The Abbotsford Canucks were in San Diego to face the Gulls in a rare one-off game to kick off a five-game road swing.

That’s last place in the Pacific Division Gulls, by the way.

The issue for AHL teams is that they risk having all their top players plucked away when their parent club needs reinforcements. Unfortunately for Abbotsford, that was the case for tonight’s matchup.

With a heavy AHL presence, the Canucks had a tough time against a bottom-dwelling Gulls team. Despite a strong effort to return from a weak minute-long stretch in the third, they couldn’t muster up enough firepower to seek out the victory.

For the second time in just a few weeks, the Canucks dropped a decision to the Gulls. They now find themselves on a four-game winning streak for the first time in nearly two years.

Let’s check in on the action, shall we?

Blais – Sasson – Smith
Nielsen – Mueller – Klimovich
Twarynski – Wouters – Kambeitz
Bloom – Walker – Berard

Wolanin – Woo
Kudryavtsev – Mancini
Arntsen – McWard

Young

With the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break still underway, Abbotsford had a handful of talents called up to the big club.

Those names include Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, Elias Pettersson, Arturs Silovs and Nikita Tolopilo.

As a result, the AHL lineup was left relatively barren. They were forced to call in reinforcement from their third-tier affiliated squad in the ECHL.

Josh Bloom, who’s enjoyed a decent rookie season in Kalamazoo, got his first promotion of the season. He made his season debut after receiving the promotion earlier in the day. It’s his second AHL stint after he spent 14 games in 2023-24 before returning to junior.

He formed a fourth-line pair alongside his ECHL teammates Ben Berard and Cooper Walker.

Also back in the lineup from Kalamazoo was Ty Young, who was back between the pipes after an extremely strong stretch down in the minors.

Thanks to a brutal giveaway from veteran defender Christian Wolanin, Ty Young was tested early in this one.

Standing tall was the rookie netminder, who was forced to settle into the game early.

Abbotsford wasn’t the only team gifting brutal giveaways, though.

In the next shift, newcomer Josh Bloom was gift-wrapped a goalie giveaway before he spun and ripped the high shot to force Oscar Dansk’s first save of the night.

It’s a nice start for Bloom, who’s hoping to leave a positive impression with Manny Malhotra and reclaim a roster spot in the future. He did not see much ice time in the opening frame but showcased his speedy workhorse attitude with each shift.

More from him later on.

That quick back-and-fourth action stalled out as teams traded low-grade chances for the next 15 minutes.

With little noteworthy action in the period, we’d be remiss not to show you Victor Mancini doing what he could to spark a little offence.

He showed off his skating ability by collecting the puck and driving wide on the Gulls’ defender, flapping his jersey in the wind to collect the backhand shot.

Despite being held for most of the period, the Gulls kicked off the game’s scoring.

With the Abbotsford defence madly scrambled, players were sent all over the ice in an attempt to regain form.

Unfortunately for Sammy Blais, the weak shot from the top of the circles played directly off his skate and into the slot. Corralling the puck was Ryan Carpenter, who spun to make a cheeky backhand dish to Coulson Pitre, who was left all alone at the netfront.

It wasn’t a pretty effort by the Canucks and the Gulls took advantage as they scored on just their fourth shot of the period. There is just way too much time and space for the Gulls in this entire sequence.

The teams exchanged power plays to end the period, but neither team could muster any notable chances.

Perhaps undeservingly, the Abbotsford Canucks walked down the tunnel trailing by one, with a 14-5 shot lead.

Picking up where things left off in the first, the opening minutes were quiet.

Ty Young was the busier of the two netminders through the first five minutes, stopping three Shots.

Yes, three.

The fourth line of all ECHLers was gifted with a few more shifts to spark some life in the team and looked pretty good.

Running a strong cycle, they were showing good chemistry to grab the period’s best chance. This time, it was Cooper Walker nearly cashing in on the doorstep.

It took roughly 15 minutes to find any real opportunity.

Taking his time, Sammy Blais gained entry and weaved through a few legs at the blueline before sending the perfect feed toward the net. Driving the net was Ty Mueller, who got his stick on the puck to make the ideal redirect to even the score.

Or so we thought. Mueller was initially given the goal, but the league eventually credited it to the shooter, as the puck appeared to have gone directly off the defender’s skate blade. With the change, Blais registered his eighth goal of the season.

The Gulls nearly killed that momentum within seconds.

Gaining the zone off the face-off, Tristan Luneau fired the perfect low shot to bounce out for the rebound. The puck spewed out to the side, where Gulls’ forward Ryan Carpenter was there to collect the garbage.

Miraculously, Young sprawled out to get the paddle on the puck for the save of the game.

Maybe the week?

Maybe the month?

That’s one way to earn yourself the next start.

That was as close as either team would come, as they would head into the room tied 1-1.

The first two periods lacked excitement, but the third period made it all up in spades.

The Gulls kicked off the third on a two-minute power play, where Ty Young continued his poised play.

This time, kicking the leg out on a pair of rebound jam attempts.

Unfortunately, that poise would eventually dry up, giving up two goals in quick succession.

With the puck flicked up in the air, Sammy Blais’ controller seemingly ran out of batteries as he stared down at the puck.

Picking his pocket was Coulson Pitre, who broke down the wing and snapped a short side shot over Young’s glove.

Minutes later, from the same angle, Sam Colangelo broke down the wing to test Young. He put it low this time and trickled through the rookie netminder.

But the lead didn’t last long, and the ECHL line went to work.

Josh Bloom showcased relentless pressure to force the Gulls defender to cough up the puck in the corner.

Collecting it from the boards was Ben Berard, who cut into the middle and slid his second AHL goal of the season through the legs of Dansk.

Although they come weeks apart, Berard now has goals in consecutive AHL games.

But wait, there’s more!

Once again, thanks to some good digging and pressure, Dino Kambeitz came out from the board battle with the puck. Cutting into the slot, he rifled a snapshot up and over Dansk to tie the game midway through the frame.

Unfortunately, the Canucks weren’t able to celebrate for too long as the Gulls continued to press.

Setting up Sacha Pastujov for the heavy one-timer, Tristan Luneau went straight to the net.

With the puck bouncing through all the mess in the slot, he swiped at the ariel puck, connecting with his second swing to sneak it past Young and provide his team with yet another lead.

With the net empty and the Canucks pressing, Nikita Nesterenko out-skated Christian Wolanin to beat out the icing call.

With no panic, he cut through the slot to outwait multiple Canucks to ice the game with the empty net goal.

This game lacked serious substance during the initial 40 minutes of play. But with the Canucks’ dwindling roster, that was to be expected. Fireworks exploded in the third and made up for the lack of energy early on.

Despite allowing four goals, Ty Young was fine between the pipes. He’s likely to want the two shots in the third, which beat him from the same angle back. But otherwise, he played fine for his first AHL action in months.

The ECHL line of Josh Bloom, Ben Berard, and Cooper Walker was likely the team’s most positive and energized. All three played as if they hoped to fulfill permanent American League roles.

The Canucks will head to Tucson for a weekend doubleheader versus the Roadrunners for games two and three of the road trip. The puck drops at 6:00 pm PT at the Tucson Convention Center.