There's something about game two's that have given the Abbotsford Canucks headaches in these 2025 Calder Cup playoffs.
They lost 4-1 in round one to Tucson, fell 5-4 in overtime to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in round two and continued that trend with a 5-3 loss to the Colorado Eagles on Sunday (May 18).
Packed house at for game two between and .
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Had to capture this crowd in my secret spot
A season-high crowd of 6,960 was loud and engaged all night long, but some of the air was quickly left out of the building when Eagles forward scored on the first shot of the game just 1:57 in. The goal shattered the "Arty Party" that Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs had been enjoying with close to 140 minutes of shutout hockey stretching back to game three of the Firebirds series.
A Wise way to start the game 💪
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” y - Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles)
The crowd got re-energized about 14 minutes later when rookie Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored his first career Calder Cup playoff goal. Arshdeep Bains won an offensive zone face-off, the puck went back to defenceman Victor Mancini who fired a shot and Lekkerimaki pounced on the rebound. The Canucks started the first slow, but ended up out shooting Colorado 8-6.
FIRST CALDER CUP PLAYOFF GOAL FOR LEKKER! 🚨
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Colorado continued to turn on the fore check and offensive zone pressure in the second and earned two goals as a result. Defenceman Wyatt Aamodt beat Silovs at 13:30 and Chris Wagner added another at 18:06. There were stretches in the second that saw Colorado sustain significant offensive zone pressure and give a lot for Abbotsford defenders to handle.
Ew. Gross. Disgusting. Nasty.
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” y - Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles)
The Canucks managed just four shots in the second period and were also having major issues with breakouts. Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra said the Eagles stepped up the offensive zone intensity.
"Give them credit," he said. "They were hunting on the fore check, they did a great job of putting pucks to places where they can get bodies around it quickly. That's playoff hockey."
An incident occurred at the end of the second period between Abbotsford's Sammy Blais and Colorado's John Ludvig, which eventually saw both players receive double-minors for roughing. The Eagles were intent on getting under the skin of Blais ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½“ who has been Abbotsford's best player in these playoffs ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½“ and it paid off in the third period (more on that later).
Ivan Ivan made it a 4-1 game at 5:23 of the third, but Canucks captain Chase Wouters answered back at 12:23. However, after that goal a scrum ensued in front of the net and Blais got into it with Aamodt. At one point he threw down Aamodt's helmet in frustration and went on to receive two unsportsmanlike misconducts and a roughing penalty. Blais finished with 28 penalty minutes and will also be fined $200 for the two misconducts.
Chase Wouters gets one back for the Canucks and then some extracurriculars broke out 👀 |
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” FloHockey (@FloHockey)
The Canucks then chose to pull the goalie and Colorado scored an empty net goal at 16:56. Abbotsford's Linus Karlsson added a power play goal at 18:51, but that was as close as the Canucks would get. The club did up the pressure late in third and recorded 18 shots in the final frame, but it was too little, too late.
Malhotra said his team made too many errors and the Eagles took advantage of them.
"If you leave the door open and you make mistake the opposition will capitalize and that's exactly what they did tonight," he said. "They upped their intensity and their energy and were able to capitalize on some defensive mistakes."
"It's what playoff hockey is. If you leave the door open and you make mistakes, the opposition will capitalize."
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Head Coach Manny Malhotra addressed the media following tonight's 5-3 loss against the Colorado Eagles.
FULL MEDIA |
Malhotra said he did appreciate his team sticking up for themselves with some of the play between the whistles, but players need to maintain their composure.
Defenceman Jett Woo said it wasn't the best night for the Canucks.
"Honestly I don't think we showed up on time," he said, referring to the team's poor start. "We didn't play very great today. They were very motivated and it's up to us to compensate for that and to show up."
Woo said he likes seeing his teammates stick up for each other, but that they need to play harder and more physical at all times.
"If you look at it, we should be a more physical team," he said. "We've got a lot of big bodies and we can play harder."
One positive was Abbotsford's penalty kill, which went a perfect 3/3 and is now a even more perfect 26/26 in the playoffs. The power play went 1/3, but the only time it was successful was late in the game. They had challenges entering the zone and establishing any sort of pressure with the man advantage in the first two periods.
Series shifts to Colorado.
ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Silovs allowed four goals on 20 shots and it was his first loss this month. Abbotsford forward Ty Mueller and Phil Di Giuseppe both finished the game at -3, while four Eagles players were a +2. Colorado goalie Trent Miner had another solid game and made 27 saves to earn the win. Miner has stopped 49 of 53 shots in the series so far for a save percentage of .924.
The best-of-five series is now knotted 1-1, with the remainder of the games heading to Colorado. Game three goes Wednesday (May 21) and game four is set for Friday (May 23). Game five, if necessary, is scheduled for Monday, May 25 at 2:05 p.m. Abbotsford time.
Continue visiting for ongoing coverage of the Canucks' journey in the Calder Cup playoffs.
