In a rare Monday afternoon matinée, the Abbotsford Canucks hosted their Pacific Division rival for a fun-filled Family Day event.

In front of a packed house of nearly 6,000 fans, the Colorado Eagles were in town for the second leg of the team’s weekend series.

It wasn’t a high-scoring affair for the families to sink their teeth into, but it was tense, filled with nail-biting chances and a final-second shot block that sealed the deal.

Strong performances from Danila Klimovich, Christian Wolanin, and Arturs Silovs propelled the home team to victory. The Canucks completed a two-game sweep with a tight 2-1 win to lift them into fifth place in the Pacific Division, leapfrogging over the San Jose Barracuda.

Let’s recap the action.

Bains – Sasson – Lekkerimäki
Blais – Aman – Nielsen
Mueller – Wouters – Klimovich
Twarynski – Walker – Kambeitz

Kudryavtsev – Mancini
Wolanin – Woo
Arntsen – McWard

Silovs

The lineup saw several changes, with four regulars drawing out the lineup. While it remains unconfirmed, there is a chance that these names will be recalled to Vancouver shortly, as all NHL teams return to play on Tuesday after a relaxing week off. If that’s the case, we should see updates this morning.

Aatu Räty, Linus Karlsson, and Phil Di Giuseppe sat out, replaced by AHLers Dino Kambeitz, Cooper Walker, and Carsen Twarynski.

Those changes ushered in a new top line with Max Sasson joining Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Arshdeep Bains, who have been a red-hot duo in recent games.

On the blue line, Swedish rookie Elias Pettersson was out of the lineup again after returning on Saturday from a three-game absence due to a high shot.

Arturs Silovs, who had won seven of his last eight starts, was in goal for Abbotsford.

The Canucks came out with energy to burn, pressing for an early goal, with Chase Wouters generating the first real chance.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who arguably enjoyed his best game in an Abbotsford jersey on Saturday, nearly potted his 18th of the season.

Max Sasson turned playmaker after missing wide on a two-on-one rush, setting up Lekkerimäki from behind the net. With ample time, Lekkerimäki curled at the top of the circle and fired a shot that rang off the iron.

He wasn’t finished there, though, generating another quality chance on his very next shift.

With points in four straight heading into this match, the young sharpshooter has been incredibly dangerous in every one of his games since returning from injury. Tonight was no different.

Meanwhile, Silovs continued his solid play as a brick wall, turning aside everything he faced in the opening period.

The breakaway attempt struck iron, beating Silovs on the blocker side – a goaltender’s best friend, as they say.

A stretch pass mishap between Victor Mancini and Cole McWard left a player wide open for the clear break. Navigating through their first few shifts as a pair, they’re still finding their rhythm together. But it was a definite communication breakdown.

Just past the midway point, Abbotsford finally broke the deadlock.

Danila Klimovich applied some pressure and found Ty Mueller in the slot, who promptly went top shelf on former Vancouver Giant netminder Trent Miner.

It was a tough bounce for the circling defender, who had the puck hop over his stick at the very last second, setting up the Klimovich retrieval.

Christian Wolanin picked up his 10th point in as many games with the second assist. After a difficult start to the season – struggling to even crack the lineup – the AHL veteran has engineered a remarkable turnaround as he now leads the defence corps with 25 points.

Silovs continued his stellar performance, flashing the leather to rob Jere Innala with a spectacular glove save.

Credit to Silovs, who did a good job tracking the puck. Cole McWard provided the perfect screen in front of his own netminder in an attempt to rid the attacker of the crease.

The Eagles looked to have evened the score as Wyatt Aamodt poked the puck past Silovs but slid over to safety, maintaining the single-goal lead.

Thanks to Silovs’ poise, the Canucks carried their slim advantage into the intermission, despite being outshot.

Silovs was immediately tested in the second period. Colorado forced him to stretch and slide, getting a leg on one shot and benefiting from another friendly bounce off the iron on the rebound.

His athleticism was on full display throughout the period, as he continued to slam the door on every attempt.

Despite some history between these teams, the series had been relatively tame in terms of extracurricular activities. That changed when Victor Mancini laid a big hit on Jean-Luc Foudy, sparking a spirited scrum.

