Abbotsford Canucks punch back with 2-1 win over San Jose

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The Abbotsford Canucks and goalie Nikita Tolopilo bounced back big against the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday (Feb. 7).

One night after a third period collapse that saw the team allow five goals in a 7-3 loss, Tolopilo shut the door for most of the night and helped the Canucks earn a 2-1 win.

Tolopilo made 39 saves – the most he’s made in a game since the 2023-24 season – including several big stops in a late flurry when San Jose was pressing. He said Friday’s (Feb. 6) loss was on his mind heading into Saturday.

“I thought we deserved better last night,” he said. “But I need to be better and that was the goal for today.”

He said that no changes were made in his preparation, but that he wanted another start after what he considered below par performance on Friday.

“You can’t play perfectly every game,” he said. “And you have to show up and do your job. But yeah I wanted to come in today and get the job done.”

The win caps off a hectic January and early-February for Tolopilo, who has played five games for in the NHL for Vancouver in 2026 and earned a partial shutout with Kevin Lakinen against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 29. He’s also made five starts now for Abbotsford in this calendar year, with two wins in those games.

Saturday was a special day for the organization, as it was the annual Vancouver Canucks Day – with several alumni in the building to participate in Q&A sessions. All-time leading scorer Henrik Sedin had a session at 3:05 p.m., while past stars Dennis Kearns and Garry Monahan spoke in the first intermission and alumni Darcy Rota and Chris Oddleifson chatted in the second intermission.

The game featured a lot of bad blood carried over from Friday and the game’s first fight occurred just 1:53 in when Abbotsford’s Joe Artnsen dropped the gloves with San Jose’s Braden Hache. Less than four minutes later it was Abbotsford’s Jett Woo and San Jose’s Shane Bowers throwing hands. Woo bloodied Bowers, who also appeared to hurt his shoulder during the melee and did not return.

Canucks forward Danila Klimovich scored the game’s first goal at 16:08 of the first after a nice feed from Victor Mancini. Klimovich has been heating up offensively and now has seven goals and 16 points. He’s also developed some chemistry with current line mates Chase Wouters and Ben Berard. Abbotsford led 1-0 after one, with San Jose holding an 11-8 shots edge.

The Canucks added to the lead when Ty Mueller won a face-off and then deflected a point shot from Nikolai Knyzhov at 12:33 of the second. Mueller has also picked up his game in 2026 and now has nine goals and 23 points. Tolopilo continued pitching a shutout and made 11 more saves in the second.

More violence occurred in the third period, as Woo was cross-checked in the face at 6:38 and that led to several moments of chaos. Barracuda forward Anthony Vincent received a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct, but the Canucks were unable to convert on that power play.

San Jose finally beat Tolopilo at 12:54 of the third when Igor Chernyshov scored his 13th on the season, but the Abbotsford goalie was perfect from that point on. More rough stuff happened after the final whistle, with Woo, Chernyshov and Egor Afanasyev all receiving misconducts.

The Canucks were out shot 40-25 in the 2-1 win and Jonathan Lekkerimaki led all Canucks with five shots on goal. Woo finished with a game-high 17 penalty minutes, while Mancini was a team-best +2. Special teams were a non-factor, with both teams going 0/4 on the power play.

Reported attendance on Saturday was 4,388.

The win comes off the aforementioned 7-3 loss to the Barracuda on Friday, which saw the teams tied 2-2 after two and the Canucks fall apart in the third.

Abbotsford got goals from Arshdeep Bains, Lekkerimaki and Mancini, while Tolopilo allowed six goals on 23 shots in the loss. Lekkerimaki’s goal was on a penalty shot, which is the Canucks first penalty shot goal this season. Abbotsford’s power play went 0/4 on Friday and the Canucks were out shot 24-23. San Jose received just one power play on Friday.

Klimovich, Berard and Cole Clayton all finished at -3 for Abbotsford, while Lekkerimaki and Bains both had a team-high four shots.

Reported attendance on Friday was 3,584.

The Canucks record now sits at 16-26-3-3 and they remain in 10th place in the Pacific Division. Saturday marked the 10th regulation win this season for Abbotsford. The club currently sits 12 points out of the playoffs.

Abbotsford next hosts the Ontario Reign on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. The Canucks and Reign also play on Family Day (Feb. 16) with a start time of 1 p.m.