While the Vancouver Canucks’ train seems to be wobbling off the tracks, things are running smoothly down in Abbotsford.

With a weekend sweep of their former affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, the baby Canucks are now riding a four-game win streak. Over their last 10 games, they’ve posted an impressive 8-2-0-0 record while outscoring their opponents 41-19.

After a shaky start to the 2024-25 campaign — marred by injuries, call-ups, and new faces adjusting to roles — Abbotsford has found its groove. Chemistry is building, and with some NHL talent trickling down, the team is now just two points shy of second place in the Pacific Division.

This weekend brought two games of pure dominance. The Moose were outmatched in every sense of the word, whether it was solid offensive sound pressure, good defending, or solid goaltending.

As the title of this recap shows, Nikita Tolipolo stood tall to deliver back-to-back goose eggs.

Let’s check out how things unfolded.

Nielsen– Aman – Karlsson
Di Giuseppe – Mueller – Lekkerimäki
Stevens – Smith– Wouters
Glover – Walker – Kambeitz

Pettersson – Woo
Brisebois – Kudryavtsev
Wolanin – McWard

Tolopilo

The big addition to Saturday’s lineup was the return of Phil Di Giuseppe, who slotted in on the second line alongside rookies Ty Mueller and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.

The rest of the lineup stayed intact from last weekend’s series sweep. Between the pipes, Nikita Tolopilo got the call.

Few traditions in sports rival Teddy Bear Toss Night.

There’s nothing quite like having the game stop for 20 minutes as the ice crew collects hundreds upon hundreds of teddy bears covering the ice sheet.

The only risk of having fun events such as the teddy bear toss is having to endure the embarrassment of going scoreless and failing to break the teddy bear seal.

Luckily, the Abbotsford Canucks didn’t have to worry about any of that, and Abbotsford didn’t disappoint.

Just before the midway point of the opening frame, Jett Woo toe dragged, which left the Manitoba defender sliding into oblivion, before firing the puck past Kaapo Kähkönen.

The goal was Woo’s second of the season and, more importantly, triggered the avalanche of stuffed animals.

Abbotsford controlled the play throughout the period, outshooting Manitoba 12-7 and heading into the second with a 1-0 lead.

Linus Karlsson returned to the lineup after an 18-game absence last weekend, and boy, has he been making his mark.

Late in the middle frame, Jett Woo fired a shot toward the net that hit a bundle of bodies. Karlsson was the final player to get a stick on it, and he redirected his fourth goal of the season and first of two on the night.

The Canucks held the Moose to just four shots in the period, as they doubled their lead to head down the tunnel with a 2-0 lead.

Karlsson added another in the final frame, banging home a loose puck after Christian Wolanin and Nils Åman failed to convert on a three-on-one.

The goal gave Karlsson five points in three games since returning, while Åman’s assist marked his second consecutive multipoint effort. Åman now leads Abbotsford in scoring with 15 points (2G, 13A) in 15 games.

On the defensive side, Tolopilo faced just eight shots in the final 40 minutes, stopping all 15 he faced for his second shutout of the season.

With a 3-0 score and a 33-15 shot advantage, this one can be chalked down as a flawless victory.

Di Giuseppe – Aman – Karlsson
Bains – Räty – Lekkerimäki
Stevens – Mueller – Smith
Glover – Wouters – Kambeitz

Pettersson – Woo
Brisebois – Kudryavtsev
Wolanin – McWard

Tolopilo

Abbotsford’s lineup received another major boost with the return of Aatu Räty and Arshdeep Bains, who joined Lekkerimäki on the second line. Tristen Nielsen, however, missed the game after appearing to labour through Saturday’s contest. With Räty back, Ty Mueller dropped to the third line for the first time in weeks.

Tolopilo got the nod again after his shutout performance in Game One.

There were no teddy bears in this one, but it did not take long for the Canucks to break the seal.

The hardworking fourth line opened the scoring just two minutes into the game. Cole McWard’s point shot off an offensive zone face-off created some net-front chaos, and Kambeitz pounced on the rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

Kambeitz has been a revelation for Abbotsford’s bottom six lately, with points in back-to-back games and six over his last six outings.

That was all the scoring in the opening frame, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort from the visiting team.

Contrary to Saturday’s match, the Moose pressed hard in the initial 20 minutes. They fired a total of 13 shots toward Tolopilo, nearly giving his entire shot quota from game one.

The Belarusian stood on his head, setting aside all of them.

Second Period: Special Teams Showdown

Like the first, it did not take long for the Canucks to find the back of the net.

While manning the power play, Wolanin showed good patience, walking the blue line before snapping a wrist shot past Kähkönen for his second goal of the season. The veteran defender now has points in four straight games (1G, 4A).

The AHL veteran defender has been heating up lately after a relatively inconsistent start to the season that saw him in and out of the starting rotation. With the goal, he finds himself on a four-game point streak, with five points in that time.

Immediately after the goal, the Canucks took a penalty of their own, sending them to their first penalty kill of the entire weekend.

Luckily, the Canucks are just outside the top five in penalty kill (85.3%) and sit in the top echelon in shorthanded goals.

Despite being on the PK, the captain flipped the script. Blocking a point shot, Wouters bolted on a breakaway and sniped a cheeky shot over Kähkönen’s shoulder for his second shorthanded goal of the season.

With the shorthanded tally, the Canucks now sit in second with five shorthanded goals.

The Canucks entered the third with a comfortable 3-0 lead.

The final frame began with Lekkerimäki generating two prime scoring chances off setups from Bains, but Kähkönen stood his ground.

Their efforts were rewarded minutes later when Bains made a strong cutback and sent a cross-ice pass to Kirill Kudryavtsev, whose shot deflected off Aatu Räty for his first goal since November 2nd.

From there, the Canucks locked things down defensively, allowing just three shots in the period. Tolopilo turned away all 27 shots he faced, securing his second shutout of the weekend and third of the season.

Third star: Linus Karlsson — Although he had his point streak snapped on Sunday, he was a major player in the team’s Saturday night victory. With two goals, he continues to provide strong production at the AHL level as a true catalyst to this Abby Canucks top-six.

Second star: Jett Woo — He contributed two points over the pair of games. But he gets the second star for most teddy bears activated. With the opening goal on Saturday, he set off a volcano of bears as he snapped home his second of the year. Woo lost his job as a power play quarterback weeks ago but continues to play heavy minutes at both even strength and penalty kill.

First star: Nikita Tolopilo — With 42 saves and back-to-back shutouts, could we honestly choose anyone else? He wasn’t challenged much on Saturday but made several big-time saves on Sunday to keep his team on top and the Moose well-outstanding. It’s been an up-and-down season for the 24-year-old, but he has now rattled off four wins over his last five starts, with three shutouts sprinkled in.

Abbotsford wraps up their six-game homestand with a doubleheader against the Tucson Roadrunners, a team they split with earlier this season. Game One is set for Friday, December 20th, at 6:00 PM PT.