Abbotsford Canucks forward Aatu R盲ty shared to the media on Saturday (March 11) that he鈥檚 a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Finnish product channeled a little Kobe Bryant with a two-goal performance in the Canucks 4-2 win over the Colorado Eagles.
R盲ty busted apart a 2-2 tie at 14:40 of the third with a goal that the Eagles seemed to believe was a high stick (not as high as Kobe used to leap), but the officials made the call that it was a good goal.
R盲ty bats it out of the air for his first as a member of the
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
About three minutes later, R盲ty dialled long distance on an empty net goal to give the Canucks some insurance.
The two goals were the first that R盲ty has scored in the Canucks organization since being involved in the Bo Horvat trade back on Jan. 30. The win was a very important one for the Canucks, as they sit in third place in the Pacific Division and widened the gap between themselves and the fourth placed Eagles 鈥� a fact not lost on R盲ty.
"Feeling good about the win, [Colorado] is a tough team to play against... we really needed those two points."
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Aatu R盲ty addressed the media following Abbotsford's 4-2 victory over Colorado
鈥淕reat win for us and really needed those two points for the team 鈥� not for me personally 鈥� but yeah it鈥檚 good to get the goal for me and hopefully that opens up the bottle and there is more coming,鈥� he said.
He admitted his first goal was a little controversial, but that he respects the referee鈥檚 decision.
鈥淚 knew right away that it was kind of here or there but when I saw the ref go [makes goal sign] then you got to celebrate,鈥� he said.
R盲ty added that he appreciates the fact that Abbotsford head coach Jeremy Colliton has put him in important situations, especially in tonight鈥檚 win.
鈥淚 feel like as a coach in the first period everybody plays, but then in the third you have to be having a good game 鈥� it doesn鈥檛 matter who you are,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ike if you鈥檙e not playing well, then you鈥檙e not getting minutes. It鈥檚 been a bit of a learning curve to me too. He鈥檚 a very demanding coach, but if you do the right things everyday he鈥檒l be nice to you.鈥�
"The boys played really good. We did what we had to and came away with two points"
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Brady Keeper addressed the media following Abbotsford's 4-2 victory over Colorado
The game also marked the return to the lineup for important veterans defenceman Brady Keeper and forward John Stevens. The pair were out with injuries for several weeks, and both played key roles on Saturday 鈥� especially on the penalty kill.
Keeper said he felt good tonight and his stat line agreed. He collected one assist, recorded one shot on goal and was a +2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to be out for a long period of time,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 happy that coach put me out there [at the end of the game] trusted me. I鈥檓 going to continue to play hard and hopefully we can keep it going into the playoffs.鈥�
Puck drop and Marc Gatcomb is high sticked on the first shift of the game. go to the power play
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford鈥檚 Linus Karlsson scored the lone goal of the first period, beating Eagles goalie Keith Kinkaid just 79 seconds into the game. Karlsson now has 18 goals and is tied for third in rookie scoring for the AHL.
One for the history books for Linus 馃弳
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Alex Galchenyuk tied the game up with a power play goal 42 seconds into the second period, but Abbotsford鈥檚 Nils H枚glander replied just 35 seconds later to put the Canucks back up. H枚glander now has 13 goals on the season.
H枚gs was NOT being denied on this one 馃檯鈥嶁檪锔�
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Colorado鈥檚 Spencer Smallman tied the game at two at 13:44, before R盲ty potted the final two goals.
Canucks goalie Spencer Martin was fantastic, making a number of big saves and stopping 26 shots. Abbotsford had the 33-26 shots edge for the game. Karlsson and R盲ty had multi-point nights, while H枚glander led all players with seven shots on goal.
EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WATCH THIS SAVE BY SPENCER MARTIN 馃く
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
HOW DID HE KEEP THIS OUT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
The crucial win improves Abbotsford鈥檚 record to 33-21-2-3 and they now have a four point lead over the fourth place Eagles. The two teams meet again on Sunday (March 12) at 4 p.m.
Th盲t鈥檚 wh盲t we like to see 馃ぉ
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
