Saturday night at the Abbotsford Centre is going to be jumping as the towels swing and the team in green looks to punch its ticket into the next round of the AHL playoffs.
The Abbotsford Canucks came out of the first two games with a split against the Tucson Roadrunners in their opening-round, three-game playoff series.
On Wednesday, Abbotsford went up early and was able to hold onto its lead, picking up a 4-3 victory. Sammy Blais had a pair of power play goals in the game, and fan-favourite Tristen Nielsen opened the scoring. Linus Karlsson scored a big goal to put Abbotsford up 3-1 in the second period.
Head coach Manny Malhotra was content with the team picking up the win on Wednesday, but did not believe his team won the game in ideal fashion.
In game two, the star of the night was Roadrunners’ goaltender Jaxson Stauber. The 25-year-old netminder stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced in the game, which was his best performance in the AHL this season by save percentage.
Malhotra also thought his group had too many self-inflicted mistakes in game two and believes that the Roadrunners were able to take advantage of their errors in the Canucks own zone. The head coach and players spoke about trying to force the puck through the middle seam of the ice, and it showed as their breakouts were an issue throughout the game.
Through their mistakes, the Canucks were still able to generate 39 shots on net but Canucks’ forward Max Sasson believes there needs to be more urgency from the group when there are scrambles around the opposing crease.
“We’ve got to start having a little bit more poise in the scoring areas,” said Sasson. “It’s probably a thing about our compete level around the net, maybe getting a little grittier, that’s how Karly scores his goal. I’m sure we will look at that. There were a lot of loose pucks, and maybe if we have a little extra effort, maybe a couple of them go in.”
“We didn’t have much of an ability to sustain o-zone pressure and get enough to the paint with bodies on the inside,” added Malhotra.
Sasson leads the Canucks with nine shots on net through two games. He has been using his speed to generate attacks off the rush at even-strength and on the power play.
The Abbotsford Centre’s atmosphere has been electric through the first two games, and Saturday night’s series-deciding game should be one of the highest-energy games we’ve seen in the Abbotsford Centre.
“We are going to be really excited, that’s something we want to play for – to win or go home,” said Canucks defenceman Victor Mancini. “To know we have home ice as well, that’s really important for us, and [Wednesday’s] loss is going to fuel us to play better on Saturday.”
Aatu Räty and Arshdeep Bains had a pair of assists through the first two games. Linus Karlsson has two goals, and Sammy Blais leads the team with three points (2 g-1a).
A massive game three goes on Saturday night at the Abbotsford Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. You can buy tickets here.
Wear green and get ready to wave those towels!
