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Abbotsford Canucks drop pair of games in California

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A two-game trip to California resulted in two losses for the Abbotsford Canucks on Saturday (Dec. 27) and Sunday (Dec. 28).

Sunday’s setback saw the Canucks fall 3-0 to the San Diego Gulls and it marked the fifth time this season that Abbotsford has been blanked. The club was only shut out once in the 2024-25 regular season.

San Diego’s dominance offensively was the story on Sunday, with Canucks goalie Jiri Patera forced to stand on his head to keep his team in the game.

A scoreless first period saw the Gulls fire 15 shots at Patera, with the Canucks managing just six at San Diego goalie Calle Clang. The Gulls broke the scoreless draw at 12:34 of the second period when Tim Washe connected on the power play. The second period was even more lopsided in favour of San Diego, as they out shot Abbotsford 15-2 in the middle frame.

The Gulls added a goal from Judd Caulfield at 7:52 of the third and Sam Colangelo contributed with an empty net marker at 17:45. Abbotsford was heavily out shot 42-15 in the game and Canucks forwards managed just eight shots in 60 minutes. Patera had an excellent game and made 39 saves in the loss.

Sunday marked the second straight game that both Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Joseph LaBate did not play. It was reported that Lekkerimaki is suffering from some sort of lingering injury, but the team has not disclosed details.

Defenceman Jimmy Schuldt led all Canucks with three shots on goal. Forwards Vilmer Alriksson and Lukas Reichel both finished at a team-worst -2 on Sunday. Reichel, who was acquired by Vancouver from the Chicago Blackhawks for a fourth round pick on Oct. 24, has zero points and is a -4 in four AHL games. Reichel has three shots in those four games.

Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane said it was a team effort.

“You get the one on the power play and that gives everyone a little bit of life and then Judd’s [Caulfield] was like magical,” he said. “And it really ignited a spark in our team and our next few shifts were awesome. It was a great team effort.”

McIlvane also praised the play of Clang, who recorded his first career shutout. However, he noted that the team in front of Clang prevented chances from forming.

“Solid play, he’s confident and calm, but I think he would be the first to say that tonight the team defence in front of him was also very good,” he said. “When we needed him he was there and made a couple of really sharp saves, but this was a team shutout and Calle was a huge part of it.”

The Canucks looked better on Saturday against the Coachella Valley Firbirds, but lost 3-2 in overtime.

Firebirds forward Mitchell Stephens opened the scoring at 4:29 of the first and that goal stood until Abbotsford’s Ben Berard tied the game up at 15:56 of the second. The tie was short-lived, as Coachella Valley’s Andrei Loshko gave his team back the lead just 95 seconds later and the Firebirds led 2-1 after two.

Berard scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season at 17:08 of the third period to send the game to overtime, but Logan Morrison beat Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo at 2:25 of the extra frame to win the game.

Abbotsford’s Nils Aman was a team-best +2 in the loss. The Canucks out shot the Firebirds 36-28 and especially controlled the second period with an 11-5 shots edge.

The club’s record now sits at 8-16-3-3 and they remain in 10th place in the Pacific Division. Abbotsford has just four regulation wins in 30 games, which is on pace to be the fewest amount in the AHL in at least 20 years.

The Canucks remain on the road and next have games in Winnipeg against the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday (Dec. 31) and Friday (Jan. 2). They return home for games against the Bakersfield Condors on Jan. 6 and 7.