The World Series? The Hughes Bowl in Vancouver? No, we know the real show of the day was taking place in Abbotsford, as we were blessed with another installment of the Aku/Aatu Räty Bowl.

Just 16 hours after a heated game that featured 45 penalty minutes in the last 10 minutes, the Abbotsford Canucks and Tucson Roadrunners were back for game two of a doubleheader.

Unfortunately for the Canucks, things got off to a dreadful start, with Abbotsford allowing four goals on 11 shots in the opening frame, setting a tone of a constant game of catchup. A game that they simply could not compete in.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort, oh no. They carried a near-double margined edge in shots but ran into an incredibly stellar netminder. It happens.

Once again, the duo of Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Aatu Räty continued to pour on the pressure, combining for 12 shots and two points. But despite a valiant effort, the Canucks fell short in a spooky loss that left them with a series split.

Let’s dive into how it all unfolded.

The lineup was reshuffled, with Mark Friedman recovering from Tuesday’s third-period injury and Phil Di Giuseppe out due to a tweak in the second period of the previous game. Ty Mueller moved up to the top line, centring Räty and Lekkerimäki, while Carsen Twarynski and Cooper Walker were reinserted into the lineup.

On defence, Kirill Kudryavtsev slid over to the right side to play the top four minutes alongside fellow rookie Elias Pettersson. Meanwhile, Christian Wolanin was inserted as a full-time member after serving as the seventh defender – but not really – on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nikita Tolopilo was back in net after receiving the night off on Tuesday.

It’s every hockey-crazed kid’s dream to make it to the professional stage, but not all get to lineup toe-to-toe with your brother. With Aatu playing on the wing, he and Aku Räty squared off at the opening face-off, battling for position and establishing sibling bragging rights.

Unfortunately, Aku and his Roadrunners had the first laugh—and quickly.

Just 37 seconds in, one of the Vancouver Canucks’ former 2009 draft picks would open the scoring after he fired a shot that slipped past Tolopilo—an uncharacteristically weak goal for the young goaltender.

After the last game’s third-period breakdown, Tuscon coming out strong was somewhat predictable. But 37 seconds into the game kills the mood in a big way.

Things only got worse from there. The Canucks struggled to control the puck, giving up several turnovers and spending long stretches hemmed in their zone. On top of that, their usually reliable netminder was visibly shaky, and Tucson took advantage.

The Roadrunners continued their assault. Patrik Koch fired a wide shot that bounced directly to Hunter Drew, who immediately sent the puck toward the net to be redirected past Tolopilo to double the lead.

The shaky start continued as Tucson kept the pressure on. Minutes later, Connauton, who was all over the ice in this one, launched another blast that squeaked through a screened Tolopilo. Fortunately, this time the puck was cleared before it crossed the line, but the Canucks were on their heels, and Tolopilo was visibly leaky.

Then, a delay of game penalty from Tristen Nielsen left Abbotsford even more vulnerable.

Last week’s AHL Player of the Week, Egor Sokolov, blasted a one-timer on the powerplay to push Tucson’s lead to three. It was turning into an ugly period for Abbotsford rather quickly, but things did turn around. Well, sort of.

Danila Klimovich, who leads the team in shots, goals, and points, tried to spark a comeback. Powering through the high slot, he unleashed a shot, only to be denied by the post. The puck bobbled around, creating a crowd at the netfront, but no one could find the handle.

Later in the period, Dino Kambeitz decided it was time for some payback, challenging Montana Onyebuchi after Onyebuchi’s dangerous hit on Mark Friedman the night before. The tilt was expected, as the two had traded pleasantries during warmup.

Despite the three-goal deficit, the Räty-Lekkerimäki duo kept pushing. Ty Mueller won a face-off, and Wolanin sent the puck toward the net, where it bounced out to Lekkerimäki. A sprawling glove save denied his quick shot, but don’t worry, the Roadrunners soon took a penalty, setting the stage for the Canucks’ first powerplay.

Aka, Lekkerimaki’s first chance at showing off his nasty shot.

Lekkerimäki finally got his team on the board, taking a pass from Wolanin and rifling a classic Lekk-bomb snapshot to the short-side top corner. For the Swedish rookie, that marked goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his young North American career.

Win or lose, it’s incredibly refreshing to have a young talent—several young talents—provide highlights such as this. It’s a fun time to follow the Abbotsford Cnaucks.

