Abbotsford Canucks split pair of games with Laval Rocket

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Jonathan Lekkerimaki needed just 36 seconds in overtime to control the puck, find space and then rip a laser past Laval Rocket goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to deliver a 2-1 overtime win for the Abbotsford Canucks on Wednesday (Jan. 21).

The 2022 first round draft pick has now scored the game winning goal in 23 per cent of all Abbotsford Canucks wins this season (3/13) and the club snapped a three-game slide.

Lekkermaki now has nine goals and 14 points in just 14 AHL games this season. Despite missing 27 games, he sits tied for the team lead in goals and and is tied for fifth in points.

Wednesday saw the Canucks fall behind in the first period when Joshua Roy connected on the power play and that goal stood until Abbotsford’s Ty Mueller tied the game up with a power play goal of his own at 6:45 of the second. The Canucks goal was set up by a drive to the net by Danila Klimovich and Mueller pounced on a rebound from a Chase Wouters shot.

Kahkonen and Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo shut the door in the third period and Tolopilo made an impressive 26 saves for his fourth win on the season. Abbotsford was out shot 27-18 in the game and had five power play opportunities compared to just two for Laval.

Reported attendance on Wednesday was 3,643.

The win comes off a 4-3 regulation loss to the Rocket on Tuesday (Jan. 20).

Laval’s Laurent Dauphin opened the scoring at 14:45 of the first, but the Canucks responded when Wouters tallied on the power play at 5:18 of the second. The Rocket reclaimed the lead just over five minutes later when Sean Farrell beat Tolopilo, however the Canucks replied again when Klimovich scored another power play goal at 14:05. The second period ended with the teams tied at two.

Farrell made it a 3-2 Rocket lead at 7:24 of third, but the resilient Canucks again battled back with a third power play goal from Lekkerimaki at 14:48 of the third. The game was lost with just 13 seconds remaining when a costly Abbotsford turnover led to a goal by Florian Xhekaj.

The Canucks out shot the Rocket 30-28 in the game and Laval goalie Jacob Fowler made some big saves in the third when Abbotsford was pushing the pace. Lekkerimaki had a team-high five shots, while Wouters and Klimovich both had two-point nights. Canucks forward Lukas Reichel was an inexplicable -4 in the loss.

Reported attendance on Tuesday was 3,559.

Even-strength scoring also seems to be a challenge for the team, and they have not scored a five-on-five goal in the last four games. They were blanked twice by San Diego last week, only scored power play goals on Tuesday and added one power play goal and one goal in three-on-three overtime on Wednesday. Penalty killing also remains an issue and the Canucks are the worst-ranked in the AHL at 74.4 per cent.

Abbotsford’s record now sits at 13-22-3-3 after the pair of games and they remain in 10th place in the Pacific Division. The club is nine points out of the seventh and final playoff spot in the division. The Canucks have recorded seven regulation wins in 41 games.

The Canucks home stand continues later this week with games against the San Diego Gulls own Saturday (Jan. 24) and Sunday (Jan. 25). Saturday’s game is being billed as Rock N’ Roll Night, while Sunday’s is promoted as Top Dogs Night.

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