The Calgary Wranglers spoiled a memorable March and an astonishing April for the Abbotsford Canucks, as the club's franchise record 13-game win streak became a distant memory following two losses on Friday (April 11) and Saturday (April 12).
A disallowed goal due to goaltender interference in the first period seemed to put the wind out of Abbotsford's sails and the Canucks fell behind 1-0 when Calgary's Brett Davis opened the scoring at 12:59 of the second.
Nielsen scores on the power play, looked dangerous the entire time
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Canucks captain Chase Wouters tied the game up with his 10th on the season at 16:33 of the second, but less than three minutes later former Canucks prospect Hunter Brzustewicz scored the eventual game winner on the power play. Davis added another goal at 13:43 of the third as Calgary posted the 3-1 win.
THAT'S OUR CAPTAIN! 馃
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Abbotsford was out shot 29-24 in the loss and no player fired more than three shots. The Canucks were playing without rookie forward Ty Mueller, who made his NHL debut in Vancouver on Saturday. The game also featured the first appearance in 2025 for goalie Jiri Patera, who served as the team's back-up on Saturday. Patera last suited up for the Canucks on Nov. 6, 2024 and suffered an injury in that game.
The Canucks offence struggled for much of the game on Saturday, particularly in the final two periods. The power play went zero for five and were unable to generate many significant offensive chances. Defenceman Christian Wolanin was a -2 on Saturday and also received a 10-mintue misconduct for abuse of officials in the second period.
Not our night.
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Reported attendance on Saturday was 5,966 and several season ticket members got the unique opportunity to literally receive the jersey off a player's back as a part of Fan Appreciation Night. All STM's were placed in a draw and those chosen were randomly given an envelope with a player card inside. The fan then received the jersey of whichever player was inside. Canucks officials stated that this will likely become an annual perk for Fan Appreciation Night.
The club also announced team awards for the 2024-25 season on Saturday and they consisted of the following winners:
- Most Valuable Player: Linus Karlsson
- Fan Favourite: Arshdeep Bains
- Unsung Hero: Ty Mueller
- Rookie of the Year: Jonathan Lekkerimaki
- Man of the Year: Chase Wouters
Every shift. Every game. All in. 馃弳
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
MVP status secured by Linus Karlsson!
Friday featured a better effort from the Canucks, but they fell 5-4 to Calgary in a shootout.
Abbotsford trailed 2-1 after one and then 3-1 early in the second period, but battled back to tie the game 3-3 after two. Abbotsford fell behind 4-3 in the third period, but tied the game up and sent it to overtime.
Beauty goal by Klimovich as he dekes out the entire Calgary D. That's his 24th
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The Canucks got goals from Wolanin, Cooper Walker, Danila Klimovich and Nate Smith. Wranglers forward and consistent Canucks killer Martin Frk had a hat trick 鈥� including scoring on a penalty shot 鈥� with Rory Kerins scoring the other Wranglers goal.
Frk scores, Silovs has thrown or dropped his stick a few times this year and that's the first time he's been burned by it
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The shootout saw Tristen Nielsen and Sammy Blais have unsuccessful attempts, while Lekkerimaki beat Calgary goalie Waltteri Ignatjew. However, both Frk and William Stromgren beat Silovs to officially end the historic win streak.
It was a challenging night for Silovs, who allowed four goals on 21 shots. The penalty shot was awarded to Frk based on Silovs throwing his stick in the first period. The back-to-back losses were his first setbacks since Jan. 31, as he had been on a seven-game win streak.
Abbotsford finished with the 30-22 shots edge on Friday, with both Woo and Wolanin recording four shots. Juhjar Khaira and Nielsen both finished at a -2, while Sammy Blais was a team-best +2. Klimovich's goal was his 24th on the season, which is a new career-high.
Picked up a point.
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The two losses move Abbotsford's record back to 41-24-2-2 on the season. They still sit in second place in the Pacific Division with three games remaining. The Canucks hit the road for the three final games and the trip starts with the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday (April 16). Abbotsford takes on the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Friday (April 18) and then close the season against the Ontario Reign on Saturday (April 19).
The Canucks will host the first round of the AHL's playoffs, which are expected to start the week of April 21. Exact dates and an opponent will be determined in the next week.
