It's starting to become a challenge to find new ways to describe the unstoppable Abbotsford Canucks, who continue to be... well... unstoppable.
Trailing 3-2 after two periods in San Diego on Wednesday (April 2), the Canucks went completely unconscious in the third period and scored four goal in 10 minutes to earn the 6-3 victory over the Gulls.
Sasson with the steal and it's now 5-3, incredible comeback
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
That win is the 11th consecutive for Abbotsford and once again has established a franchise record for a win streak. They previously broke that record with a 2-1 win over the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday (April 1). It's also the longest win streak by a Canucks farm team in more than a decade, as the longest win streak the Utica Comets ever had was 10 games in 2015.
Wednesday saw Dino Kambeitz put the Canucks on the scoreboard first at 10:39 of the first period, but the Gulls answered back at 18:34 and the game was tied at one after one.
Kambeitz makes it 1-0, forechecking by Walker and Wouters led to that turnover
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The second period was a bit of a disaster for the Canucks, as they were outscored 2-1 and out shot 13-4. Penalty troubles also haunted Abbotsford in the middle frame, with the team taking two minor penalties, one double-minor and a 10-minute misconduct. Despite all the time shorthanded, the Canucks only allowed one power play goal and forward Ty Mueller managed a goal with a man down.
Bailey puts the Gulls up 3-2 late in the second
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Things got zany in the third period, with Tristen Nielsen setting up Kirill Kudryavtsev perfectly at 6:44 to tie the game up. Just 49 seconds later it was Akito Hirose scoring from the point thanks to some heavy traffic to give the Canucks the 4-3 lead. Max Sasson added some insurance with a beautiful breakaway goal at 11:25 and Arshdeep Bains put the cherry on top with an empty net goal at 16:55.
What an effort by Nielsen, who finds Kudryavtsev and the game is tied again
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Nikita Tolopilo made 17 saves to record his 17th win on the season and his fifth victory in a row. Despite scoring six goals, only five Abbotsford players (Kambeitz, Chase Wouters, Hirose, Kudryavtsev and Cooper Walker) ended up as positive players in the plus/minus category.
The win also clinches an AHL playoff berth for the Canucks and they now have a record of 39-23-2-1. They sit in third place in the Pacific Division and are also now just one win away from tying the franchise record for wins which is 40.
Worked hard to earn it, but we’re not stopping here.
— X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
See you in the 24.25 Calder Cup Playoffs!
The Canucks next return home to take on the Laval Rocket on Saturday (April 5) and Sunday (April 6). Saturday's game has a puck drop of 7 p.m., while Sunday's game gets going at 4 p.m.