One day after a thrilling 4-3 overtime win, the Abbotsford Canucks were completely outclassed by the Calgary Wranglers 5-0 on Friday (Dec. 29) night.
The Wranglers came out flying and were outshooting Abbotsford 15-1 about 12 minutes into the game. Calgary鈥檚 Mitch McLain pounced on a Canucks turnover and made it 1-0 at 6:59 of the first.
Raty coughs up the puck in his own zone and Calgary scores
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Wranglers forward Matt Coronato put Calgary up 2-0 about seven minutes later and the Canucks were outshot 17-9 in the first.
More sloppy defensive zone play by Abbotsford, 2-0 Calgary
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The second period saw a bit of a pushback from the Canucks, but they couldn鈥檛 solve the riddle of Calgary goalie Dustin Wolf. Hulking forward Adam Klapka was left alone in front of the net at 3:44 of the second and the Wranglers led 3-0 after two. Calgary again outshot Abbotsford 18-13 in the middle frame.
Klapka wide open in front of the net and scores
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton decided to pull goalie Arturs Silovs when Abbotsford has a man advantage at the eight-minute mark of the third period but that strategy quickly backfired. The Canucks turned the puck over (a theme of the game) and Calgary鈥檚 Clark Bishop had a breakaway. Vasily Podkolzin slashed him and prevented him scoring, but that resulted in the rare automatic goal. Coronato added another goal at 15:52.
That didn't work out. Abbotsford turned the puck over and then Podkolzin was called for a penalty on the breakaway so automatic goal 馃し鈥嶁檪锔�
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Despite the score, Silovs had a strong game in net and the game could have been even more lopsided if he hadn鈥檛 been as sharp as he was. Matt Irwin led all Canucks with six shots on goal, with Podkolzin recording four.
Jett Woo, Max Sasson, Nick Cicek, Christian Wolanin and Linus Karlsson were all a -2 on the night. Silovs made 41 saves in the loss, while Wolf stopped all 37 shots he faced for his third shutout this season and 10th in his AHL career. He blanked Abbotsford once last season.
Final from Calgary
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks record drops to 17-9-2-0 and they fall to third in the Pacific Division.The loss also put an end to a four-game wins streak for the club.
Abbotsford remains on the road and next take on the Bakersfield Condors in California on Wednesday (Jan. 4). The next home game for the team is on Jan. 12 when the Tucson Roadrunners come to Abbotsford.
