WOUTERS SCORES WINNER IN 3-2 ABBOTSFORD VICTORY OVER HENDERSON

The Abbotsford Canucks continued their three game road trip on Friday, kicking off a back-to-back series against the Henderson Silver Knights. Abbotsford’s visit to The Dollar Loan Centre marked their first of two trips to Nevada of the year, and game three of an eight game season series.

Friday night saw the Canucks roll into Henderson with wins in seven of their last eight games, and a 7-1-1 record across their last nine contests. Christian Wolanin entered the game with 13 assists in his last seven appearances, while team leading goal scorer Lane Pederson was recalled to Vancouver earlier on Friday.

Michael Regush returned to the Canucks’ lineup for the first time since December 3rd, while Arturs Silovs made his eighth start in nine games in goal. It would be Michael Hutchinson making his sixth start of the year in goal for Henderson, who were looking to make it five wins in a row for the Silver Knights.

The puck soon dropped and Abbotsford’s first game of the year in Nevada was underway.

It would be a back and forth opening 20 between the two sides, with both Silovs and Hutchinson facing their fair share of chances. Silovs would have to make multiple sets of double saves, including against former Canuck Sheldon Rempal.

As Ivan Morozov had a shot clank of the goal post and the clock started to wind down towards the end of the first period, it seemed as though the frame was destined to end as it had started, tied at 0. However Kyle Rau had other plans.

Christian Wolanin gathered the puck at the point after an offensive zone faceoff, before feeding Justin Dowling on the far boards. Dowling immediately played the puck down in front of the goal towards Hutchinson, where Kyle Rau was waiting for the pass.

With his stick on the ice, Rau steered home the puck into the empty cage for his fifth of the season with 49 seconds to go in the first period. The two teams would head to the locker room with a 1-0 score line favoring the visiting Canucks, as well as a 9-8 shot count.

Abbotsford were the quicker of the two teams out of the gate to start the second as well, outshooting the knights 6-2 in the opening eight minutes. Rounding out that eight minute stretch was Linus Karlsson, who doubled Abbotsford’s lead.

Noah Juulsen walked in from the blue line and threw a wrist shot towards Hutchinson from the high slot. Through a maze of traffic, the shot would bounce off of Linus Karlsson and past the Henderson netminder, putting Abbotsford up 2-0.

The captain decided that that wasn’t enough. Chase Wouters capitalized on a pretty cross-ice passing play from Tristen Nielsen and Karlsson, who was left wide open in front of goal. Wouters buried his second of the year, and with five minutes to go in the second, the Canucks lead 3-0.

Henderson would get their foot in the door before the end of forty minutes, as Pavel Dorofeyev deflected a Brendan Brisson effort past Silovs to pull Henderson within two. After two periods, the Canucks lead 3-1 while outshooting the Silver Knights 21-15.

It would take 12 and a half minutes into the third period but Henderson would pull within one. Peter DiLiberatore let fly a shot from the blue line, forcing Silovs to make a blocker save. The rebound would fall to Patrick Guay, who through a maze of bodies, finished off his first AHL goal in his first AHL appearance.

Guay’s marker would be as close as the game would get, as the Canucks survived a late push from Henderson to secure a 3-2 road victory.

Linus Karlsson recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season, while Arturs Silovs stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced, improving his record to 6-1-0-0 over his last seven starts.

For tonight’s full box score, please click HERE.

Up next for the Canucks is a rematch with Henderson on Saturday afternoon, with the puck dropping from The Dollar Loan Centre at 3:00pm PST. Following that, the Canucks will fly home for a pair of mid-week games against the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday and Wednesday in Abbotsford.

To purchase tickets to an upcoming Canucks’ game, please click HERE.