Calgary鈥檚 Dustin Wolf continues to be the riddle that the Abbotsford Canucks have challenges solving.
The AHL鈥檚 MVP turned aside 39 shots on Friday (Oct. 20) in a 3-2 Wranglers win to ruin the Canucks home opener.
Puck is dropped in Abbotsford for season three. and renew rivalry
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford fired a lot of shots, but not many were of the high quality variety. Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton acknowledged that his team has to make life a little more difficult for Wolf.
鈥淵ou always want more traffic,鈥� he said, following the game. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a cliche but you want get in his eyes and keep him in his crease. We can do more of that. At times we did and he made some big second and third chance saves so you have to give him credit.鈥�
Max Sasson 饾拫饾挅饾挃饾挄 got the puck over the line to open the scoring 馃
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks got on the board early when Max Sasson crashed the crease and scored his first on the season. But Calgary鈥檚 Adam Klapka replied just 90 seconds later.
Abbotsford outshot Calgary 18-5 in the first, and the game was knotted at one.
鉁岋笍for 馃憦ka
鈥� Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers)
The second period saw the Wranglers take over and outshoot Abbotsford 18-11. Colliton said he liked the efforts in the first and third, but things fell apart in the second.
鈥淚 felt the second we just didn鈥檛 play a hard enough game,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e needed to do more to advance the puck, stop with the puck or take one more stride to support it. But credit to them, they played a really hard, really gritty and physical type of style that gives them a chance to win on the road.鈥�
Powerplay Podz 馃挭
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Vasily Podkolzin added a rocket of a power play goal at 8:37 of the third, but that was as close as Abbotsford would get. The power play went one for seven on the night and the Canucks outshot the Wranglers 41-27.
A scary moment occurred in the third period when Calgary forward Clark Bishop leveled Tristen Nielsen into the boards. It was ruled a check to the head and Bishop was ejected from the game. Nielsen left immediately and did not return. Colliton was not able to provide an update on Nielsen, but it appeared like a serious injury.
Podkolzin led all players with six shots on goal, while Linus Karlsson added five. Arturs Silovs made 24 saves in goal for Abbotsford. Arshdeep Bains took an uncharacteristic three minor penalties, two of those took Abbotsford off of a power play. Jett Woo, Christian Wolanin and Podkolzin were all a -2.
Colliton did not confirm any lineup changes for tomorrow鈥檚 game, but with Nielsen likely out there could be some adjustments. He did not feel his team was outmuscled by the larger Calgary team.
"Credit to them, they played really hard and really gritty."
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Head Coach Jeremy Colliton addressed the media following Abbotsford's 3-2 defeat to Calgary.
For the full interview, click here 鉃★笍
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep our speed,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t times you have to bear down and win a battle and find ways to advance the puck for your teammates. When they [Calgary] did that tonight they were really competitive and they played a grinding game and that鈥檚 what it takes.鈥�
He added that it was fun competing against former Abbotsford Canucks and Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Trent Cull, who is now the bench boss in Calgary. The pair were in the Canucks organization last year, but Cull was fired along with Bruce Boudreau last January.
The two teams meet again on Saturday (Oct. 21) night with a face off time of 7 p.m.
Not our night tonight
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Player introduction starting for the
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
