Manny Maltora is in a tough spot.

With the majority of his roster either plucked from Vancouver or sitting on the sidelines injured, it’s been a tough stretch for him and the reigning Calder Cup champions.

But Tuesday was a chance to seek redemption against an opponent who had just two wins on the season and struggled to gain any momentum from one game to the next.

And contrary to the final score, the Canucks actually gave them a solid run for their money. Up until midway through the third period, the Canucks were not only in the game, but carrying momentum for significant stretches.

But sometimes, you just hit a hot goaltending performance. And that’s precisely what happened.

The Wrangles rattled off three quick goals in the third period, and thanks to the terrific performance from Ivan Prosvetov, it was a lead the Canucks could not recover from.

The AHL is a development league, so lineup shuffles are expected. But right now, it’s giving shades of an ECHL lineup, rather than a developing AHL one.

The Abbotsford Canucks could sure use a knight in shining armour.

With so many bodies either injured or in Vancouver, the Abby lineup continues to see shake-ups.

On the backend, Jayden Lee made his AHL debut, while the brunt of the responsibility from the backend would fall on 20-year-old Sawyer Mynio.

Nikita Tolopilo injured himself in a game last week and, as anticipated, was left off the roster for this game. Ty Young got the nod in place of him.

MacEachern – Mueller – Kravtsov
Durandeau – Labate – Berard
Ravinskis – Khaira – Stillman
Alriksson – Wouters – Kambeitz

Schuldt – Mynio
Knyzhov – Lee
Arntsen – Daschke

Young

Scratched: Danila Klimovich, Josh Bloom, Jackson Kunz, Aku Koskenvuo
Injured: Jett Woo, Guillaume Brisebois, Nikita Tolopilo, Cooper Walker

It took nearly three minutes for this game to see its first shot.

And it came courtesy of Vilmer Alriksson, who was riding high in vibes after scoring his first professional goal on Sunday.

Despite that being the only shots across the first five minutes, that span was all Canucks as they pressed the Wranglers in for most of the opening stretch.

The best chance of the first half came courtesy of the top line, as MacKenzie MacEachern, Vitali Kravtsov and Ty Mueller went to work on the cycle.

Working hard on the offensive end, MacEachern did a fabulous job in stealing the puck to reset the team’s pressure.

Receiving the puck all alone in front, MacEachern attempted to shovel a backhand past Ivan Prosvetov. But, as would be the case all night, a steady, composed save put a stop to those plans.

At the other end, Ty Young was getting his feet wet and was forced to make a stop on a breakaway courtesy of one of the hottest scorers in the league: Matvei Gridin, who had points in each of his four games heading in.

The Wranglers pulled off a terrific three-pass breakout, which led to the chance, but Young shut the door to deny him the five-hole attempt.

It was the Canucks who grabbed the game’s first penalty, with Joe Arntsen getting the call for clutching on the Wrangler jersey.

Although the Wranglers spent nearly the entire two-minute stretch in the Abby zone, they failed to see any significant chances.

Two failed clearing attempts held the initial defensive unit out on the ice, but they managed to come out unscathed.

Shortly following the kill, Chase Wouters was jumped by forward Alex Gallant after the Abby captain hit a Wrangler forward in the corner.

That sparked chaos, as it took several minutes to gather all of the evidence and decide on a punishment.

At the end of it, the Canucks were handed a significant opportunity, as Gallant was given an unsportsmanlike major penalty in a scuffle, sending the Canucks to a five-minute power play.

But it wasn’t great.

The Canucks were unable to capitalize, while the Wranglers did a stand-up job at getting in lanes, blocking shots and breaking up plays.

Although the home team was the better one, doubling the visitors’ shot total, they ran into a hot goalie who kept the score at bay.

The Canucks began the middle frame like they did in the first, working a strong cycle game that resulted in several looks toward the net.

Although no registered shots came off the pressure, it was a good start to kick off the period.

That pressure led the Wranglers to take a penalty, sending the Canucks to another man advantage.

