After a wildly chaotic overtime win in their home debut, the Junior Canucks return to the Abbotsford Centre to rematch the Henderson Silver Knights in their second game of a four-game homestand!
Fingers crossed, this game is a bit lighter on special teams.
Now THIS is professional hockey! @harmandayal2 #AbbotsfordCanucks pic.twitter.com/SY3NjlgL6T
— Cody Severtson (@CodySevertson) October 23, 2021
Twenty-seven minutes of powerplay time, on paper, sounds like really exciting hockey. But, when both teams go 0/7 on the powerplay, that results in a tonne of zone resets and board-and-outs.
Friday’s second period might have been the most awkwardly paced period of hockey that I’ve ever watched. I even think the crowd was taken out of the game by the amount of failed powerplay opportunities.
Credit where it’s due, the Junior Canucks penalty-killing units were clutch for Abbotsford on Friday. In total, they killed off fifteen minutes of Henderson’s powerplay. One minute of which was a 5-on-3.
THE OPPOSITION
Dylan Ferguson will make his season debut as the Silver Knights look to pick up points for the fourth straight game to open the season.
Join us on @1230TheGame pic.twitter.com/NGNxS8O2ZP
— Brian McCormack (@BrianJMcCormack) October 24, 2021
Tonight, on the rainiest of rainy days, the Jr. Canucks take on a largely unchanged Henderson Silver Knights roster.
Starting in goal for Henderson tonight is Dylan Ferguson. Ferguson spent the bulk of his 2020-21 season with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
Tonight’s Top Scorers
Look at Danila sitting there, third on the Canucks. We love to see it
STARTING ROSTER
Abbotsford Canucks lines from warmup:
Di Giuseppe-Petan-Bailey
Klimovich-Stevens-Lukosevicius
Rempal-Focht-Dries
Arseneau-Wouters-KeppenSautner-Woo
Schilling-Bowey
Stephens-Juulsen🥅 Silovs 🥅
— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) October 24, 2021
Healthy Scratches: Tristen Neilsen, Michael DiPietro, Adam Brubacher, Alex Kannok Leipert,
IR: Will Lockwood, Karel Plasek (?), Guillaume Brisebois
A largely unchanged Canucks lineup after Friday’s round one. Ethan Keppen draws in for his first game of the season while Neilsen slides out.
Don’t feel like reading? Click here for spoilers!!
GAME 5:
1st period:
- Fairly empty barn today
- Early save from Arturs Šilovs off a quick entry by Henderson
- Danila Klimovich (#46) sends Jarid Lukosevicius (#14) into the offensive zone for a couple of shot attempts,
- Henderson flips the puck into the bench on a breakout attempt, giving the Canucks an offensive zone faceoff
- Danila Klimovich (#46) toe-drags before fanning on a shot attempt, sparking some life into the sparse crowd at the Abbotsford Centre
- A solid shift for Ashton Sautner (#6) with a couple of shots on goal from the blue line
- Pete DeLiberatore takes a holding penalty to give the Canucks the first powerplay of the game
PP1: Di Giuseppe, Petan, Bailey, Schilling, Rempal
- Zero shots on goal for the Canucks first powerplay attempt
PP2: Klimovich, Bowey, Focht, Arseneau, Dries
PP1: Di Giuseppe, Petan, Bailey, Schilling, Rempal
- Canucks forced offside while attempting a re-entry at the Silver Knights’ blue line
- Phil Di Giuseppe (#34) with a slick cross-ice pass to Sheldon Rempal (#56) for the one-timer attempt
PP2: Klimovich, Bowey, Focht, Arseneau, Dries
- Carson Focht (#19) eats a hard hit to the chest upon entering the Silver Knights zone
- Henderson forces the Canucks outside of the zone, and the second powerplay expires.
- Devante Stephens (#24) sends a pass to Ethan Keppen (#92) on the Canucks blue line, but it’s out of his reach
- Chase Wouters (#21) blocks a heavy shot off of his ankle, stopping play.
