The Abbotsford Canucks power play outage finally ended on Wednesday (Dec. 13) against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, but a parade to the penalty box prevented the club from picking up two points.
Abbotsford fell 4-3 in overtime to the Firebirds, scoring two goals on the power play and also spending nearly an entire period playing shorthanded.
Not a smart play by Dries. CV to the PP again
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The Firebirds went two for 10 with the man advantage and Abbotsford was charged with a season-high 43 penalty minutes. The cherry on the top of the frequent trips to the sin bin was forward Sheldon Dries, who received a 15-minute major for high sticking and a 10-minute attempt to injury penalty with 58 seconds left in game that was tied 3-3.
That penalty carried into overtime and the Canucks were called for another penalty in overtime, meaning that the three-on-three extra frame would see the Firebirds have a five-on-three advantage for over a minute. CV鈥檚 Andrew Poturalski won the game at 2:07 of the overtime.
Firebirds win it on the power play in overtime. What a completely bizarre game
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The first period relatively normal, with CV鈥檚 Cameron Hughes opening the scoring just 96 seconds into the game and Abbotsford鈥檚 Marc Gatcomb replying at 13:48. Abbotsford killed off the two times they were shorthanded in the first and CV outshot Abbotsford 13-11.
McDonough sets up Gatcomb for a power play goal
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The second period was when the wacky meter began to go up. The Canucks were called for four minor penalties and Poturalski again scored when the Firebirds had a two-man advantage at 4:42 of the second. Abbotsford鈥檚 Aatu R盲ty tied the game back up with a power play goal of his own at 9:16. Despite being shorthanded for a significant portion of the second, Abbtosford outshot CV 8-6 in the second.
Raty scores on the power play, tie game
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
R盲ty gave Abbotsford its only lead of the game with another power play goal just 54 seconds into the third. It felt like the Canucks might steal one on the road, but Max McCormick wired a shot past Arturs Silovs at 8:27 to tie the game up. The wacky meter was then shattered late in the third period after the Dries incident. But that was before Abbotsford has to kill off two other penalties.
Raty on the power play again. His seventh on the season. The Canucks PP is on fire (today)
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Silovs made 25 saves in the loss and the Canucks outshot CV 31-29. Tristen Nielsen and Vasily Podkolzin led the team with four shots apiece.
The win means an almost clean sweep of the Canucks by the Firebirds in this three-game series they completed. CV has won all four games against Abbotsford this season and the Canucks have managed just one point in those encounters.
Picked up a point in California
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks record falls to 13-7-2-0 on the season and they sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division. The road trip continues for the team, with games in the desert against the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday (Dec. 15) and Saturday (Dec. 16).
