A challenging season for Spencer Martin finally received a bright spot on Saturday (Feb. 25) in Colorado.
The Abbotsford Canucks goalie, who cleared waivers to return to Abbotsford from Vancouver earlier this month, made 36 saves and stopped all three attempts in the shootout to carry his teammates to a 2-1 win.
Martin stood on his head in a third period that saw Abbotsford outshot 16-7 and 37-23 in regulation time.
He then denied Eagles players Charles Hudon, Spencer Smallman and David Farrance in the shootout. Meanwhile, Nils Höglander fooled Eagles goalie Jonas Johansson with a Martin St. Louis-esque backwards skating attempt and won the game for Abbotsford with the shootout’s only goal.
Amazing shootout goal by Hoglander, he's the only one to score and Abbotsford wins the game
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The rest of the game’s offence all occurred in the first period, with Colorado’s Callahan Burke scoring at 2:01 and then Abbotsford’s Arshdeep Bains tying the game up at 11:50 with a power play goal. Linus Karlsson and Phil Di Giuseppe drew the helpers on the goal.
Bains ties the game up on the power play, his eighth on the season
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Di Giuseppe led the Canucks with four shots on goal and it was the club’s first game without Will Lockwood, who was dealt to the New York Rangers earlier on Saturday. Lockwood leaves Abbotsford as fifth all-time in goals scored, eighth in games player and 10th in points.
The win was an important one for the Canucks, as they are battling with the Eagles in the standings. Abbotsford dropped from third to fifth in the Pacific Division after Friday’s loss, but now jump back to third for tonight.
Abbotsford’s record is now 30-19-2-2 and they snap a three-game slide. The Canucks finish February with a record of 7-4.
Högs' shootout magic clinches the W 🪄🎩
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks remain on the road and next take on the Ontario Reign on Wednesday (March 1). The next home game occurs on March 7 when the Manitoba Moose come to the Abbotsford Centre.