The Canucks emerged from the melee with the first power play of the game.

However, it was the Eagles who generated the first chance. Silovs slid across to get a pad on the shot, which then triggered an odd-man rush for the Canucks.

Arshdeep Bains sent a bouncing pass to Lekkerimäki, who couldn’t quite control it. But Danila Klimovich was there to pick up the slack.

Following a line change, Klimovich collected the puck and drove wide before unleashing a perfectly placed backhand shot to the top shelf for his 15th goal of the season.

How about that backhand tuck? Klimovich is having a breakout season that comes and goes in streaks. But when he’s on, he’s on.

The goal gave both Klimovich and Wolanin their second points of the game. The two points marked his fifth multipoint game of the season for young Danila.

Just minutes later, Max Sasson got in the way of an Eagles outlet attempt, sending himself and Bains on a clear break. After attempting to pull Miner into committing to his shot, he sent the puck over to Bains. But Miner stretched over to get an inch of his little toe on the puck.

Later in the frame, after the teams traded penalties, Klimovich nearly cashed in for his second goal and third point of the game off the give-and-go. Klimovich sent an aerial backhand to Chase Wouters as he broke into the zone, who dragged the puck for the far-side shot. Nearly pouncing on the rebound was Klimovich, but it bounced over his stick at the last second.

The middle frame ended with a dominant shift from the Canucks’ top line, with all five players cycling the puck and nearly tripling their lead.

This line of Bains, Sasson and Lekkerimäki had been buzzing all game, even if they hadn’t yet converted on their prime opportunities.

By this point, it was clear that the Abbotsford Canucks were masters of protecting leads. When leading after two periods, they boasted a 23-0-1 record on the season and were well on their way to making it 24.

With scoring chances few and far between, Max Sasson nearly opened the period’s scoring, stripping the puck in his own zone before turning on the jets. He held onto the puck and fired a shot to the five-hole before batting the puck into the net with his glove.

Unfortunately, this is ice hockey; sadly, plays like that aren’t allowed.

Cole McWard was hoping to get in on the scoring. Making a nice move at the line, he broke in for a drive toward the net, electing for the power wraparound. Miner was just able to pad on the puck.

On a Canucks power play, there was an awkward injury on the play. Building up the ice, Ty Mueller looked to kick off the breakout, but Sammy Blais failed to move and awkwardly clipped Mueller’s feet to send both to the ice.

Blais got the worst end of the deal and was forced to head down the tunnel.

Thankfully, he did return later in the period.

With exactly five minutes remaining, the Eagles finally cracked Silovs and cut the lead in half.

Following a shot from the point, Chris Wagner collected the puck from behind the net and sent a cheeky backhand pass directly to T.J. Tynan, who made no mistake from the doorstep.

Just like that, we had a nail-biting finish.

With the Eagles desperate for an equalizer, they pulled their goalie and threw everything they had at the Canucks, hitting pipes and forcing turnovers.

But the Canucks held on thanks to a sprawling Arshdeep Bains, who stacked his shin pads to preserve the 2-1 victory and secure the two-game sweep at home.

The Abbotsford Canucks extended their near-perfect record when leading after two periods (24-2-0-1) and held on tight for a 2-1 victory. It was a gutsy, low-scoring victory in front of a packed house of 5,686 fans on a Family Day affair.

Danila Klimovich led the charge with a goal and an assist while leading the way with five shots. With his fifth multipoint game of the season, he’s on pace for career highs all around.

With 15 goals, he is just two goals shy of his previous high of 17. He’s also just five shots shy of his previous high, with 117 already. Klimovich’s 21 points are just seven points away from shattering his high of 29.

As for Christian Wolanin, he picked up another multipoint game and now has 11 goals over his last 10 games.

With the two points, they leapfrog over the San Jose Barracuda for the fifth spot in the Pacific Division and are now just seven shy of the division leader, the Calgary Wranglers.

The Canucks head to the airport to catch a late-night flight to San Diego, where they visit the Gulls for a one-game match on Wednesday. The puck drops at 7:00 pm PT at Pachenga Arena.