Contrary to the typical narrative, the first round of the AHL playoffs is a sprint.

With just three games to play, it’s the first team to two wins, and as Abbotsford Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra mentioned before puck drop, there’s no time to work things out as you go.

“There’s no real room to dip your toe in and weigh into a series,” Malhotra said. “You have to come out ready to play from the start, and there’s not a lot of room for error.”

For the first time, the Tucson Roadrunners and the Abbotsford Canucks squared off in the playoffs and with an accomplished franchise best 44 wins, the Canucks earned home-ice advantage for the opening round.

That means that all three games, if necessary, will be played at the Abbotsford Centre.

On Wednesday, things kicked off for game one, which ended up being an entertaining and nail-biting result.

Despite a sloppy start, the Canucks took over the game, scoring three second period goals to take a commanding lead. Unwilling to go down without a fight, the Roadrunners made the game close, getting things to within just one goal.

A late, and we mean late, penalty shot forced Arturs Silovs to stand tall and ice the game for an opening game victory.

Let’s check out how things went down.

With most of their top brass brought in from Vancouver, the home team iced one of the more potent AHL squads leaguewide.

Whether it’s a Stanley Cup Champion like Sammy Blais, a longstanding AHL veteran such as Christian Wolanin, and a plethora of highly skilled youngsters, the Abbotsford Canucks were filled with enough talent to make any team nervous.

Bains – Räty – Lekkerimäki
Di Giuseppe – Sasson – Karlsson
Blais – Mueller – Klimovich
Khaira – Wouters – Nielsen

Wolanin – Mancini
Brisebois – Woo
Hirose – Kudryavtsev

Silovs

The first few moments saw some back-and-forth neutral zone play, with several offside plays and time-consuming whistles. Nerves are always an expected element of opening games, and this one was no different.

The Roadrunners grabbed the game’s first shot, with Austin Poganski collecting the puck before driving hard to the net.

While Silovs made the save, it sparked a spirited playoff-esque skirmish in the blue paint to shed some nerves.

Once the game saw its first brou-haha happen, things opened up with an advantage to the home team.

Just a few shifts later, the Canucks conceded the games first penalty, with Linus Karlsson serving two minutes for high-sticking.

Kalrsson is public enemy number one on a good day, and in the playoffs, you can expect a lot of abrasiveness from him.

Tucson’s man advantage lasted only half the time, with them failing to generate a single shot on net. Off a chipped-out puck, the Roadrunners kicked off a quick change where Arshdeep Bains forced a too-many-men call.

From here, the Canucks begun to wake up and take over the game’s momentum.

Victor Mancini went to work off the ensuing four-on-four face-off, showcasing his fluid skating and puck protection skills. Sending the puck to the net, Max Sasson got a stick on the puck to post the Canucks’ first shot of the series.

Moments later, the home team would pick up the game’s top chance, courtesy of Max Sasson, who was all over the ice throughout the first frame.

Gaining the zone himself, Sasson’s puck found its way to Aatu Räty, who slid it back to Sasson to force Matthew Villalta to make his best save.

They kept the charge going.

Showing incredible speed, Bains broke the ice before sliding the puck to a rushing Räty. Showing off his vision, he snuck the puck toward Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who broke in all alone before firing it five-hole.

That momentum finally produced results.

Stemming from a strong reverse hit by the captain, Chase Wouters, the puck found its way to Guillaume Brisebois. Rather than shooting, he found Jett Woo, who sent over the perfect cross-ice feed toward Tristen Nielsen.

With his stick in the right place, Nielsen redirected the puck past the netminder to light the roof on fire and open the postseason scoring.

After a few additional looks from the home team, the Roadrunners responded with a late Tally.

Following a failed clearing attempt from not one, but two Canucks, Montana Onyebuchi sent the puck toward the net. Stationed in the slot, Hunter Drew got the stick on it for the perfect deflection past Arturs Silovs.

