Friday’s 5-3 loss to the San Jose Barracuda was frustrating, and Sunday’s rematch felt like déjà vu with a twist. The Abbotsford Canucks iced the exact same lineup, brought the exact same problems to the table that have been plaguing them since game two of the season. In a series featuring two of the league’s worst penalty-killing units, this one felt like penalties would decide its result. And ultimately, they did.

Credit to the Canucks, as they fought back from a two-goal hole in the third and showed a real push through 40 minutes, only to watch a late breakdown undo them in overtime. It was another night where progress was visible, but the result looked painfully familiar.

Starting  lineup

The Abbotsford Canucks ran identical lines to game one. Same forwards. Same defence. Same goalie.

Berard–Mueller–Lekkerimäki
Alriksson–Khaira–Klimovich
Ravinskis–Labate–Durandeau
Poisson–Wouters–Kambeitz

Schuldt-Mancini
Knyzhov–Kudryavtsev
Arntsen-Mynio

Tolopilo

Scratched: Josh Bloom, Derek Dashke
Injured: Jett Woo, Guillaume Brisebois, Cooper Walker, Chase Stillman, Nils Aman, Jackson Kunz

First period: Lekkerimäki opens the scoring

The San Jose Barracuda came out fast and furious, piling on the pressure to test Nikita Tolopilo out of the gate.

With a quick barrage of chances, they enjoyed the advantage for the first five minutes. This led them to draw the first penalty call, giving the Canucks a chance to breathe and make a push – and push they did.

Abbotsford goal – 1-0 – Jonathan Lekkerimäki from Ty Mueller and Joseph Labate

Setting up on the man advantage, Berard attempted to thread a pass cross-ice to Lekkerimäki. The puck didn’t reach him cleanly, but after being redirected by Ty Mueller and Joseph Labate, it eventually took a friendly bounce straight onto his stick. Lekkerimäki wasted no time jamming it past the sprawling netminder for his second goal of the season.

What started as a tilted, high-energy push from San Jose quickly turned into a dead-even period on the shot clock, with Abbotsford landing the first punch.

But the home team would get their chance, as penalties took over the game, much as they did in game one.

Later in the frame, the Barracuda nearly found their answer while on the power play after Joseph LaBate went off for tripping. Pavol Regenda poked away at a loose rebound, sending the puck fluttering into the air. It bounced through a mess of bodies, clipped the crossbar, and somehow stayed out.

Between whistles, tempers continued to flare. The bad blood from Friday spilled over. Both teams exchanged shoves, chirps, and penalties as the period wore on.

Abbotsford created another good look on their next power play when the second unit connected on a clean bumper play, forcing Gabriel Carriere into his sharpest save of the night on Vilmer Alriksson.

Lekkerimäki’s early marker stood as the lone goal of the period, and the Canucks carried a one-goal lead into the first intermission.

Shots: SJ 12, ABB 7
Score: ABB 1, SJ 0

Second period: Death by penalties

If you recall Friday’s recap, we noted that this series features two of the league’s worst penalty-killing units, sitting 31st and 32nd overall. Unfortunately for Abbotsford, penalties once again shaped the outcome of the game.

With Arnaud Durandeau in the box early for tripping, San Jose wasted little time getting on the board.

San Jose goal – 1–1 – Oliver Wahlstrom from Luca Cagnoni and Igor Chernyshov

Extending his goal streak to three games, Wahlstrom gathered the puck at the top of the circle and snapped a blocker-side shot past Tolopilo. It marked the Barracuda’s third power play goal of the series — and they weren’t done there.

Moments later, Tolopilo was bowled over by a falling Barracuda forward, who slid directly into the netminder. He appeared no worse for wear, but given how long he’s been sidelined this season, moments like that always send a jolt through the bench.

Ty Mueller, who has been heating up with four points in his last four games, showed off some impressive strength on the next shift. He fought off a defender, protected the puck, and wired a shot off the crossbar to come inches away from restoring the lead.

But that was one of the team’s only good chances of the period, and the play immediately turned the other way.

In the following sequence, Jonathan Lekkerimäki issued a rare shooting mishandle, fanning on a snapshot at the blue line and sending San Jose in on a clean odd-man rush. The feathered pass across was perfect, as the forward deked to the backhand, but Tolopilo read it beautifully and flashed across the crease for one of his best saves of the night.

Then came another penalty. And another power play dagger.

