Despite a battered lineup and an ECHL goaltender making his AHL debut, the Abbotsford Canucks delivered one of their most complete performances of the season against the league-leading Colorado Eagles. From the opening puck drop, they played with pace, purpose, and a little bit of swagger — the kind that’s been missing during their recent slump.

Josh Bloom and Nick Poisson each recorded their first career AHL goals, Jonathan Lemieux looked poised and confident in net, and the group pushed the Eagles all the way to a shootout in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd. It wasn’t the ending they wanted, but it was a game that finally felt like a full team effort.

Alriksson–Aman–Berard
Kunz–Mueller–Durandeau
Ravinskis–Labate–Bloom
Poisson–Wouters–Klimovich

Schuldt –Mynio
Knyzhov–Kudryavtsev
Arntsen–Daschke

Lemieux

Scratched: Jayden Lee,  Dino Kambeitz, Robby Drazner
Injured: Jett Woo, Guillaume Brisebois, Nikita Tolopilo, Cooper Walker, Jujhar Khaira, Chase Stillman, Ty Young

Despite some early pressure from the home team, it was the Canucks who drew first blood on the shot clock.

Hoping to gain some momentum early, Anri Ravinskis provided a strong drive to collect his best look of the game. Heck, perhaps of the season.

In fact, give the battered down Abby roster credit, as they held the league’s top team shotless through the initial five minutes. On top of that, they were pressing inside the zone hard while carrying the majority of play during the opening half. And they were rewarded.

Collecting the puck on the rush was Josh Bloom, who drove the net before sneaking the low shot through the legs of Isak Posch.

The goal marks the 22-year-old’s first career AHL goal while skating in his 23rd game.

If there was one element in his game that stands out no matter the level, it’s his above-average speed. He showcased that in this sequence, blowing by the Eagles’ defender before tucking the puck past the goal line. The Eagles picked up their best chance(s) of the period, all courtesy of a Danila Klimovich giveaway — one of many in the period. Spinning and firing an offensive zone Hail Mary, Klimovich sent the Eagles on the perfect transition, leading to several looks.

The young netminder was steady early in his American League debut, squeezing shut any potential opportunities.

He capped off his inaugural period with one final quick leg kick save.

From a Josh Bloom goal to solid defensive efforts and goaltending to heavy offensive pressure, this very well could have been the Canucks’ best period in many games.

On Friday, they managed just 11 shots on net. Today, it took them just 20 minutes to nearly match that.

All in all, there was a noticeable pep in their step.

Unaccepting of their opening period result, the Eagles were looking to even the score early. Lemieux was forced to act sharply after Mark Senden walked Joe Arntsen to grab a pair of shots.

No goals were scored, but Arntsen was called for the slash to send Colorado on their first power play. The Canucks were nearly perfect, allowing just one shot at the tail end of the advantage. As he had been up to this point, Jonathan Lemieux was up to the task.

The Canucks provided the Eagles with another golden opportunity courtesy of an opportune bounce. After the puck took a wild hop off of Nikolai Knyzhov’s boot, Taylor Makar was left sitting all alone on the doorstep. He looked to tuck the puck in tight, but the netminder was ready to bail them out.

And those saves proved huge, as the visiting Canucks grabbed some insurance.

Dodging a probable slashing call was Danila Klimovich, which led to Keaton Middleton coughing up the puck before it fell directly to a streaking Sawyer Mynio. Ready for the one-timer was Nick Poisson, who revived the perfect pass and wired the pinpoint shot to the far side of a sliding Posch.

At 24, Poisson scored his first career AHL goal on his first career AHL shot in his first career AHL game.

Right on.

Meanwhile, the debuting netminder continued to hold up his end of the bargain, tossing up shoulder on a heavy shot from Cale’s brother, Taylor Makar.

But seconds later, the Eagles finally solved him. Twice.

Right after making the last save, Tristen Nielsen used Kirill Kudryavtsev as the perfect screen and fired the shot toward the netminder. Failing to squeeze the legs shut, the puck trickled through ever so slightly before creeping over the line.

Just 42 seconds, former Canuck Tristen Nielsen struck again after being sprung on breakaway off a perfect stretch pass from Alex Barré-Boulet.

Although typically electing for the deke, Nielsen kept it simple with the blocker side shot to even the score in Colorado.

It’s a crying shame, as both the Canucks and Lemieux himself were enjoying a strong game. In a matter of 42 seconds, that was all lost, and this game was all tied up late in the middle frame.

But Lemieux wasn’t about to let that quick stretch ruin his night, composing himself to make some more big saves in the period.

Credit to the Colorado faithful, as the sold out crowd was relentless with their cow bells — you could hardly hear the stream.

But the Canucks were set on snapping this nasty losing streak, and continued to push on the gas.

Midway through the period, while on a 4-on-4, Ty Mueller went for a skate to split the defence for a near highlight reel moment.

The chances kept pouring on, as the Canucks displayed some of the best poise they had shown all season.

Lemieux, too.

Looking to keep that momentum going, the rookie Vilmer Alriksson took matters into his own hands.

Dropping the gloves for the first time in his professional career, 6-foot-6, 234-pound Alriksson shed the mitts with 6-foot-4, 225-pound Alex Gagne.

The Canucks kept the good times rolling, grabbing several more chances on a power play.

Just as the man advantage was set to expire, Danila Klimovich took a clearing attempt to the face. He was down on the ice before heading down the tunnel with a towel covering his face and did not return.

Just what the team needs…one more injury.

Fittingly for one of the team’s more memorable and entertaining games of the season, this one would need overtime to decide a winner.

In the first minute of sudden death, the Canucks were forced to take a penalty after Barre-Boulet got the inside track on Ty Mueller.

With the Eagles closing down the penalty kill, Lemieux fought through catching an edge, somehow getting his blocker on the point-blank shot before getting bailed out by the side of the net.

Despite spending nearly the entire two-minute stretch inside the zone, the Canucks survived the barrage to keep the score even.

A win would have been nice, but after surviving a crazy stretch, the Canucks would gladly take the shootout.

Tristen Nielsen: no goal

Nils Aman: goal

Ivan Ivan: goal

Vilmer Alriksson: no goal

Jayson Megna: goal

Josh Bloom: no goal

Final thoughts

In what was likely the team’s best game of the season, the Canucks fell just short to drop their 10th conseutive game in a shootout. There was alot to like about this game, with the offence pressing hard and their inexepriced netminder stealing a few shots.

Josh Bloom – Scoring his first career AHL goal, Josh Bloom had a decent game and was even given a chance to keep the game alive in the shootout.

Nick Poisson – As mentioned, he scored his first goal on his first shot, in his first game. Even before scoring, he brought energy to the ice and was awarded with additional time throughout the game. For what it’s worth, we firmly beleive that he awarded himself another look in the lineup.

With 24 saves, Jonathan Lemieux had a very strong game in his American League debut. There were several chances which he could have crumbled and allowed the Eagles to topple over the Canucks and earn the lead. But he remained cool, calm and composed.

The Canucks head back to Abbotsford for a midweek series, hosting the San Jose Barracuda on November 11 and 12. Puck drops for game one at 7:00 pm PT at the Abbotsford Centre.