A blown call cost the Abbotsford Canucks an extra point in an action-packed 2-1 overtime loss

“I wish we were going to a shootout, I felt like it was too many men on the ice.”

That was what Abbotsford Canucks’ head coach Trent Cull had to say just minutes after the Manitoba Moose scored a game-winning goal in overtime on Wednesday night.

“We can’t say anything,” said Cull. “I think the refs missed a call. There’s no video replay, there’s nothing we can do.”

The Canucks battled through a 1-1 game where Mikey DiPietro was on his game and kept the team in it all the way up until the overtime goal.

Devante Stephens opened the scoring in the first period when he jumped into a rush and followed the puck all the way into the back of the net.

Will Lockwood had an excellent game from start to finish as he skated on the Canucks’ top line with Jarid Lukosevicius and Sheldon Dries. Lockwood was flying on the ice, he was physical and showed that he was able to handle the puck at full speed.

“My feet were moving, the effort was there,” said Lockwood. “I wanted to step up and execute out there. I think it’s coming along. There’s a lot of room to grow still but I’m working away at it and getting there, I’m starting to feel confident.”

Lockwood finished the night with two shots on goal and commented on the improvements in his penalty killing as the season has gone on.

“It’s good,” said Lockwood. “It’s nice when a coach has confidence in you to be on the PK consistently and that is something I take a lot of pride in. I use my feet to get a little extra step on guys and be aggressive — I think that goes a long way.”

Another penalty killer who has recently returned to the lineup is 21-year-old defenceman, Jett Woo.

It’s been four games now for Woo since he returned from injury and Wednesday night’s game looked like he was finally returning to form.

“I think I’ve just been getting better every game since the injury,” said Woo. “Hopefully it keeps going. Doing things at full game speed takes some getting used to. A bittersweet part of being out with an injury was getting to work with Mackenzie Braid [Abbotsford’s skating coach] and that made it a lot easier coming back.”

Mackenzie Braid is an interesting name out in Abbotsford. I’ve heard from industry sources that Braid’s name is consistently brought up by NCAA free agents and their representatives actively being interested in working with the well-known skating coach.

One name to keep an eye on here is Brandon Scanlin. A source told me that part of the interest of Scanlin signing with the Canucks’ organization is that Braid would be able to help Scanlin get to the next level.

Another NCAA free agent of note while we’re on the topic, is Nick Blankenburg. Will Lockwood told me that Blankenburg is one of his best friends and asked if the Canucks are in on the current captain of Michigan.

From speaking to Blankenburg’s camp this past weekend, CanucksArmy learned that the Canucks are not one of the teams currently calling on Blankenburg.

The other big highlight of the game came from 19-year-old Danila Klimovich.

The youngster was caught as the last man back during a power play and decided to throw the body around to make a play.

Klimovich has shown flashes of brilliance this season and still has a long way to go before cracking the NHL, but it’s little plays like this that get you excited for what he can bring in the future.

We also learned that Phil Di Giuseppe is going to be out for multiple weeks with a fractured foot. On top of the PDG injury, Cull also confirmed that Justin Bailey is dealing with an upper-body injury and is likely not going to be available until early April.

We will get updates on Ashton Sautner, Guillaume Brisebois and Justin Dowling on Wednesday after the game.

Closing it all out, conversations about refereeing has engulfed the hockey world as of late and the coach hopes there can be some changes to help refs get the call right.

“We’d like to have some more video options here at this level,” said Cull when asked about what he would change if given the power.

The Abbotsford Canucks will turn the page quickly as they are back in action on Wednesday night against the same Manitoba Moose that they fell to in overtime on Tuesday.

We will have you covered if any big stories come out of Wednesday’s game and follow along on Twitter for quick updates from the game.