The Abbotsford Canucks have had never made it to the third round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Until tonight, that is.
They now carry the burden of taking down the Western Conference’s top team: the Colorado Eagles.
While that doesn’t necessarily imply any advantage, the Canucks enjoyed a favourable season matchup against their counterparts in Denver.
Having already played eight games against one another, the Canucks held a 6-2-0-0 record, with Arturs Silovs having won all four of his starts against the Eagles.
Silovs also took first-star honours in both final appearances against them, having stopped 56 of 58 shots. Could that statistic bode well for the Latvian netminder? Considering he had allowed one goal (or fewer) in six of his last nine starts heading in, the benefits were certainly on his side.
And once again, he showed up.
Artus Silvos stopped all 22 shots to pick up his second consecutive shutout, en route to a low-scoring 2-0 victory in game one. Oh, and the game’s first star to make it three successive first-star honours against the Colorado Eagles.
Before we give up all the game’s secrets, let us show you how it all went down:
Starting lineup
A week off was kind to the Abbotsford Canucks, as they welcomed back their rugged defender Jett Woo, who replaced Joe Arntsen.
Bains – Sasson – Lekkerimäki
Di Giuseppe – Mueller – Karlsson
Blais – Khaira – Smith
Nielsen – Wouters – Kambeitz
Brisebois – Mancini
Hirose – Woo
Kudryavtsev – McWard
Silovs
First hitting: A hitting clinic
Arturs Silvos entered the chat right away, stopping Jayson Megna point-blank.
The chance came off a rare and egregious giveaway from veteran defender Guillaume Brisebois. With the puck all alone, Silovs got the goalstick up to set it aside.
Hey, there’s no better way to get yourself into the game after a week off than a high-grade chance off the hop.
From there, the Canucks turned on the rough stuff.
First on the tee was Jett Woo, who caught Tye Felhaber with an old-school hip check as he attempted the Spin-O-Rama move.
Then, Sammy Blais got in on the action, delivering two bone-crushing hits to get his team going in the initial minutes. The veteran forward has been getting his team going all postseason long, and tonight was no different.
He was, and has been, a huge difference maker.
That pressure eventually led to the game’s first power play, as Tristen Nielsen was hauled down after getting past the defence after laying out a hit of his own.
They failed to capitalize, and offensive looks were few and far between during the period.
But the rough stuff was not.
Sammy Blais provided another pair of hits to wrap up a five-hit period from the stingy forward.
The Abbotsford Canucks wrapped up the opening period by killing a too-many-men penalty, thanks to several big-time shot blocks.
And hey, a little luck never hurt anyone, right?
It was an incredibly violent period, but no goals to show.
Shots: ABB 7, COL 5 | Score: ABB 0, COL 0
Second period: Ty Mueller, baby
The Eagles grabbed the early chance for a second straight period.
This time, it was Chris Wagner alone in the slot before rifling a shot steered away by Silovs.
The Canucks finally got their first chance of the period and their best chance of the game at the six-minute mark.
Following the Sammy Blais entry, he found a streaking Akito Hirose. Although he was stopped on his initial chance, he stuck with the puck before setting up Jett Woo alone in the slot.
Looking to go glove side, Trent Miner flashed the leather to deny Woo and keep the game at a scoreless tie.
Shortly after, the Canucks kept their pressure up. This time, Jujhar Khaira found space alone in the slot before ringing the puck off the crossbar.
But the Canucks eventually solved the former Vancouver Giants netminder.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki took a healthy hack at the wrist, sending his team to their second power play of the match.
While he did turn toward the tunnel, the young sharpshooter did return for the third period.
Victor Mancini provided a tremendous keep-in on that ensuing man advantage, leading to the game’s opening goal.
Abbotsford goal – 1-0 – Ty Mueller from Sammy Blais and Linus Karlsson
Following the ring-around, Sammy Blais collected the puck and broke toward the net. Noticing Ty Mueller with space in the slot, he dropped the puck to the rookie.
Making no mistake, Mueller put the puck past Miner for his first Calder Cup goal and the first goal of the third round.
The period was nearly complete, but not before Arturs Silovs stood tall one last time.
Despite a slow start to the period, the Canucks turned up the heat to take the 1-0 lead into the dressing room.
Shots: ABB 15, COL 16 | Score: ABB 1, COL 0
Third period: Arty Party
The initial minutes failed to offer any plays worth noting.
And sporting a 1-0 lead, the Abbotsford Canucks were comfortable with that being the case.
The team’s best chance came just before the period’s midway point.
Thanks to a strong defensive play by Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Max Sasson sprang up the ice for an odd-man rush. Holding for the shot, Sasson placed the puck into the crest of Miner, but it was the right choice given the options.
The AHL doesn’t track hits, but if it did, this game would likely challenge for the postseason’s highest number (complete assumption). It was a warzone, as both teams exchanged several big hits and nasty extracurriculars.
To give you an idea, it took nearly 25 seconds of cross-checks and pushing for the referee to call coincidental minors on this play.
On that 4-on-4, Arshdeep Bains nearly put himself on the TSN highlight reel, putting the Eagles defender in a pretzel with a Spin’O’Rama for the backhand.
With time winding down to the final three minutes, the home team’s game took a slight turn for the worse.
With a great effort from Ty Mueller, he collected the puck and sent a perfect pass toward the net. Linus Karlsson redirected the puck toward Miner, who managed to squeeze his pads tight on the line.
After taking a few shots of his own, Karlsson took liberties on an Eagles defender, grabbing a two-minute penalty for roughing.
The Abbotsford crowd was not pleased with the call, to say the least.
Down a man at a crucial time, the Canucks continued their willingness to sacrifice the body, getting In the way of several shots to kill their 23rd consecutive penalty throughout this year’s postseason.
Sporting a 100 percent kill rate, they are one of just two teams to have yet to allow a goal on the penalty. The other? The Calgary Wranglers, who played just two games after being swept in round one.
Abbotsford goal – 2-0 – Victor Mancini
With the penalty over, and the Eagles pressing hard for the equalizer, Victor Mancini stepped up to the plate to offer a sigh of relief for the entire fanbase.
With the Eagles passing the pill around, the defender provided an incredible read to step up and intercept the cross-ice dish. Using his incredible skating speed, he deposited the first goal of his postseason into the empty net to ice the game with a 2-0 victory.
The Canucks are now 6-0 when leading after two periods of play as they push toward their sixth victory of the postseason.
What’s next?
The series gets a single-day break before Game 2 on Sunday evening. The puck drops at 6:00 pm PT at the Abbotsford Centre.
Here is the full remaining schedule:
Sunday, May 18 – 6:00 pm @ ABB
Wednesday, May 21 – 7:05 pm @ COL
Friday, May 23 – 7:05 pm @ COL
Monday, May 26 – 3:05 pm @ COL
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