The Abbotsford Canucks rolled into San Jose hoping for a reset. Between the injuries, the call-ups, and the constant lineup shuffling, the season has felt like one long uphill climb.

Getting Nikita Tolopilo, Victor Mancini and Jonathan Lekkerimäki back was supposed to bring some calm to the chaos. For a whole period and a half, Abbotsford looked like a team finding its footing.

But stability hasn’t been a luxury this season, and the opening and final 20 minutes made that clear again. The Canucks bent early, buckled late, and ultimately watched another third-period lead slip through their fingers.

While there were some high points in the game, it was the kind of result that has defined far too many nights on this road trip. Ultimately, it was another game, and another loss.

Nursing a groin injury sustained back in their home opening game in October, Nikita Tolopilo finally returned to action to guard the crease.

Skating in front of him was Victor Mancini, who was reinstated into the Abbotsford lineup after being reassigned from Vancouver earlier in the week.

Berard–Mueller–Lekkerimäki
Alriksson–Khaira–Klimovich
Ravinskis–Labate–Durandeau
Poisson–Wouters–Kambeitz

Schuldt-Mancini
Knyzhov–Kudryavtsev
Arntsen-Mynio

Tolopilo

Scratched: Josh Bloom, Derek Dashke
Injured: Jett Woo, Guillaume Brisebois, Cooper Walker, Chase Stillman, Nils Aman, Jackson Kunz

He missed several weeks recovering from the groin injury he suffered back in Abbotsford’s home opener, and Nikita Tolopilo didn’t get much time to ease his way back in. Just minutes into the game, the Barracuda stitched together a clean passing play that forced him to slide across for a sharp, early stop.

It was a strong first test, and he handled it like he hadn’t missed a beat.

The rest of the team needed a little longer to find their legs. As has been the theme this season, Abbotsford opened slowly and didn’t record its second shot until just before the midway point of the period.

Meanwhile, Tolopilo looked calm and composed, settling in behind a group still trying to catch up to the pace.

San Jose earned the game’s first power play when Joseph LaBate went off for roughing.

If you caught our weekend preview, you’ll know this matchup features two of the league’s worst penalty kills. The Barracuda wasted no time reminding everyone why.

Working the half wall, Wahlstrom and Cagnoni exchanged passes before Wahlstrom curled into the high slot and wired a blocker-side shot past Tolopilo. That makes it five straight games in which Abbotsford has allowed a power play goal.

Moments later, they were back shorthanded when rookie Vilmer Alriksson was called for hooking. Tolopilo did the heavy lifting on this kill, standing tall through several clean looks to keep the deficit where it was.

But the period continued to unravel. Abbotsford took yet another penalty while already down a man, and during the delayed call, the Barracuda struck again.

San Jose snapped the puck around the perimeter until they found the bumper option alone in the slot. Huntington released it quickly and slipped it past a sliding Tolopilo.

Because the goal came on the delayed penalty, the Barracuda still received the full two-minute advantage. Credit to Abbotsford — they killed it off — but the damage was already done. And then things boiled over.

At the end of a long shift, Jonathan Lekkerimäki was gliding toward the bench when Kasper Halttunen caught him with a dangerous hit.

Labate wasted no time jumping in, and it sparked an all-out scrum that stretched across the ice. It took officials several minutes to sort through the penalties, and Labate came away with a 10-minute misconduct for stepping in.

Shots: ABB 4, SJ 12
Score: SJ 2, ABB 0

Thanks to the late first-period brouhaha, the middle frame opened at 4-on-4. That didn’t last long, as the Barracuda took a penalty midway through the sequence, giving Abbotsford a brief 4-on-3 to work with.

Credit where credit is due, the Canucks penalty kill may be a problem this season, but the power play knows how to create looks. And they generated plenty.

Chase Wouters had the first great chance, who was the beneficiary of some nice passing. Somehow, he failed to bury the puck in tight.

But the following sequence clicked.

With the puck moving cleanly around the zone, Berard showed patience as he waited out the screen, then snapped a well-placed short-side shot past Skarek for his (co) team-leading fifth goal of the season.

The goal gave the Canucks a spark. They strung together several strong shifts, pressing San Jose’s breakout and turning quick touches into dangerous looks. And when the Barracuda sent themselves back to the box, Abbotsford made them pay again.

Lekkerimäki did the hard work at the blue line, knocking down a clearing attempt to keep the play alive. The puck worked its way around the perimeter and onto Mueller’s stick in the slot, and he buried his third of the year — his fourth point in as many games.

Then came the moment the Canucks had been searching for: a 5-on-5 goal.

After giving the puck away earlier in the shift, Mynio stuck to the play and intercepted a soft backhand pass. He immediately fired it up ice to a streaking Chase Wouters, who walked in alone and ripped his first of the season under the bar for the go-ahead marker.

Suddenly, Mynio was sitting on a three-assist period.

Hoorah!

Who was this team? And what did they do with the 2025–26 Abbotsford Canucks? They looked completely refreshed in the middle frame — aggressive on puck carriers, confident with their touches, and fully engaged in the pace of the game: sixteen shots, three goals and a come-from-behind lead. The vibes were good heading into the third period.

Sure, the vibes were high. But one negative thought hung over everything.

The Canucks entered the night with a minus-42 goal differential. Eighteen of those goals against had come in the third period alone. It’s been the frame that has buried them more often than not, and you could feel that history creeping back into the building.

And wouldn’t you know it — the Barracuda were gifted one early.

Halttunen drove wide and floated a harmless-looking lob toward the net. Pavol Regenda got a stick on it, tipping it downward and handcuffing Tolopilo and in the softest fashion imaginable, the puck trickled through to even the score.

Just like that, the vibe flipped. Passes stopped connecting. The pace sagged. San Jose took control, and Abbotsford failed to generate a single meaningful look. With under four minutes left, the Barracuda pushed the familiar third-period script even further.

Gaining the zone was Filip Bystedt, who threw a routine shot toward Tolopilo. The rebound kicked behind the net, where Bystedt quickly shovelled the puck back through the crease as the netminder scrambled to recover. The puck pinballed around the feet of Jimmy Schuldt and Igor Chernyshov before Chernyshov finally located it and tucked it home.

And with the goalie pulled, San Jose sealed it.

Victor Mancini tried to create traffic with a point shot, but it was blocked cleanly. The Barracuda immediately countered with numbers, where Chernyshov poked the puck past Mancini and sprung Regenda on a breakaway. He buried his second goal of the period to put the game out of reach.

After an incredibly positive second period, the Canucks managed just three shots in the third and gave up three goals of their own. Their third-period goal differential now sits at minus-21.

Final shots: SJ 32, ABB 22
Final score: SJ 5, ABB 3

For all the frustration this season has brought, the second period showed that there’s still something to pull from this group. They played fast, they played connected, and for the first time in a while, they dictated a full stretch of hockey instead of reacting to it.

But the reality is hard to ignore. The third period continues to be their undoing, and until they can steady their game when it matters most, the results will keep slipping away.

Tolopilo’s return is a positive, and Sawyer Mynio played a good game – or, at least a period – with three assists. But moral victories don’t move you up the standings, and Abbotsford has now watched multiple winnable nights crumble in the same fashion.

At some point, the execution late in games has to match the push they’re showing earlier. Until then, this season will keep feeling like flashes of progress overshadowed by a recurring, familiar collapse.

These teams will square off again on Saturday night for the second leg of a back-to-back. The puck drops at 7:00 pm PT at the Tech CU Arena.