Tristen Nielsen鈥檚 second career AHL hat trick lifted the Abbotsford Canucks to a 4-3 win over the Laval Rocket in Quebec on Saturday (Oct. 14) afternoon.
The back-and-forth game saw the Rocket tie the game at three with a power play goal at 17:20, but just 13 seconds later Nielsen beat Laval goalie Strauss Mann after a bad giveaway.
Turrrrrrrible giveaway by Laval and Nielsen gets his hat trick goal
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Laval appeared to score a goal while on another power play to end the game, but time had expired.
Canucks goalie Nikita 鈥淭itanic鈥� Tolopilo made his first career AHL start and he was busy 鈥� stopping 41 of 44 shots. The 6-6 Belarus product was solid in goal and made some key saves in the third period to protect the lead.
Nielsen opened the scoring at 14:39 of the first and rookie Aidan McDonough added his first professional goal at 17:29 to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead after one.
McDonough with his first goal and it's a beauty. 2-0 Abbotsford late in the first
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Laval roared back in the second, with a power play goal from Joshua Roy and a marker from Lias Andersson. Abbotsford was outshot 17-9 in the middle frame.
Nielsen then grabbed the lead back for Abbotsford at 6:30 of the third, before Andersson tied the game at three at 17:20.
It鈥檚 the second career AHL hat trick for Nielsen, who also scored three goals against the Manitoba Moose on March 16, 2022.
Abbotsford鈥檚 penalty kill was put to the test on Saturday, as they were shorthanded nine times and killed off seven of those opportunities. The Canucks went zero for two with the man advantage.
Abbotsford was outshot 44-29, with Vasily Podkolzin posting a team-high five shots. Nielsen and captain Chase Wouters both recorded four.
The Canucks now move to a perfect 2-0 on the season and next up is the club鈥檚 home opener against the Calgary Wranglers on Friday (Oct. 20). Face-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Abbotsford Centre.
Perfect start to the season 馃槈
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
