Abbotsford Canucks embrace spoiler role to sweep San Diego

/ Uncategorized / By

The Abbotsford Canucks took on the role of spoiler this weekend against the San Diego Gulls and delivered a serious body blow to that team’s playoff chances with wins on Saturday (March 28) and Sunday (March 29) in Abbotsford.

The Gulls now sit just one point ahead of the Tucson Roadrunners in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division after leaving the Rogers Forum with zero points in two games.

Meanwhile, the Canucks have finally climbed out of the basement in the division and passed the Calgary Wranglers to move into ninth place.

Abbotsford’s Ben Berard opened the scoring at 5:32 of the first and Nils Aman put the Canucks up 2-0 after a perfect pass from Nick Poisson at 12:11. However, Gulls defenceman Sasha Pastujov scored a power play buzzer beater at 19:59 of the first period to end the first frame 2-1 Abbotsford. Shots were 14-8 San Diego and Canucks goalie Jiri Patera made several key saves.

The Canucks restored the two-goal lead at 1:44 of the second when Arshdeep Bains tallied, but the Gulls drew back within one at 14:08 when Drew Elliott beat Patera. San Diego had an 11-7 shots edge in the second.

Pastujov tied the game up just 57 seconds into the third with his second power play goal of the game, but Abbotsford’s Danila Klimovich responded about eight minutes later with a power play goal of his own. Klimovich now has 15 goals to sit tied for second on the team in goals. What makes that even more impressive is that Klimovich opened the season by going goalless in his first 17 games.

College free agent Bennett Schimek added his first-ever professional goal at 12:51 to give the Canucks a two-goal cushion and earn the 5-3 win. Aman had a three-point night, while Schimek had two. Schmiek now has five points in seven games with Abbotsford.

The Canucks were out shot 32-21 in the game and Patera had a strong showing with 29 saves. Patera now has an 11-13-2-0 record, a save percentage of .906 and a goals against average of 2.74. Those are solid numbers for a team that has ranked near the bottom of the league all season.

Canucks defenceman Nikolai Knyzhov finished at a game-high +3, while Gulls players Justin Bailey, Nikolas Brouillard, Judd Caulfield and Ryan Carpenter were all -3. Reported attendance on Sunday was 4,354.

Sunday’s 5-3 win came after Abbotsford beat the Gulls 5-2 on Saturday.

The Canucks jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one thanks to goals from Guillaume Brisebois (2:34) and Berard (11:37). Saturday marked the first home game this season for Brisebois, as he returned from injury on March 18.

Klimovich put Abbotsford up 3-0 at 14:41 of the second with a power play goal, but the Gulls battled back in the third with goals from Bailey and Caulfield at 16:17 and 17:02. Canucks captain Chase Wouters put the game on ice with a goal at 17:37 and Ty Mueller added an empty net goal at 18:09.

San Diego held a 35-23 shots edge and Patera came up big again with 33 saves. Jack Thompson, Chase Stillman, Berard and Mueller all had two-point games. The Abbotsford penalty kill was also excellent on Saturday and didn’t allow a goal on five opportunities.

Reported attendance on Saturday was 4,572.

Abbotsford’s record now moves to 24-36-3-3 and they can continue to play the spoiler role on Friday (April 3) and Saturday (April 4) against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Both games are set for 7 p.m. inside the Rogers Forum. Those pair of games are part of “Fan Appreciation Weekend” and also close out the home schedule for the season.