A powerless power play led to a 3-1 loss for the Abbotsford Canucks to the Bakersfield Condors in California on Wednesday (March 22).
The game started out poorly for the Canucks, as former Abbotsford Canuck Justin Bailey capitalized on a turnover and ripped a shot past Spencer Martin just 15 seconds into the game.
Not the ideal start as the Canucks turn the puck over and former Canuck Justin Bailey makes it 1-0 Bakersfield
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford managed to even the game up at 19:48 of the first when rookie Arshdeep Bains caught a loose puck, dropped it to himself in front of the net and beat Condors goalie Olivier Rodrigue. The Surrey product now has 10 goals on the season.
Fancy goal by Bains, who catches the puck, drops it to himself and scores
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Bakersfield went up for good at 3:59 of the second period when James Hamblin scored his ninth. The Condors won a defensive zone face-off and then put together a perfect breakout and rush, resulting in the goal.
Face-off loss by the Canucks leads to a great breakout by the Condors and they take the lead back
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford had four opportunities with the man advantage, including two in the final 10 minutes of the game, but were unable to convert. Bailey added an empty net goal at 19:29 to give the Condors the 3-1 win.
The Canucks outshot the Condors 30-22 and forward Danila Klimovich led all players with five shots on goal. Defenceman Jett Woo was a team-worst -2 in the loss.
Not our night in California
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Abbotsford’s record now falls to 35-22-2-4 and the Colorado Eagles have tied them for third place in the Pacific Division with one game in hand. The team remains in California for games against the Ontario Reign on Friday (March 24) and Sunday (March 26).
The next home game occurs on April 7 when the Reign return to the Abbotsford Centre.