Colorado continues to treat the Abbotsford Canucks well.
The Canucks won of two of three in Colorado in the first round of last April's American Hockey League playoffs and that trend continued on Friday (Oct. 18).
The club rode an excellent performance from goalie Nikita Tolopilo to a 2-1 shootout win over the Colorado Eagles.
After a scoreless first 44 minutes, Max Sasson potted his first goal this season at 4:20 of the third. Just minutes later it looked like the Canucks went up 2-0 when Tristen Nielsen scored on the power play, but a review determined that there was a kicking motion and the goal was disallowed.
Nielsen finds Sasson and he scores pic.twitter.com/aP9Mp8bORq
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) October 19, 2024
Scratch that it's no goal due to a kicking motion.
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) October 19, 2024
Instead it was the Eagles who scored on the power play a few minutes later and, after three-on-three overtime solved nothing, the game went to a shootout. Nielsen was the only player to score and Tolopilo shut the door completely to secure the win.
Colorado ties it up on the power play pic.twitter.com/NkVlDM7box
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) October 19, 2024
Tristen Nielsen leads the @abbycanucks to a shootout victory✅️ pic.twitter.com/S24aAmLq5T
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) October 19, 2024
Tolopilo helped the Canucks survive an onslaught from the Eagles in the second period, with the Canucks being out shot 14-5 in the middle frame. Both teams recorded 30 shots in the game. Sasson led all Canucks with five shots on goal, while Nate Smith had four and Linus Karlsson had three.
Abbotsford sits atop the Pacific Division early into the season and have now recorded two wins and one shootout loss in three games.
The two teams meet again at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 19).
SHUT THE EAGLES DOWN 👏 pic.twitter.com/nLU41muV6Z
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) October 19, 2024
LYPKA'S LAST TAKES:
- Rookie defenceman Elias Pettersson and Kiril Kudryavtsev appear to have fit in seamlessly and are playing beyond their age early on in the season. Both players make smart decisions with the puck, are positionally sound and look confident.
- Aatu Räty, who was reassigned to Abbotsford earlier this week, played first line minutes and centered an effective line with Linus Karlsson and Tristen Nielsen. Räty had two shots and was strong in the faceoff circle. He also played on the power play and the penalty kill.
- Nate Smith and Dino Kambeitz have also fit in well. Smith has excellent offensive instincts and has been good on the breakout. Kambeitz adds a physical dimension and some energy in a fourth line role.
- Rookie forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki was absent for the third straight game. The team has not yet offically announced the reason he's not playing. There were rumours he was sick this week, but he did leave the team's intra-squad scrimmage early and has not been seen since.
- Forward Phil Di Giuseppe and defenceman Christian Wolanin also did not dress on Friday. Whatever the reason was, it was not due to the veteran rule. The Canucks dressed just three players with 261 professional games or more on Friday and have the ability to dress as many as six.
