and teammate Matej Blumel along with Canucks forwards Sammy Blais and Linus Karlsson, this series features six of the the AHL’s top eight playoff scorers.
Texas has won six of its eight playoff outings and has outscored its opponents 31-19 along the way. The Stars are 4-1 as the visitors in the playoffs and have allowed just seven goals in those five contests. 

Around the AHL Playoffs

Charlotte opened the Eastern Final with a 5-1 win in Laval last night.
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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