Mueller grabbed the best chance off the rush after Arnaud Durandeau sent the puck toward Mueller, who drove the net and nearly tucked the puck through Prosvetov.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a complete play without Vilmer Alriksson poking at the puck to kick off yet another post-whistle brou-haha.

The Wranglers were nearly home free, but just as their skater was set to join the play, Sawyer Mynio made a nice move and forced a defender to deliver the can opener and haul the smooth-skating defender down.

Back to the power play.

Mueller, once again, notched the best chance after he picked Daimon Hunt’s pocket clean to send himself all alone.

Prosvetov continued to play a composed game, throwing out the pad with relative ease.

Meanwhile, Young, who was not very busy through the first half, was holding up his end of the bargain.

Just past the midway point of the period, Durandeau received the gift that everyone wishes for as head into the penalty box.

After serving a two-minute penalty, he re-entered the ice just as the transition was in the process of happening.

Being sprung by Wouters, he went one-on-one with Prosvetov, who got the better of him.

Another shot, another pad save.

Young made his best save of the game after Martin Frk blew past the Abby defence, cutting wide to force Young to kick the puck out. It was another impressive breakout from the visiting Wranglers.

The Canucks wrapped up the period with one last penalty kill, with Jujhar Khaira taking yet another hooking penalty.

The Canucks got themselves into some penalty troubles, earning three straight infractions in the back half of the period.

As a result, they spent most of their period on the defence, keeping the stalemate alive.

Contrary to the prior periods, the third period was all Calgary early, beginning with the back half of the man advantage and keeping the pressure going.

Young continued to track well, though.

In addition to running the top power play and penalty kill, driving play up the ice, Mynio continued to impress with a few shots blocked.

If there was any player to better his game from the start of the season, it’s the youngest defender on the team.

But first, more Ty Young.

But the young – no pun intended – goaltender could only last so long, as he was finally bested midway through the period.

At the end of a long shift, the Abby defence allowed Yan Kuznetsov to break through the slot, receiving the perfect pass from Kerins.

Showing good patience, he went to the backhand to trickle one past the netminder to open the scoring after nearly 50 minutes of play.

To make matters worse, Jimmy Shchuldt provided a horrid giveaway behind his own net in the very next play, forcing him to haul down his check and take another penalty.

And on that power play, the Wranglers doubled down.

Although the Canucks had enjoyed a decent kill up to this point, the Wranglers worked the puck around nicely before Aydar Suniev crept into the open space to pounce on his first AHL goal.

And with that goal, the floodgates opened, as the visiting team tripled up just moments later.

Arnaud Durandeau, the new guy, coughed up the puck on two occasions in the offensive zone. After the second, Lucas Ciona found a wide-open Rory Kerins for the third in quick succession.

As expected, that final stretch cost them this game, and they could not bounce back.

The Canucks played a fine game, showing some positives, but ran into an extremely hot netminder in Ivan Prosvetov and too many unnecessary stick infractions.

Considering the sheer volume of bodies out of the lineup, however, the fact that they are struggling should come as no surprise.

That said, the Canucks came out buzzing and held play for the majority of the opening two periods, but just couldn’t find offence when needed.

It’s a theme that will likely stay true, should they continue to be forced to ice a lineup with this level of skill and experience.

MacKenzie MacEachern – No one figured on the scoresheet in this one, but the new assistant captain was all over the ice and grabbed three shots on goal.

Ty Young – If you missed the game and looked at the stats, you may be wondering how the losing netminder with three goals against could grab the second star. Yet, for a second straight start, Young’s game was much better than the final result shows. He made several strong saves and kept his team in the game as long as he possibly could.

Sawyer Mynio – With the go-to options enjoying time at Rogers Arena, the backend was left to 20-year-old Sawyer Mynio. He was first line on everything in this game and showed he was capable of handling that responsibility with several blocked shots, three shots on goal, and a penalty drawn. Looking more composed with each passing game, Mynio may be the best story coming out of Abbotsford right now.

These two opponents will face each other for the back half of the two-game set on Wednesday night. The puck drops at 7:00 pm PT at the Abbotsford Centre.