WRANGLERS SNAP CANUCKS' WIN STREAK, ABBOTSFORD FALLS 4-1 TO CALGARY

For the eighth time this season, the Abbotsford Canucks took to the ice to face their Rocky Mountain rivals Calgary on Tuesday night. Scotiabank Saddledome hosted the contest which saw Abbotsford look to improve upon their 1-3-2-1 record against the Wranglers.

Matt Alfaro, Vincent Arseneau and Tristen Nielsen all entered the clash with points in their last three games, while the team signed goaltender Dan Bakala most recently of HC Nove Zamky in Slovakia, on Tuesday to a professional try out agreement.

Spencer Martin would make his AHL return, suiting up for the first time for Abbotsford since the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs. Martin entered looking to increase upon his three-game AHL regular season winning streak, dating back to April 2nd, 2022. In goal for Calgary would be Dustin Wolf.

Calgary would jump out to the early lead, as Ben Jones rounded Spencer Martin before centering the puck for Radim Zohorna. Zohorna tucked the puck away for his ninth of the year.

Nils Höglander would pull the Canucks level thanks to a well-worked powerplay tally. Justin Dowling won the puck back to Christian Wolanin at the point off the faceoff, who played a quick pass back to Dowling. Dowling shifted the puck quickly to Höglander who fired the puck over Wolf’s glove. The powerplay tally came six minutes into the man advantage, and would be Höglander’s seventh of the year.

The hosts would regain their advantage just over two minutes later, as Jeremie Poirier slipped the puck over to Mitch McLain who squeaked the puck between Martin and the post. McLain’s 13th of the year gave Calgary the 2-1 lead.

Adam Klapka would grab one more for Calgary before the break, with Adam Klapka tapping in a Walker Duehr pass across the ice to make it 3-1 as the teams broke for the locker rooms.

The second period would come and go without anybody finding the scoresheet, as Jack Rathbone and Danila Klimovich would have some quality powerplay chances late in the frame. Through 40 minutes, Calgary were outshooting Abbotsford 26-20, as well as holders of a 3-1 lead.

Despite pushing for the equalizer all the way until the end, the game would be sealed with a Walker Duehr empty net tally in the final minute, setting up the final score of a 4-1 Calgary victory.

Spencer Martin denied 35 of the 38 shots he faced in Abbotsford’s goal, while Dustin Wolf turned aside 29 of the 30 Canucks efforts he faced. Tristen Nielsen and Linus Karlsson lead the team in shots with five each, while Höglander registered his sixth point in his last five games.

For the full AHL box score, please click HERE.

Abbotsford and Calgary face off again on Wednesday night at 5:00pm pst from the Saddledome for the last game of the season series in Alberta. The two teams meet again for the final three games of the regular season in Abbotsford. Following Wednesday’s clash, the team returns home for a pair of games this week against the San Jose Barracuda. The two clash on Saturday night at 7:00pm, as well as Monday February 20th at 2:00pm which is Family Day in BC. Celebrate Family Day with the Abbotsford Canucks, with activities such as a bouncy castle, an autograph session with the players post game, special appearances by FIN as well as Disney/Marvel characters, and free hot chocolate and popcorn for the kids.

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