- Noah Juulsen picks up two minutes for cross-checking
- Canucks to their first penalty kill of the game
PK1: Sautner, Woo, Di Giuseppe, Stevens
- Canucks PK withstands the onslaught as Henderson peppers Šilovs with four shots on goal
- Sheldon Rempal (#56) falls to the ice while receiving a breakout pass in the neutral zone, allowing Henderson’s Pavel Dorofeyev to quickly enter the Canucks zone for a shot on Šilovs
- A prolonged period of whistle-less hockey after the Juulsen penalty expires
- Henderson attacks with a quick two-on-one. Sheldon Rempal (#56) races back into the d-zone and dives, eventually blocking the shot with his butt
- Šilovs with a quick blocker save on Pavel Dorofeyev
- Time winds down on the period with Jarid Lukovesicius controlling the puck inside the d-zone
2nd period:
- A few end-to-end chances for both teams before Henderson’s Tyler Busch takes a tripping penalty.
- Canucks to their third powerplay
- Nothing happening with the Canucks powerplay units
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 1-0 Canucks: After ten tries in three days, the Jr. Canucks powerplay finally scores. Justin Bailey (#95) starts the sequence with a pass to Sheldon Rempal (#56) from behind the net of Dylan Ferguson. Rempal quickly corrals the puck and whips a backhander off of Ferguson’s pads, and the local kid, Nic Petan (#7), capitalizes on the rebound to make it one nothing.
- Ethan Keppen (#92) takes a hooking penalty, and the Canucks are onto their second penalty kill
- Justin Bailey (#95) continues his strong play by single-handedly tying up the puck inside the Silver Knights zone. The Abbotsford Centre shows its appreciation for his efforts.
- Chase Wouters (#21) taking a late shift on the Canucks PK units with John Stevens (#16), who breaks the puck out of the d-zone as the penalty winds down
- Noah Juulsen (#47) sends a high-flip out to Nic Petan (#7), who drives down the right-wing for a shot on goal.
- During the TV timeout, someone proposes via the jumbotron, and she says yes.!
- Both team benches give stick taps for the happy couple
- Šilovs with another quality save on a Pavel Dorofeyev wrist shot
- A High-sticking penalty is called against Henderson’s Tyler Busch, handing the Canucks their fourth powerplay opportunity
PP1: Di Giuseppe, Bailey, Petan, Schilling, Rempal
- Cameron Schilling flubs a pass on the blue line, forcing the Canucks to reset from the d-zone
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 2-0 Canucks: After going 0/7 on the powerplay, Friday night, Sheldon Dries (#15) races down the left-wing with Vinny Arseneau (#18) to his right and scores on the Canucks fourth powerplay opportunity to make it two-zip.
- This period has been all Abbotsford thus far, outshooting Henderson eleven to seven with less than five minutes remaining.
- Šilovs makes a save, and a scrum ensures outside of his crease. Arseneau (#18) drops a glove and comically has one arm cocked and ready to go. I love the ref putting his hand over Arseneau’s unsheathed fist.
- Arseneau and Henderson’s Ben Thompson take offsetting roughing minors
- Henderson’s Paul Cotter burns Jett Woo (#22) outside for a drive on Šilovs.
- Arseneau (#18) leaves the box then pounces on a loose puck inside the offensive zone for a shot that claps iron!
- 1.3 seconds left with an offensive zone faceoff, and Cull pulls Šilovs for the extra attacker
3rd period:
- Canucks fourth line with an impressive shift inside the offensive zone. Vinny Arseneau (#18) lays a massive reverse-hit along the wall, while Ethan Keppen (#92) shows off some impressive speed on the dump-in entry.
- Some pushing and shoving in the neutral zone sends Phil Di Giuseppe and Henderson’s Ben Jones to the box for offsetting roughing minors.
- Canucks content to cycle the puck — not much happening at 4-on-4
- Now, offsetting minors to Justin Bailey (#95) and Henderson’s Pavel Dorofeyev after they’re caught trading slashes at center-ice.