The momentum was short-lived, however. Shortly after, a hit on Chase Wouters sparked a brief skirmish, with the Canucks taking a penalty. Tucson quickly capitalized to completely kill the mood just minutes before heading to the dressing room.

Josh Doan corralled a pass and slid a shot under Tolopilo, restoring the three-goal lead.

Allowing four goals on just 11 shots, Tolopilo was noticeably shaken, and despite carrying the edge of shots for the period, the Canucks would head down the tunnel trailing by a wide range.

Hey, just like their elders.

Unsurprisingly, Jiri Patera took over in net for Tolopilo after a rough opening frame. Fresh off Tuesday’s shutout, Patera looked ready to lock things down, allowing just four shots all period as the Canucks tightened up defensively.

Early on, Elias Pettersson made his presence known with a big hit, giving his team a much-needed boost to kickstart what they hoped would be a heroic comeback.

That comeback was off to a swimming start, too.

Soon after, Danila Klimovich turned and delivered what we can only assume was a dump-in attempt. Batting it out of mid-air, Max Sasson sent himself on a rush and snapped a shot past the Tucson goalie to cut the lead to 4-2.

Klimovich’s assist marked his team-leading fifth point of the season, surpassing his entire 2023-24 point total. More importantly, though, they were very much back in this game.

The teams would exchange powerplay opportunities on several occasions throughout this game, and midway through the second, we saw each pull off huge kills for their respective teams.

Now back at even-strength, it was Jett Woo’s turn to embed himself in the physical game, delivering his first big hit of the season.

That led to the puck below the goal line, where Lekkerimäki took the puck from behind the net, spun into the slot, and set up Räty, who dropped to his knees for a one-timer that barely missed.

After another penalty was taken, it was time for Jiri Patera to make his case for save of the week.

Attempting to clear the puck himself, he mishandled it from behind the net, gifting Tucson a golden chance with a gaping net to shoot at. But Patera dove back across the crease, making a Superman save to save the day.

Considering he faced just three shots to that point, one can only wonder if he was just looking for something to keep him in the game…

Thanks to that save, the game remained 4-2, and the Canucks’ continued to press for chances.

Midway through the period, the Canucks punched on an offensive zone breakdown from Tucson, setting themselves up on a 4-on-1 the other way. The issue? It wasn’t exactly the personnel you’d look for in an odd-man rush like that, and the rush fizzled out to nothing.

With the penalties racking up, Abby found themselves on a late 4-on-3 to close out the period, which would eventually carry into the final period.

Despite a 24-15 shot advantage, they would head down by a pair into the room.

Carrying over the 4-on-3 to a fresh ice sheet, the Canucks generated one golden opportunity as Tristen Nielsen found himself alone in front, only to be stymied by the Tucson goalie on a backhander.

Unfortunately, that was as close as it got. The Canucks went 1-for-6 on the powerplay, unable to find a consistent rhythm with the man advantage – at least not enough to solve the opposing netminder. They poured on the shots and generated scoring chances but just couldn’t garner any dangerous plays from in tight.

While the team’s energy sagged, Patera kept up his end of the bargain, making several quick saves to prevent further damage.

In a mostly empty arena, the atmosphere was quiet—until Nielsen woke the crowd with a booming corner hit, injecting a bit of life.

With that life, Lekkerimäki looked to solve the team’s woes himself, slicing through defenders with a dazzling solo effort, only to be thwarted at the last second.

As play continued, Tucson’s Josh Doan powered through the Abbotsford crowd and somehow slipped past the coverage to send himself on an odd-angled breakaway. With little effort, he tucked one over Patera’s shoulder for his second of the game, sealing the Canucks’ fate at 5-2.

Abbotsford continued firing shots, but despite outshooting the Roadrunners 40-21, they couldn’t solve Jaxson Stauber, who stopped an impressive 38 shots to split the doubleheader.

The Canucks didn’t play poorly, per se. Rather, they hit an incredibly hot netminder. They generated 40 shots and were led by Lekkerimäki with eight attempts on the night. But the disastrous first period, courtesy of an uncharacteristic performance from Tolopilo, put Abbotsford in a hole they couldn’t dig out of. Ultimately, they split the series with Tucson and now hold a 4-3-0-1 record after eight games.

The Canucks head south for a three-game road trip in California. They’ll kick off with a doubleheader in San Diego, their third and fourth matchups with the Gulls this season. The puck drops at 6:00 pm Pacific Time at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.