The Abbotsford Canucks are dominating March, surging up the Pacific Division standings with their sights set on clinching home-ice advantage.

Entering Saturday’s matchup in Manitoba, the Canucks brought a six-game win streak into the second leg of a doubleheader against the Moose—already holding a 4-1-0-0 edge in this season’s series.

Friday’s 4-2 triumph was a disciplined affair, but this game unfolded as a wild 5-4 overtime battle that brought a little sprinkle of everything.

Sammy Blais led the charge with two goals and three points, Ty Young stood firm with 29 saves for his fourth consecutive win, and Max Sasson sealed it with a breathtaking end-to-end rush in OT.

The Canucks trailed twice, surged to a two-goal lead, and weathered a frantic 30-second flurry that levelled the score—only to emerge victorious.

With just 11 games remaining and the playoff race intensifying, this seventh straight win, their eighth in nine March outings, couldn’t come at a better time.

Against a Moose team eager to derail them, Abbotsford turned a chaotic night into two critical points.

Let’s break down how it all went down.

Bains – Sasson – Nielsen
Blais – Räty – Khaira
Di Giuseppe – Mueller – Klimovich
Smith – Wouters – Kambeitz

Wolanin – Woo
Brisebois – McWard
Hirose – Kudryavtsev

Young

It took just 14 seconds for this game to see some action, as Manitoba was caught for an early interference call, with Aatu Räty breaking in for the potential breakaway.

Unfortunately, it was too early in the game, and the Canucks weren’t ready for such offensive responsibilities. They failed to register a shot through the two-minute stretch.

However, they shook that rust off fast, striking within minutes of the failed powerplay attempt.

Working the puck around, it found its way to Jett Woo, who sent it toward the net. Picking up the loose rebound was Aatu Räty, who directed it toward an open Sammy Blais on the doorstep to capitalize on the defensive lapse for his 11th goal of the year.

The Moose didn’t blink.

Ben King had many chances on Friday, getting stymied on every attempt. But this time, he crashed the net off an Axel Jonsson-Fjällby shot, redirecting the puck into the net for his 11th goal.

The goal stirred a several-minute pause as the referees went upstairs to decide whether luck had kicked in.

It was not, and the goal stood.

Young stayed cool, though. He made six quick saves following the goal, leading an eventual 16 saves opening period.

But he could only handle so much pressure, as the Moose solved him for their first lead against the Canucks all season.

The Swedish defender collected the puck at the point while working the man advantage. Leaning on his shot, he sent a seeing-eye release that beat Young on the blocker side.

Ty Mueller found the stray puck in the final minutes, shovelling it back to Cole McWard. From the point, he walked it in to snap the puck past Dominic DiVincentis for his sixth of the season to even the score before the final buzzer.

As the Canucks did in the opening frame, Manitoba kicked off the second with an early powerplay, with Tristen Nielsen getting the gate for hooking.

The Canucks held them to just one shot, which was about as positive as the initial eight minutes got. The Canucks put forward just one shot as the pace of the game dropped to kick off the period.

Their best chance of the first half came courtesy of the second line, where Ty Mueller pulled off an impressive deflection from a Christian Wolanin point shot.

Collecting the rebound, Danila Klimovich nearly jammed home his 23rd but couldn’t beat the netminder holding strong.

All things considered, it was a relatively uneventful period. The Canucks wrapped up the period with a solid penalty kill, as Young stopped another nine in the period to give him 25 on the night already.

But was it setting for a wacky third period?

A late-second skirmish sparked four-on-four to start the final frame, leading to extra ice just begging for chaos.

And chaos there was.

Stripping the puck at his own blueline, Sammy Blais sprung himself all alone before executing the beautiful move to go backhand and give himself two goals on the night.

Off the next face-off, the Canucks formulated a strong breakout, where Chase Wouters fed Guillaume Brisebois—yep, Guillaume Brisebois—streaking wide, snapping his second of the season to the short side.

With two goals in 45 seconds, the Canucks were well on their way to their seventh straight victory.

Or were they?

The Moose matched that push, giving the Canucks a taste of their own medicine.

With the block in his own zone, Simon Lundmark charged up the ice to kick off a two-on-one into the Canucks’ end.

Tyson Empey threaded the pass through Christian Wolanin back to Lundmark, who slid the Backhand through a sliding ong Young.

The Canucks immediately took a penalty.

Off the face-off, Dylan Coghlan fired the quick shot only to be redirected by Mason Shaw, sitting alone inside the net.

Suddenly, after a sleepy middle frame, this game saw four goals in just a four-minute timeframe.

That crazy stretch brought the teams an even 4-4 score, which held all the way through regulation time.

Could the Canucks extend that heater? Or would it all come crashing down thanks to a quick breakdown after being up by a pair?

Max Sasson didn’t mess around. From behind his net, he flipped on the afterburners, tore up the ice, and burned past the entire Moose crew. One-on-one, he forced the puck through DiVincentis to call the game and seal their seventh straight win in style.

The Canucks continue on their six-game road trip, heading to San Jose for a pivotal two-game Divisional rival series. Game one is on Friday, March 28, at 7:30 pm PT at the TECH CU Arena.