- Canucks enter the offensive zone after the faceoff, and Madison Bowey (#4) sets up Ethan Keppen (#92) for a wicked wrist-shot that rattles off the goalpost. The ref’s blow play dead as Ferguson’s net had been knocked off its moorings before the shot.
- Jarid Lukosevicius (#14) avoids a massive hit while attempting to break the puck out of the d-zone for Abbotsford
- Ethan Keppen (#92) throws a big hit onto Brandon Hickey while on the forecheck
- Ashton Sautner (#6) takes a huge hit from behind at the Canucks blue line while pushing the puck through the neutral zone
- With less than two minutes to go in the period, Henderson pulls Ferguson for the extra attacker.
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 3-0 Canucks: Nic Petan (#7) scores his second of the game on the empty net after picking off an errant pass in the neutral zone.
- Canucks hold the puck behind the net of Šilovsand this Artūrs Šilovs records his first AHL shutout
RESULT:
Abbotsford Canucks def. Henderson Silver Knights 3-0
SCORESHEET:
TAKEAWAYS:
- Artūrs Šilovs earned himself his first shutout as a pro. With 26 saves on 26 shots, Šilovs vaulted himself to the top of the AHL goalie leaderboard. His 0.96 goals-against-average places him first among all goaltenders, and his 0.968 save percentage is good for second. Only Cleveland’s Jet Greaves has a better save percentage (0.976 in one GP).
- In the post-game media availability, Trent Cull isolated Šilovs size and ability to find pucks through traffic as reasons for his stellar shutout performance.
“It was awesome, good for him. We have a little tradition, I'll have to surprise the boys. We have a bagel breakfast when a guy achieves a shutout. It’s an awesome achievement, we always want to make sure we're celebrating those things.”
-Trent Cull on Arturs Silovs’ shutout 🥯
— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) October 25, 2021
- Nic Petan looked good tonight; led the Canucks with two goals and five shots on net.
- One of the main takeaways from Sunday’s game was the impact of the teams’ fourth line. All night, Chase Wouters, Vincent Arseneau, and Ethan Keppen were causing havoc around the offensive zone. Whether it was shot attempts or hits, that line was buzzing!
- “I thought those guys provided good energy, [I was] trying to get them out there as much as I could. Sometimes, after powerplays, because I wanted them to carry on that energy,” said Cull post-game
- Chase Wouters spoke about his line’s performance tonight, “I thought we were good, thought we were good on the forecheck. We were a physical line, and that’s something we bring to the team. We’re going to build off things that we did tonight and work on some of the things that we definitely need to clean up.
- Chase Wouters notably received a few penalty-killing shifts. For a first-year forward entering the league out of the WHL, earning PK time under Trent Cull is a big deal!
- Trent Cull spoke about Wouters game tonight, “He’s done a good job, and he’s someone that I’m learning to trust. He’s building that trust. He got a little PK time tonight, and that’s something we’re working on with him.”
- Overall, I think the Canucks looked good tonight. Their PK continues to do great work in the early goings of this season. At 86.4%, the Canucks penalty kill sits second-best in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
- The Canucks powerplay went 50% tonight against Henderson bringing their powerplay up to a 20% success rate from 12.5%.
- Shot tracking update — I’ve finished tracking the Canucks first three games, and here are the teams’ CORSI leaders with ZERO context!
- CF = On-ice shot attempts for
- CA = On-ice shot attempts against
- C = On-ice shot attempt differential
- CF% Rel = the difference between the teams’ shot attempt differential with the player on the ice versus without
Popeye’s Update
I was in a rush to get home and missed stopping off for Popeye’s.
One day fam. One day…
Cody’s Three Stars
- Artūrs Šilovs
- Nic Petan
- Three-way-tie: Wouters/Arseneau/Keppen
Next Up on the Docket
The Abbotsford Canucks return to the Abbotsford Centre next Friday and Saturday when they host the Ontario Reign for another double-header weekend!
Plugs
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