The Abbotsford Canucks took care of business on home ice over Family Day long weekend, sweeping the Colorado Eagles in a pair of games and completing the season series by winning five of seven over their foes.
Saturday's (Feb. 15) game saw the Canucks jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first and ride that wave to a 4-1 win.
One of the bigger aspects of Saturday's win was the penalty kill, which went a perfect 5/5 – including a crucial two-man disadvantage late in the first period. Canucks captain Chase Wouters said the PK was a big factor in the win and stopped any momentum the Eagles may have had.
"Smitty [assistant coach Jordan Smith] has done a great job with our details," he said. "Where to pressure and where to execute and I think that's been a big part of it to this point. It was big tonight for us."
Over the weekend the PK went 6/6 and the Canucks have now climbed to 14th in the AHL (fifth in the Pacific Division) at 82.8 per cent on the season.
Welcome to the hockey capital of the universe tonight - Abbotsford. I’ve been told there is nothing else significant going on. @abbycanucks welcome the @ColoradoEagles to @AbbyCentre pic.twitter.com/UmjTnaSwc3
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) February 16, 2025
Jonathan Lekkerimäki opened the scoring on Saturday at 7:26 of the first period when he burst past the Eagles defender and roofed a shot perfectly. Lekkerimäki now has 17 goals on the season and is on pace for one of the best goal scoring season for a 20-year-old ever in the AHL. Linus Karlsson made it 2-0 at 14:30 of the first and he now has 15 goals this season.
Aatu Räty made it 3-0 at 6:33 of the second with a power play goal, but Colorado broke the shutout bid of Arturs Silovs with just 52 seconds remaining in regulation. Räty added a late empty net goal to reach the 4-1 final.
"I LEKK IT LIKE THATTT" 🎶🎶 pic.twitter.com/AJzT2EuAqa
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) February 16, 2025
Silovs made 29 saves in the win, while Karlsson had a three-point night. Räty and Christian Wolanin both recorded two points. Karlsson and Victor Mancini were a team-best +2.
Reported attendance on Saturday was 4,815.
The teams met again on Monday (Feb. 17), with Abbotsford skating away with a 2-1 win.
Ty Mueller opened the scoring at 11:20 of the first and Danila Klimovich added another at 8:46 of the second. Colorado again got a late goal, but Silovs held on for another victory. He made 27 saves in the win and Silovs has won his last four starts. His AHL record now stands at 10-4-0-0.
OH MY KLIM 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0Ua91sQmXM
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) February 17, 2025
Klimovich continues his bounce-back season and has now scored 15 goals. He also led all players on Monday with five shots on goal. Wolanin had another two point night and leads all Canucks defenceman with 26 points.
Reported attendance on Monday was 5,686.
The Canucks record improved to 27-19-1-1 on the season and they rank fifth in the Pacific Division. However, the wins mean they are just five points out of second place and four points out of third in the extremely tight Pacific.
Abbotsford next hits the road for games against Tucson on Saturday (Feb. 22) and Sunday (Feb. 23). The next home game sees the Canucks host the San Jose Barracuda on March 7.
