On a day when the B.C. Lions were eliminated from the CFL playoffs and the Vancouver Canucks lost in Toronto, the Abbotsford Canucks proved to be the lone beacon of sports positivity in the province.
The Canucks blanked the Bakersfield Condors 4-0 on Saturday (Nov. 11) and were led by the 鈥淩盲sson鈥� line of Max Sasson, Linus Karlsson and Aatu R盲ty.
Pick dropped for vs . Jack Campbell receives a Bronx cheer for touching the puck
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Sasson scored a pair of highlight reel breakaway goals and R盲ty added another on a perfect deflection to fuel Abbotsford鈥檚 offence. Arturs Silovs continued his imitation of a concrete wall in goal and notched his second straight Saturday shutout.
Since being pulled during a game against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Silvos has three wins, two shuouts and has allowed just one goal in three appearances. He turned aside all 20 shots he faced on Saturday. Jack Campbell made his second straight start in Abbotsford for the Condors and allowed four goals on 26 shots.
The first period didn鈥檛 feature a lot of action, with neither team generating many quality chances and Bakersfield outshooting Abbotsford 6-5.
Aatu Raty, how do you do???
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Sasson broke the game open at 8:31 of the second, receiving an excellent pass from Karlsson to break in alone on Campbell and beating him. About six minutes later it was R盲ty, who deflected a shot from defenceman Matt Irwin. Abbotsford had the 11-9 shots edge in the middle frame.
Max Sasson Season虏
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Sasson again broke free in the third period and again beat Campbell on a breakaway to make it 3-0 at 12:16. Sheldon Dries added his sixth on the season after a nice set-up by Arshdeep Bains at 15:28.
Just because the game is over, doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檙e not posting Dries鈥� goal 馃槈
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Abbotsford Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton said the R盲sson line has clicked over the past few games.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e building some chemistry,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have a bunch of different characteristics 鈥� Max is a great skater and transports the pucks, wins races and opens up the ice. Karlsson is really strong in battles, protects the puck and goes to the net. R盲ty is starting to gain confidence with the puck and using his vision to make plays. But where he鈥檚 really improved is advancing and winning battles on the boards.鈥�
"We played well... but obviously we were opportunistic."
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Jeremy Colliton addressed the media following Abbotsford's 4-0 victory over Bakersfield.
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE 鉃★笍
The offensive numbers keep adding up for all three players, with Sasson now at five goals and eight points, Karlsson at 11 points and R盲ty with eight points.
Sasson said he has really enjoyed his new linemates.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a treat to play with him and R盲ts,鈥� he said. 鈥淏efore last weekend we talked about the way we wanted to play and using all of our strengths. Karly is unbelievable down low and if you get him the puck down there he鈥檚 probably going to do something special. R盲ts has an elite hockey IQ and I try to use my speed to the neutral zone and it鈥檚 worked out.鈥�
"Both nights I saw that we made it really tough on them... we did all the stuff that coach talks about."
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Max Sasson addressed the media following Abbotsford's 4-0 victory over Bakersfield.
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE 鉃★笍
Colliton praised the play of Silovs and also complimented forward Marc Gatcomb, who has been seeing increased ice time due to several injuries on the Canucks.
鈥淲e felt like when we lost [forward] John Stevens we needed to change the combinations and I needed [Nils] Aman to play down in the lineup so that we could roll three lines when we had to do and and I think it鈥檚 worked 鈥� you have to give Gats credit. It was important that he doesn鈥檛 change his game and we miss what he does. He鈥檚 really done a good job.鈥�
Gatcomb had eight points in 45 games last season and spent some time in the ECHL, but this season he already has three points in eight games. Colliton stated that numbers aren鈥檛 what they are looking from him, but they have been satisfied with his play.
Sasson led the Canucks with six shots on goal and was also a team-high +3 on Saturday. Special teams were a non-factor, as the Canucks went zero for three and the Condors went zero for four. Colliton said he has liked what the power play has been creating, but the finish has not been there much early into the season.
Three straight wins to round out the home stand 馃憣
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Abbotsford jumps into first in the Pacific Division at 8-4-1-0, but they do have three games in hand on second place Calgary. The Canucks are also riding a three-game win streak.
Saturday was the final home game of the month for the Canucks, as they next head to Henderson to play the Silver Knights on Friday (Nov. 17) and Saturday (Nov. 18). The club then travels to Calgary for games against the Wranglers on Nov. 25 and 26.
The next home game occurs on Dec. 1, when the Laval Rocket come to Abbotsford. The two teams meet again on Dec. 2 for the annual Teddy Bear Toss game. The club also announced that the Dec. 9 home game against the Firebirds will be 鈥淪tar Wars Night鈥�.
For more on the team, visit
