Since they entered the AHL in the 2022-23 season, the Coachella Valley Firebirds have consistently been a thorn in the side of the Abbotsford Canucks.
Entering Friday's (April 18) game, the Firebirds won 12 of the two team's 15 lifetime meetings and this season had a perfect 3-0 record against Abbotsford.
But with top-three placement still up in the air, the Canucks played a close to perfect road game and skated away with a crucial 4-1 win over Coachella Valley.
The day started off on a positive note for Abbotsford, as it was announced that a significant glut of talent was returning to Abbotsford from Vancouver after the NHL club failed to make the playoffs. Forwards Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson and Ty Mueller, defenders Victor Mancini and Kirill Kudryavtsev and goalie Nikita Tolopilo all returned on Friday and the influx made an immediate impact.
Sasson on the power play makes it 1-0 Abbotsford
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Sasson opened the scoring on the power play at the 11-minute mark of the first period and that goal stood until Coachella's Jacob Melanson knotted the game up at 16:05 of the second. The Firebirds controlled the majority of the second and outshot Abbotsford 15-8.
The third period opened with Nikita Tolopilo replacing Arturs Silovs, who have have tweaked something in the middle frame. The Canucks have not released any information on why Silovs was removed. He had been playing well and stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced.
Klimovich with an insurance goal, his 25th this season
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford ramped up the forecheck and offensive intensity in the third and it paid off when Sasson found Karlsson in front of the net at 12:19 of the third. Danila Klimovich then scored his team-leading 25th on the season just 14 seconds later and Sasson added an empty net goal to reach the 4-1 final.
Tolopilo shut the door in the third and stopped all eight shots he faced to earn his 19th win on the season. It was an outstanding return to the AHL for Sasson, who collected three points and was a team-best +2. Karlsson also had a two-point night and has recorded 36 points in 31 AHL games this season.
FIRE US RIGHT UP 馃敟
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The win improves Abbotsford's record to 43-24-2-2 on the season and those 43 wins represent the most in franchise history. The Canucks sit in second place in the Pacific Division and will now finish either second or third after other results from Friday.
The Colorado Eagles have won the Pacific Division title after a 3-2 win over the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday. Colorado also gets a first round bye for capturing the division title. Meanwhile, the Ontario Reign defeated the San Diego Gulls 2-1 on Friday. That win moves the Reign into a tie for second place with Abbotsford and the number two seed will be decided when the two teams meet in Ontario on Saturday.
The winner of that game will take on the seventh seed (either Tucson or the Bakersfield Condors) and the loser of that game will finish third and take on the sixth seed (Calgary Wranglers or San Jose Barracuda).
Abbotsford's will host all three games of the best-of-three first round series next week.
