The Abbotsford Canucks rolled into Manitoba riding a sizzling five-game win streak, a surge that’s vaulted them up the Pacific Division standings.

With only 12 games left in the AHL season, their cushion isn’t yet cozy—but history favoured them, boasting a 15-6-1-0 all-time record against the Moose and a 3-1-0-0 mark this season.

On Friday night, they lived up to the hype, jumping out to a wild 3-1 first-period lead and never looking back.

Max Sasson orchestrated a dazzling three-assist night while a stifling defence put on a clinic in their own end.

The 4-2 victory—making it 4-1-0-0 in the season series—stretched their run to six straight, perfect timing as the playoff push intensifies.

Here’s how they tamed the Moose.

Bains – Sasson – Nielsen
Blais – Räty – Khaira
Di Giuseppe – Mueller – Klimovich
Smith – Wouters – Kambeitz

Wolanin – Woo
Brisebois – McWard
Hirose – Kudryavtsev

Tolopilo

Time flew by in the initial five minutes with no whistles, just tons of back-and-forth action, despite a measly combined three shots.

The Moose nearly struck first blood off a Cole McWard giveaway when his cross-ice pass hit a pressuring skate, and Brad Lambert swooped in to drive the net.

Dropping it to Elias Salomonsson, the Moose picked up a grade-A chance. The backhand bid failed, but Ben King pounced on the loose puck, only for McWard to swat it to safety.

Just moments later, the Canucks took the game’s first penalty, sending them to the penalty kill. Luckily, their PK has been a strong suit, firing at 83.3% on the year. They allowed just one shot, keeping things scoreless early on.

Then the game broke loose.

It all started with Tristen Nielsen, who capitalized off a terrific cross-ice feed from Arshdeep Bains, sprung loose by Max Sasson’s excellent work.

It took 25 seconds for the Canucks to double that lead, utilizing an identical play.

This time, Danila Klimovich received the perfect pass from Ty Mueller. Corralling the puck, Klimovich sold the shot before showcasing his smooth hands to open up Chris Driedger and slide it past him.

That two-goal lead lasted less than two minutes, though.

Working inside the offensive zone, former Arshdeep Bains teammate Ben King (Red Deer) sent the puck toward the point.

Wasting no time was Axel Jonsson-Fjällby, who rifled the one-timer from the point to beat Tolopilo up high.

He got everything he had on the puck, and Tolopilo saw absolutely nothing with a healthy battle in front of him.

But guess what? It took just 30 seconds for the Canucks to re-double that lead.

After a routine collection, Tolopilo mismanaged his pass, sending the puck directly to the stick of a Moose.

The puck came out to the slot, where Mason Shaw forced the turnover. The netminder dove to commit grand larceny and Shaw hit the post with his rebound.

Going the other way, Sasson made the beautiful move to slide through the defence on the rush, sneaking the soft pass through to Nielsen. We say beautifully, fully recognizing that he pulled all three Moose players toward him, leaving Nielsen all alone in the slot.

Just like his first, he went short side for his second Goal of the period and 12th of the season.

After a crazy sequence, things calmed down a bit, allowing the building to catch its breath. Abby enjoyed the two-goal lead after 20 minutes.

That top line, racking up six points in the first, nearly tripled the lead early in the middle frame.

Forcing the giveaway, Sasson dropped the puck to Nielsen—on hat-trick watch—but he could not get full control. Sending a weak puck toward Driedger, who gave up the juicy, albeit weak, rebound that popped back out to Sasson.

The Canuck forward beat the netminder, but couldn’t beat the post.

That was the pinnacle of the opening half, as teams exchanged chances, but none particularly dangerous.

The team’s best chance came in the final few minutes, where Kirill Kudryavtsev broke up the rush and sent a quick-acting stretch pass to Jujhar Khaira.

Behind the Moose defence, the Surrey native went one-on-one with Driedger, who stood tall to close the five-hole.

It took nearly the entire period, but Tolopilo made his best save of the period in the very late stages. Sliding over on the turnover, he dropped down to get the little toe on the Ben King shot to set the puck aside.

After a thrilling first period, the game saw no goals in the second as the Canucks held on to their 3-1 lead.

The Abbotsford Canucks kicked off the final frame with a big penalty kill, their second of the night.

The away team had done a tremendous job clogging up lanes all night, and any time the Moose had an opening, things were shut down immediately.

The Canucks have done a tremendous job at shutting teams down in the third all season, and tonight was different.

While they’d prefer a goal, they managed to eat two minutes of time just past the midway mark with a powerplay of their own.

In the time when the Moose did find a shot, Tolopilo held up his end of the bargain.

The Bellursian has enjoyed very steady form in recent weeks, and this game was no exception. He was looking for his third consecutive victory.

But a chink in the Armour was detected late in the game.

With Brad Lambert curling back, he sent the puck to the point where it was blasted toward the net. Stapled in front, Jonsson-Fjällby got the stick on it to deflect it to the opposite side, cutting the lead to just one.

Luckily, the Canucks got some luck, with the Moose taking a boarding call just seconds after crawling back on the scoresheet.

Eating up valuable time, the Canucks capitalized On the late man-advantage.

Captain Chase Wouters outmuscled the Moose defender, clinging to the boards and keeping possession. Dropping it down to Sasson, he spun and quickly fed Ty Mueller all alone at the netfront to double the lead and finish things off.

The Canucks put up a solid defensive effort, holding the Moose to just two goals, and offered very little in the high-danger department.

While he got help from sound defence, Nikita Tolopilo posted another strong game. For him, that’s three straight wins, with just four goals allowed on 86 shots.

Up front, Max Sasson’s three assists dazzled, while Tristen Nielsen’s two first-period strikes, including the game-winner, led the charge.

That’s six consecutive wins for the Abby Canucks, catching fire as the season’s final stretch looms.

These two teams are back at it on Saturday as they square off for game two of the doubleheader series. The puck drops at 4:00 pm PT at the Canada Life Centre.