Matt Irwin may be considered a patient man and he waited for the perfect opportunity to score his first goal as a member of the Abbotsford Canucks in the team鈥檚 4-3 overtime win over Calgary on Thursday (Dec. 28).
Thankfully for the Canucks, Irwin was not as patient to score his second for the team 鈥� which was about 40 minutes later and happened to be the overtime winner.
Irwin rifles one past Wolf. First goal as an Abbotsford Canuck
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Irwin, the Brentwood Bay native and veteran defenceman with 461 NHL games on his resume, hadn鈥檛 scored an AHL goal since Jan. 3, 2016 when he was a member of the Providence Bruins. Hundreds of NHL games and one run to the Stanley Cup with the Nashville Predators later, and Irwin finds himself back in the AHL with Abbotsford.
The 36-year-old has played solid and steady defensively for Abbotsford all season and has collected five assists, but came up clutch against the Wranglers.
Jones gets in behind Canucks D and puts Calgary up 1-0
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
After the Canucks fell behind 1-0 after one, Irwin rifled a shot past Calgary starting goalie Dustin Wolf at 1:15 of the second. The teams traded leads for the remainder of the game and were deadlocked at three after three.
Overtime saw Tristen Nielsen set up Irwin who again beat Wolf high and gave the Canucks the win. It had been 2,916 days since Matt Irwin last scored an AHL goal.
After a bit of a slow first period that saw Calgary鈥檚 Ben Jones sneak past the Abbotsford defence to score the lone goal in the opening frame, Abbotsford stepped up in the second. After Irwin opened the scoring for Abbotsford, Vasily Podkolzin scored his eighth on an expiring power play at 12:31 to give the Canucks their first lead. Calgary鈥檚 Dryden Hunt then tied the game back up at 16:41.
Podkolzin on an expiring power play puts Abbotsford up 2-1. His eighth on the season
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The Wranglers snagged the lead back at 12:49 of the third, but just 15 seconds later Max Sasson scored one from an odd angle to knot the game up again. Sasson, the super rookie, now has nine goals in 20 games this season.
Sasson with a weird one ties it back instantly
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The three-on-three overtime saw Nielsen and Irwin work their magic to squeeze two points out of Calgary. Abbotsford outshot Calgary 38-33 and Arturs Silovs made 30 saves for his 10th win on the season.
Sasson was flying for Abbotsford and recorded a team-high six shots on goal. Sasson, Irwin and Christian Wolanin all had two-point nights.
Picked up 2鈨� points in Calgary
鈥� Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks record now improves to 17-8-2-0 and they are riding a four-game win streak. Abbotsford is now tied for second in the Pacific Division.
The two teams meet again tomorrow (Friday) at 5 p.m. Abbotsford time. The Canucks next home game is set for Jan. 12.
