Nikita Tolopilo got the start tonight, following Jiří Patera’s excellent performance the night before when he took on Connor Murphy at the other end. Up front, Joseph Labate slotted in the middle between Vilmer Alriksson and Dino Kambeitz, while Phip Waugh completed line-up changes alongside Joe Arntsen on the blue line.
Abbotsford came out strong and set the tone early. Just under four minutes later, Jonathan Lekkerimäki weaved his way through the defense and tucked a shot away to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. The visitors then suffered some adversity, killing multiple penalties as Tolopilo and the defensive core stayed up to keep the Wranglers off the board.
The intensity increased as Jett Woo dropped the gloves with Andrew Basha, setting both the benches and crowd on fire. Late in the frame, Rory Kerrins took a tripping penalty, and the Canucks capitalized. After a clear effort by Calgary, Tolopilo moved the puck to Victor Mancini, who went coast-to-coast and scored just 18 seconds into the power play to make it 2-0. Calgary earned a man advantage of their own, but Abbotsford held firm to maintain their two-goal lead into the break.
Although there was no change on the scoreboard in the second period, it was chaos. After Woo returned from his misbehavior, Alex Gallant clipped him, resulting in a five-minute major. Moments later, Labate and Nick Cicek dropped the gloves, both earning fighting majors. Matters escalated further when Alriksson and Parker Bell were also thrown off for fighting during the scrum. Cicek was assessed as an instigator and misconduct, giving Abbotsford a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity, but the Wranglers managed to survive and send the game to third place with the Canucks still up 2–0.
Calgary came out flying in the final frame. Daniil Miromanov got the Wranglers on the board in just under two minutes, and Clark Bishop tied the score eight minutes later. Just 30 seconds later, Kerrins struck again to give Calgary its first lead of the evening at 3-2.
The Canucks refused to go quietly. With under four minutes remaining, Chase Wouters tapped home a feed from Lekkerimäki to force overtime for the second night in a row.
In the extra frame, Calgary controlled much of the possession, although Nils Åman came close to putting an end to it for Abbotsford with a dangerous chance. Ultimately, it was Cicek who sealed the game for the Wranglers with 45 seconds left in overtime.
The Canucks fell 4-3, but capped off a strong weekend effort, earning three of four points against a tough divisional opponent.
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