The Abbotsford Canucks open the third round of the American Hockey League playoffs tonight when they host the Colorado Eagles in Game 1 of the Pacific Division championship series. 
The Canucks had one more victory than Colorado in the regular season, but finished the year two points back of the Eagles. As a result, Colorado has home ice advantage and elected to start the best of five series with two games in the Fraser Valley.

What we know

The Canucks have been idle since eliminating Coachella Valley with a 2-0 win on home ice last Friday night. Max Sasson scored a first period power play goal and Linus Karlsson sealed the victory into an empty net. Arturs Silovs made 29 saves for his second shutout of the AHL playoffs.
Silovs has allowed just one goal in his last three home games. As a team, the Canucks are 4-1 in front of their home fans in the postseason.
Sammy Blais leads the Canucks in playoff scoring with three goals and eight points. All three of his goals came on power plays in the opening series against Tucson. He is the only player in the AHL playoffs with three power play goals.
Manny Malhotra put Blais on a line with fellow veterans Nate Smith and Jujhar Khaira early in the second round. That left Jonathan Lekkerimäki to play with Max Sasson and Arshdeep Bains while Ty Mueller skates with Phil Di Giuseppe and Linus Karlsson.
The Canucks lost Aatu Räty and Jett Woo to injuries in Game 2 of their series with Coachella Valley. And veteran Christian Wolanin was injured in the earlier round against Tucson. Wolanin and Woo practiced with the team this week and could be ready to return to the lineup. Räty remains out of action with no update provided on his status.
Abbotsford was 6-2 against Colorado in the regular season including 4-0 on home ice.

The opponent

Colorado has been idle since dispatching San Jose in four games in the previous round. The Eagles last played a game on Wednesday May 7th. By virtue of finishing first in the division in the regular season, Colorado earned a first round bye. As such, the Eagles have played just four hockey games since April 19th.
With 250 goals, the Eagles were the highest scoring team in the AHL this season. Defenceman Jacob MacDonald led the team with 31 goals. No other defenceman in the league scored more than 18 goals this season. Former Victoria Royal Matthew Phillips led the Eagles with 57 points while McDonald topped all AHL blueliners with 55 points.
Former Canuck Jayson Megna was third on the team in scoring this season with 19 goals and 51 points. The 35-year-old is tied for the team lead in playoff scoring. Megna, Phillips and Tye Felhaber each have six points in four postseason games. 
The Colorado line-up also includes White Rock’s Devante Stephens who spent the 2021-22 season in Abbotsford along with former Vancouver Giant netminder Trent Miner who has started all four of the team’s playoff games so far. Miner is 3-1 in the postseason with a 1.96 GAA and a 93.9% save percentage. He appeared in his first two NHL games earlier this season for the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado was the best home ice team in the AHL this season posting a 26-6-4 record, but was mediocre on the road going 17-15-4. 
The Eagles capitalized on the power play in their previous series with San Jose striking four times in 14 opportunities (28.6%). They also killed off 14 of the 16 penalties they took (87.5%). In the regular season, Colorado scored 15 shorthanded goals. Only Charlotte with 16 scored more this season. 
Game 2 of this series is set for 6pm on Sunday night. Game 3 will go Wednesday night in Loveland, CO.
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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