In their fourth and final matchup of the season against the San Diego Gulls, the Abbotsford Canucks aimed for a commanding 3–1 series win.

Despite a chance for victory, the Canucks fell short, dropping a 2-1 decision in a shootout.

The game felt promising as the Gulls were missing one of their key cogs in Olen Zellweger, who was making his NHL debut in Anaheim. Unfortunately, the opportunity was lost, and the Canucks faced a tough defeat in their fifth game in eight nights.

Let’s check in to see how things splayed out.

The Abbotsford Canucks remain banged up, with Christian Wolanin, Sheldon Dries, Ty Glover and Dmitri Zlodeev all out of the lineup.

Additionally, both Linus Karlsson and Mark Friedman — who had been strong in his four-game stint — stayed back in Vancouver for the road trip.

With that, they ran with their lineup from the previous weekend, with the exception of Marc Gatbomb drawing back into the lineup.

Arturs Silovs got the nod for his second consecutive game, after grabbing his first win in three attempts on Sunday.

Looking back at their doubleheader over the weekend, each team took turns enjoying strong starts. In tonight’s game, both teams met in the middle, with neither offering much pressure over the first few minutes.

It took nearly four minutes to see the game’s first shot, with Abbotsford providing a low-danger shot floater from the point. This shot seemed to trigger the Canucks, however, as they went on to enjoy a solid shift of sustained pressure, which led to Aatu Räty nearly cashing in as he searches for his first goal since January 3rd.

Jett Woo, who is fresh off his first career multi-goal game, provided the crafty feed to the slot.

Despite being stymied on several occasions, Räty was active in this game.

That led to minutes of, albeit unsuccessful, pressure in the Gulls’ zone. However, that momentum was quickly pulled from under them as they caught an infraction, with Danila Klimovich catching two minutes for hooking.

Talk about a buzzkill from the 21-year-old, who is coming off one of his best games and his first goal of the season on Sunday.

Luckily, the Canucks’ penalty kill, unlike their league-worst (12.4%) power play, is quite strong, and they would kill it with ease, keeping the Gulls to just a single shot on net.

The game saw its best opportunity just before the nine-minute mark, after a strong drive from soon-to-be All-Star Arshdeep Bains. He sent a cross-crease pass which forced Gulls’ netminder, College Clang, to stretch out and carry out grand larceny on Vasily Podkolzin, who continues to search for his first goal in seven games.

The Bains-Podkolzin duo has connected for several high-danger chances over the last couple of games, but just cannot convert on anything. Podkolzin has been shooting at will this season, but his ability to find holes has been slightly concerning.

Over the next few minutes, it was San Diego’s chance to formulate some pressure, firing three shots in a short timeframe, putting Arturs Silovs to the test for the first time of the evening.

Much like the Canucks’ initial zone time, it resulted in a penalty on the offending team– this time, the Canucks would head to man advantage.

Unfortunately, heading to the power play is almost a disadvantage to the Canucks at this point.

Sending out Filip Johansson, Max Sasson, Aidan McDonough, Aatu Räty, and Alex Kannok Leipert first, they did what each unit has done all season long, conceding the best opportunity rather than providing it.

They have allowed the league’s second most shorthanded goals this season (7), and they nearly fell victim once again.

The top unit of Cole McWard, Tristen Nielsen, Arshdeep Bains, Chase Wouters, and Vasily Podkolzin would follow but generate the same amount of flat offensive effort.

Another power play, another pathetic result.

Immediately after that, the teams would exchange more penalties, skating four-on-four to run out the opening frame to a nil-nil result.

Already skating 4v4, Gulls defender Colton White took a delay of game penalty, sending the puck over the glass to continue this game’s power play carousel.

Can you guess how it went?

At this point, it’s impossible to know where the big issues lie on their special teams. Each unit carries some terrific playmakers and shooters who all enjoy success at even strength. As soon as they go up a man, however, their tightly gripped sticks are incredibly noticeable, even from the AHLtv feed – everyone feels tense.

