Nikita Tolopilo was back between the pipes for Abbotsford after spending time with the big club, opposite Gabriel Carriere at the other end. The Canucks opted for an 11-on-7 formation, with Christian Felton taking a forward spot, while Jonathan Lekkerimäki rejoined his line alongside Arshdeep Bains and Ty Mueller. Victor Mancini also returned to the line-up, with Derek Daschke as the seventh defender.
The first period had no clear goal, but it was an intense period. Gloves fell, penalties were taken and big goals were scored, but still the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes.
The second period brought much more action. Arshdeep Bains opened the scoring just three minutes in, after Ty Mueller made a strong reach to keep the puck in the offensive zone before sending a stretch pass to Bains, who finished the game with a backhand into the net to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. Abbotsford had several quality looks but the Barracuda then struck to level the match at one thanks to Jimmy Huntington.
Moments later, Jonathan Lekkerimäki found himself on a breakaway and tripped during play, resulting in a penalty shot. Lekkerimäki took Carriere completely out of position and sold the move before burying the puck in a wide open net to restore the Canucks’ lead just 30 seconds later. The pressure continued, but an unfortunate bounce off a linesman’s leg sent the puck back onto a Barracuda stick, where it was fired over Tolopilo’s right shoulder to tie the game at two heading into the final frame.
The back-and-forth scoring continued until the third. Abbotsford took the lead after five minutes when Victor Mancini sent a blind shot from the blue line through traffic into the back of the net to make it 3-2 to the home side. San Jose answered again a few minutes later, when Egor Afanasyev found the equalizer.
Barracuda’s offense exploded in the final ten minutes. Afanasyev buried his second of the night when an unfortunate bounce behind Tolopilo slid into the net, giving San Jose their first lead of the match. Nolan Allan added to the score just a minute and a half later, firing past Tolopilo to make it 5-3.
With Tolopilo drawing the extra attacker, the Barracuda added an empty net goal to extend the lead to 6-3. Anthony Vincent squeezed past the Canucks netminder one more time to make it 7-3 as Abbotsford finally fell to home ice.
The two teams meet again tomorrow night for their final game before the All-Star break.
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