MAX SASSON HAS THREE POINT NIGHT IN HIS RETURN AS CANUCKS BEAT ONTARIO 5-2
The Abbotsford Canucks began their final home stand of 2023 on Wednesday night, as they hosted the Ontario Reign.
Sheldon Dries centered Tristen Nielsen and Vasily Podkolzin, while Max Sasson returned to the lineup for the first time in seven games. He lined up with Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson, while Aatu Räty, Chase Wouters and Marc Gatcomb stayed together. Aidan McDonough, John Stevens and Ty Glover completed the forward group.
Christian Wolanin and Jett Woo partnered together on defence, while Matt Irwin paired with Nick Cicek, who was making his home debut for the Canucks. Quinn Schmiemann and Cole McWard filled out the lineup, while Nikita Tolopilo made his second consecutive start, doing so for the first time this season. Erik Portillo started in net for the Reign.
A chippy opening 20 minutes resulted in a scoreless tie at the first intermission. The visitors struck iron three times, and each side picked up eight penalty minutes along the way. The shots were also tied, with both Abbotsford and Ontario testing the opposing goalie nine times.
Abbotsford would be the first to break the deadlock, coming from the stick of Max Sasson. Karlsson and Bains dug the puck out of the corner and found Sasson, who’s shot took a deflection off of a skate. The puck fluttered past the shoulder of Portillo, giving Abbotsford a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the frame thanks to Sasson’s seventh goal of the season.
That lead would last less than four minutes, as Martin Chromiak converted on a man advantage off a slap shot from the high circle.
But it would be Sasson once again to put the hosts in front, grabbing a powerplay goal of his own. Just over two minutes after Ontario equalized, Tristen Nielsen delivered a low pass to Sasson in front of goal, who redirected the effort past the Reign netminder.
Ontario would equalize again before the end of the period, as Samuel Fagemo picked up his team leading 12th goal of the campaign, sending the two sides into the locker rooms tied at 2-2. Abbotsford outshot the Reign 16-9 in the middle frame, and was leading the shot count 25-18 after 40 minutes.
Overtime loomed as neither side could find the go-ahead goal, until a number of Canucks crashed the net off of a Christian Wolanin slap shot. The rebound fell to Sasson, who backhanded the puck over to Woo, who buried the rebound past a sprawling Portillo. Woo’s third of the season came with six minutes remaining, and opened the flood gates for the final few minutes.
Vasily Podkolzin grabbed an empty net goal, before Arshdeep Bains scored in the final 30 seconds on the man advantage converting on a pretty passing play from Karlsson and Dries.
The Canucks finished the game strong and walked out as 5-2 winners. Sasson had a three point night, while Woo scored his third goal against the Reign in his last four matchups with Ontario. Tolopilo stopped 22 shots out of 24, while the Canucks peppered Portillo with 43 efforts, stopping 38 of them.
Up next for the Canucks is a rematch with Ontario on Thursday night, their final home game of 2023. The Canucks are then heading on the road for five games, visiting Calgary for a pair of games, then a stand alone game in Bakersfield before wrapping up with a back to back series in Coachella Valley. The team then returns home for a six game home stand featuring games against Tucson, Ontario and San Diego.
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