There are no easy nights when you sit at the bottom of the conference.

And with the Ontario Reign — tied for second in the Western Conference — rolling into town, the Abbotsford Canucks had their work cut out for them on this Family Day weekend.

The AHL schedule includes a midseason quirk in which teams flip their home colours. This weekend marked the debut of Abbotsford’s green look at Rogers Forum. And you know what they say: look good, feel good.

And for once, the results matched the vibe.

Behind back-to-back starts from Nikita Tolopilo — his second consecutive series handling both games — the Canucks secured a statement sweep against one of the league’s hottest clubs.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki delivered two goals in Game Two, Ty Mueller put together a three-point performance on Monday, and in total, six different skaters found the back of the net over the weekend.

Even after the wins, the standings don’t look much kinder to the Canucks, as Abbotsford remains ten points outside of a playoff spot. But wins are important for morale, and against a heavyweight opponent, this was as good a place as any to start building that up.

For most of the opening period, it was all Ontario.

The Reign controlled possession early and forced Nikita Tolopilo into action. Locked in from the outset, the netminder turned aside all 12 shots he faced while Abbotsford managed just four of their own. It was scoreless through 20 minutes, where Tolopilo was already the story.

Ontario finally broke through in the second.

After Danila Klimovich was sent off for tripping, the Reign worked the puck around on the man advantage. Kenny Connors fired from the point, and while Tolopilo made the initial stop, the rebound kicked loose behind him. Cole Guttman pounced on it for his 18th of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Even then, Tolopilo kept it manageable. Despite being outshot 20-7 through two periods, the deficit remained just one.

The third period flipped the script. Back from injury, Nils Åman created the equalizer almost entirely on his own. Driving wide on his strong side, he attempted to centre the puck toward Klimovich. Unable to get his stick on it, the puck ricocheted off his skate and bounced right back to Åman. Without hesitation, he banked it off Erik Portillo and across the line to tie the game.

Later in the period, the fourth line provided the go-ahead marker. Cooper Walker found Nikolai Knyzhov at the point, who had already factored into the first goal. Knyzhov sent the puck toward the net, and Nick Poisson got just enough of it in the slot to redirect it home.

Tolopilo shut the door from there, finishing with 31 saves in a composed 2-1 victory. He was named the AHL’s second star of the night and earned every bit of it.

A well-attended Family Day matinee set the stage for the rematch.

Once again, Ontario opened the scoring. The difference this time was Abbotsford’s response. Despite trailing early, the Canucks controlled much of the play and carried an 8-3 edge in shots through the opening stretch.

Early in the second, they struck.

Ty Mueller disrupted a breakout just seconds after a faceoff and poked the puck to Jonathan Lekkerimäki. The Swedish sniper wasted no time and leaned into a laser snapshot to the far side for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.

And they kept pushing. On the next wave, Sawyer Mynio found a trailing Nils Åman, who quickly set up this year’s All-Star representative, Ben Berard. Dropping to one knee, Berard wired a one-timer into the top corner to give Abbotsford its first lead of the game.

Ontario responded with a power play goal from Glenn Gawdin late in the period, tying things up at two and setting up a tense final frame.

The Reign briefly reclaimed the lead early in the third to make it 3-2. But it didn’t last.

After sustained pressure, Jujhar Khaira slid the puck back to the point where Victor Mancini was ready to fire from the hip. Khaira drove the net after his pass and lifted the rebound over the sliding goaltender for his third of the season.

Moments later, the top line took over. Working the cycle, Arshdeep Bains found Ty Mueller near the bottom of the circle. Mueller immediately slid the puck back to a loaded Lekkerimäki. And we all know that he does not need much space. Using the defender as a screen, he snapped a perfectly placed shot short side and popped the water bottle.

Goal number 13 on the season was his second of the afternoon and the eventual game-winner to set up the game’s first stat.

Just to be safe, Mueller added some insurance. After several attempts in tight, he wrapped the puck around the net and banked it off a defender’s skate.

The three-point outing moved him into sole possession of the team lead with 26 points, earning him third star honours.

Tolopilo was steadier than busy in this one, stopping 18 of 21 shots for his third straight win.

The Canucks will head out on a legnthy five game road swing that will take them all the way to early March. They don’t have much time to enjoy their lead, as they are in California for a one-game rematch against Ontario on Wednesday.

The puck drops at 7:00 pm PT at the Toyota Arena.

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