Nikita Tolopilo earned his fourth consecutive start between the pipes for the men in green, as he took on Phoenix Copley at the other end. Abbotsford once again rolled out a full 12-and-6 line-up, with Jujhar Khaira alongside Nick Poisson and Cooper Walker marking the only change of the afternoon.
The Canucks came out flying and generated several quality chances early, but the scoreboard did not reflect their dominance. A miscue behind the net left Tolopilo out of position, and Aatu Jämsen capitalized with Ontario’s first shot of the night to open the scoring. Despite controlling much of the play, Abbotsford could not solve Copley in the first period.
The second frame could not have started better for the home team. Just 38 seconds later, Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored one of his trademark shots from the right circle, smashing the crossbar to level the match at one. Two minutes later, Nils Åman sent a perfect cross-ice feed to Ben Berard, who buried it into a wide open right side to give Abbotsford a 2–1 lead.
Ontario struggled to generate sustained pressure, but a late power play changed the momentum. Glenn Gawdin took advantage of an unfortunate bounce that sailed over Tolopilo’s head, tying the match at two heading into the third.
The Reign gained early momentum in the final frame when Jämsen struck again, sneaking in a sharp angle shot from the goal line less than four minutes in to give Ontario a 3–2 lead. Abbotsford responded quickly. Six minutes later, Khaira pounced on a loose rebound and buried it to level the score at three apiece.
The Canucks refused to back down. With just under six minutes remaining, Ty Mueller fed Lekkerimäki, who fired another beauty over Copley’s right shoulder to restore Abbotsford’s lead. Soon after, Mueller circled the net himself and put one home with the netminder out of position, extending the lead to 5-3.
Ontario signed Copley as an extra attacker in the closing minutes, but could no longer solve Tolopilo. The Canucks sealed the 5-3 win, completing the sweep of the weekend in front of their home crowd.
The two teams won’t have to wait long for a rematch as the battle moves to California in just two days.
#Canucks #dominate #win #Reign #Pro #Hockey #News