Silovs made his best save of the night at the 14-minute mark of the second frame, stopping a point-blank shot from the slot after the Gulls combined for a crafty cycle and feed to the top of the triangle.

Following some sleepy back-and-forth action, the Canucks took advantage of a San Diego pizza right up the middle.

Off the interception, Danila Klimovich grabbed the puck and rifled home his second goal in as many games.

As they say, when it rains, it pours, and with the monkey off his back, Klimovich is working on getting back to his 2022-23 form and regaining some of that lost confidence.

Of course, the Gulls responded promptly.

As a result of a failed clearing attempt, Pavol Regenda snuck behind the defence to receive a pass, before sneaking the puck short side on Silovs.

Räty nearly regained the lead mere seconds after, using his baseball background – unconfirmed – to bat the puck out of mid-air. Miraculously, Calle Clang was able to track the puck, bobbling it up before the defender got the last piece of it to keep the Finn snake-bitten.

With a hair under five minutes remaining, Canuck defender Filip Johansson sprung Aidan McDonough, who fed a sneaky saucer pass through to Alex Kannok Leipert on a two-on-one. Once again, Clang came up big, shutting the door for his 13th save of the game.

The 24-year-old McDonough, who’s only posted nine points this year, has been playing some of his best hockey in recent games, and it’s translating to some solid offensive opportunities.

The Canucks would wrap up the second with their fourth power play of the game, managing two shots in yet another failed attempt.

After a fast-paced 40 minutes, the Canucks would take a 2-1 lead heading into the final stanza.

Much like the opening minutes of the game, it was slow sledding in the first five minutes.

Vasily Podkolzin, who intercepted the pass in the neutral zone, snapped a shot off the rush for the top chance for either team, which tells you everything you need to know.

Minutes later, Cole McWard, with all of the time in the world, failed to take a look and notice the time he had, firing the puck over the glass for one of the more unnecessary delay of game penalties that you will see.

Luckily, their top-five PK would bail them out again to go a perfect three-for-three on the night, keeping the Gulls without a shot.

Despite some action in his own end, Silovs had yet to feel rubber through 12 minutes, making his first shot all that more tricky.

That didn’t stop him from flashing the leather to pay homage to the newly hired Patrick Roy with this one.

With five minutes to go, the Canucks nearly opened this one up, as Bains pounced on a John Stevens feed. Once again, Calle Clang stretched out to make one, of several, big pad saves.

With the exception of a few back-and-fourth shot attempts, the game would tail off, as both teams played conservative hockey to take it extra time.

In a typical 2024 3v3 overtime, the first four minutes of overtime were spent sizing each other up with neither team seeing many chances — *check that, zero chances.*

Although, the Canucks carried roughly 90% of possession.

As a result of the Canucks playing keep-away, the Gulls grew impatient, clutching Bains with a hook which resulted in a late power play.

Podkolzin did a half-wall blast, but that was as close as they would come…

San Diego Gulls defeats the Abbotsford Canucks 2-1 in a shootout

Shots 25-17 Abbotsford

Tonight’s third star goes to Arshdeep Bains who set up a few attempts, grabbed three shots and added the lone assist to Danila Klimovich’s goal. The 23-year-old now continues to provide this team with offence and has nine points over his last eight games.

The second star goes to the netmidner, Arturs Silovs. Although he was not tested often, finishing the game with just 16 saves, he came up big when needed. It’s not always easy to keep yourself in the game following long stretches of little-to-no action, but he kept the Canucks in this game from start to finish.

Getting back on the saddle, we have Danila Klimovich, who not only collected his second goal in as many games but did so in a true Klimovich fashion — a rocket shot from distance. With a mix of injury and healthy scratches, it’s been virtually impossible for the 21-year-old to catch any sort of momentum, so it’s encouraging to see him start to gain some much-needed confidence. He led the team with four shots tonight.

The Canucks continue their road trip and head to Bakersfield to take on the Condors in a two-game doubleheader which begins on Friday, January 26.

The puck is set to drop at 7:00 PM Pacific time.