Alhough thr scoreboard, nor the shot tracker would show it, the Canucks came out strong and maintained most of the opening frame’s pressure. They spent several moments inside the Roadrunners’ end, providing a good forecheck and speed.

Alas, it was a 1-1 stalemate through 20 minutes.

The Roadrunners kciled off the middle frame with a penalty, sending the Canucks to their second attempt of the game.

Following Christian Wolanin’s double toe drag, he sent the puck toward Sammy Blais, who had his shot blocked.

Turning things up the ice quickly, Austin Poganski rushed up, looking for a shorthanded breakaway. With Wolanin catching up, he settled for the blocker shot, which was set aside with ease by Silovs.

At the other end, they made things count.

Thanks to a nice second effort to keep the puck from Bains, he moved the puck up to Phil Di Giuseppe, who gave it to Sammy Blais.

Leaning into it, Blais teed up a howitzer, beating Villalta clean up top to give the Canucks their second lead of the game.

Enjoying that one-goal lead, things got quiet midway through the period, with little action at either end.

The Canucks did enjoy a penalty kill during that time, allowing just one semi-good chance.

They took that kill and ran with it.

Off the transition, Arshdeep Bains made the perfect heads-up play to send a streaking Linus Karlsson off the bench.

Breaking down the wing, Karlsson went top corner to double the team’s lead at 3-1.

Moments later, the Roadrunners were dealt a dagger, with their captain catching a five-minute major with a nasty hit on Akito Hirose.

Despite receiving the major, Poganski was able to stay in the game, but the Canucks went to work anyway.

Going for a spin at the blueline, Sammy Blais carried the puck toward the net, sending it down to Max Sasson below the goal line.

The puck took a few favourable bounces off the attempt to get it back to him before finding Blais’s stick. But once it did, he made no mistake for his second goal of the game.

Tucson did manage to respond, though.

Working the perimeter, Linus Karlsson sent the puck across the ice, but just behind his closest teammate.

Collecting the puck was Cameron Hebig, who turned on the jets down the ice. Selling shot, he sent the puck to Travis Barron, who deposited the quick one-timer past Arturs Silovs.

Once again, the Canucks handled the majority of the period. The only difference? They were rewarded for their efforts with three goals and a two-goal lead heading into the final frame.

The Abbotsford Canucks have been one of the best teams in the American League when leading after 40 minutes.

They were looking to add to that reputation.

And Arturs Silovs was doing his part, getting the shoulder up for a pair of saves early in the period.

What’s a playoff game without a huge Jett Woo hit, right?

But Tucson wasn’t out of the game just yet.

Although it went undetected, Jett Woo got his stick on the initial shot, saving a goal.

However, with the puck back at the blue line, Artem Duda played hot potato before sending a puck toward the net that made its way past Silovs.

What once felt like a potential landslide suddenly became a single goal, with ample time remaining.

But the Canucks did get back on their toes and after several hits along the boards, the Canucks earned themselves another powerplay.

Despite the big opportunity to collect some added insurance, the Roadrunners earned the kill, putting them at 2/6 on the powerplay.

Heading into the final five minutes, Silovs continued to keep the game out of reach for the Runners. This time, tossing out the quick blocker on a slam-dunk one-timer attempt.

And then it happened.

Despite the Canucks getting the puck out some nervous in-zone pressure to clear the puck to safety, the whistle was called. Why, you ask? With the net sitting off its moorings, it was deemed that Silovs had knocked it off on his own.

As a result, Tucson was handed a penalty shot with 35 seconds remaining in the game.

Yes, 35.

The Roadrunners selected defenceman Max Szuber, who attempted the backhand-forehand move, but Silovs stood tall, sliding over to make the save and secure the victory.

Despite a close game that game down to the wire, and we mean literally, the Canucks held on for the 4-3 victory to take Game one of th best-of-three mini series.

These two teams are right back at it on Thursday, battling it out for Game 2. With the Canucks victory, it’s win and move on, while Tucson will look to force a do-or-die situation. Puck drops at 7:00 pm at the Abbotsford Centre.