San Jose goal – 2–1 – Oliver Wahlstrom from Igor Chernyshov and Luca Cagnoni

It was almost a carbon copy of his first. Wahlstrom drifted into space at the top end of the umbrella and fired a seeing-eye shot through traffic, this time beating Tolopilo glove side: two goals, same spot, same problem.

San Jose thought they had stretched the lead even further later in the frame when a point shot found its way through a fallen Tolopilo. The Barracuda celebrated, the horn went, but the referees immediately waved it off. The play went to a quick review, but with blatant goaltender interference, the call stood as no goal, and Abbotsford dodged a bullet to stay well within striking distance.

The score stayed 2–1 through the rest of the period as the Canucks struggled to find any rhythm at even strength.

Shots: SJ 24, ABB 12
Score: SJ 2, ABB 1

Third period: Cue the comeback

Jump ahead to the fourteen-minute mark, where the Canucks were a handful of seconds from enjoying a full power play. They’ve been automatic lately on the man advantage, so this should help, right?

Well, not quite. Just seconds into the opportunity, the Barracuda sent the puck down the ice, where Igor Chernyshov won the race cleanly.

San Jose goal – 3–1 – Igor Chernyshov from Braden Haché and Vincent Iorio

Chernyshov broke free with speed, spotted daylight under the blocker, and fired a quick shot past Tolopilo on the far side to double the lead shorthanded.

But Abbotsford responded promptly.

Abbotsford goal – 3–2 – Vilmer Alriksson from Chase Wouters and Kirill Kudryavtsev

Returning to the bumper setup, Chase Wouters fed a planted Alriksson in the slot from behind the net. The big winger made no mistake, snapping it through the goaltender to pull Abbotsford back within one.

And with that, the special-teams carousel kept turning as all five goals had been courtesy of the power play.

Then came an even-strength goal — only the second of the entire weekend for Abbotsford, and the first non-power play marker of this game.

Abbotsford goal – 3–3 – Kirill Kudryavtsev from Dino Kambeitz and Nick Poisson

Dino Kambeitz made the play possible, digging along the wall before cutting inside and protecting the puck. His backhand attempt toward the net glanced off a defender and fell perfectly to Kudryavtsev. The defender showed patience, picked his spot, and tucked a clean glove-side snapper for his first goal of the season.

Despite being heavily outshot throughout the night, the Canucks clawed back to even the score and force a deadlock late in regulation.

This one was headed for overtime.

Shots: SJ 32, ABB 19
Score: SJ 3, ABB 3

Overtime: Bystedt wins it

Tolopilo opened overtime with a sharp stop after Kirill Kudryavtsev fumbled under pressure in the corner, leading to a prime chance for the home team.

On the next rush, San Jose closed out the weekend.

San Jose goal – 4–3 – Filip Bystedt from Quentin Musty and Vincent Iorio

Bystedt curled deep in his own zone to build speed, gathered the puck at his own blue line, and motored up ice. As he entered the Abbotsford zone, he walked around Jujhar Khaira with ease, gaining inside positioning and keeping the puck on his forehand. From there, he lifted it up and over Tolopilo to seal the series in sudden death.

It was not Khaira’s best effort, as he made little effort to stop the speeding Bystedt.

Abbotsford’s penalty kill finished the weekend at 4-for-8, and the Canucks walked away with back-to-back losses to extend what has been a brutal stretch in their 2025–26 season.

At 3-12-1-2, they now sit in 31st place league-wide, hovering just two points above the basement.

Final shots: SJ 35, ABB 20
Final score: SJ 4, ABB 3

Final thoughts

The Canucks showed real pushback in the late stages of this one, battling through a messy middle frame and clawing their way back from a two-goal deficit. Their young players continued to step up, their power play looked dangerous, and they got some timely saves from their netminder.

But the same issues that have haunted them all year reappeared. Penalties cost them momentum, their penalty kill couldn’t hold firm, and breakdowns in key moments erased much of the good work done earlier in the night. Even with Tolopilo back and contributing solid minutes in goal, the inability to close out games remains a defining theme.

Until those are addressed, especially late in games and on special teams, the road to climbing out of the bottom of the standings will remain steep.

What’s next?

Abbotsford will wrap up its six-game road trip next week with a trip to Tucson for its first meeting of the season with the Roadrunners. Game One goes Friday, November 28, at 2:00 p.m. PT at the Tucson Convention Center Arena.