The Abbotsford Canucks get a second chance to eliminate the Colorado Eagles and advance to the American Hockey League’s Western Conference Final when the teams meet in a one-game, winner take all showdown at 2pm PT Monday afternoon in Loveland, CO.

Colorado tied the best of five series with a 3-1 win on home ice on Friday night.

What we know

Often in deciding games, the first goal is vital. Abbotsford would be well-served to do everything in its power to open the scoring on Monday.

Sluggish starts have been an issue for the Canucks throughout the playoffs and that was the case again on Friday night. Abbotsford has not held a lead at any point since a 2-0 victory in Game 1 of this series. That includes the team’s 3-2 overtime triumph in Game 3 last Wednesday when the Canucks rallied twice before winning. On Friday, Colorado opened the scoring in the first five minutes for the third straight game. That’s the fifth time in 11 playoff outings that Abbotsford has fallen behind in the opening five minutes. Abbotsford is a perfect 5-0 in the playoffs when opening the scoring, but just 2-4 when it does not.

Nate Smith’s goal with six minutes remaining in the third was Abbotsford’s lone goal in Game 4. The Canucks have scored 14 goals in their past six contests, but three of those have been empty netters. Otherwise, offence remains a challenge for Manny Malhotra’s club which hasn’t scored more than three goals in a game in its last six outings.

Sammy Blais continues to lead Abbotsford in playoff scoring with 11 points in 11 games. However, he has gone eight games without a goal. Friday was just the second time in the playoffs Blais has been held off the scoresheet. Arshdeep Bains, who led the team in regular season scoring, has not scored in the postseason and has just one assist in his last eight games. Max Sasson’s lone point in this series was a Game 3 goal that forced overtime. And veteran Phil Di Giuseppe has gone four games without a point and five without a goal.

The Canucks power play, which served them well in earlier rounds and even earlier in this series, has sputtered in Colorado. Abbotsford is 0-for-5 with the man advantage in the past two games. 

After successfully killing off the first 30 shorthanded situations of the playoffs, the Canucks finally surrendered a power play goal on Friday. With a shorthanded goal earlier in the postseason, the Abbotsford PK remains a net zero in terms of goal differential.

Including regular season (16-1-1) and playoffs (7-4), Abbotsford is 23-5-1 in its last 29 games and has dropped back-to-back games only once in that span.

The opponent

The Eagles got the start they were looking for on Friday when Jean-Luc Foudy opened the scoring 4:22 into the hockey game. Jayson Megna and Tye Felhaber added second period goals. Felhaber had a goal and an assist to find the scoresheet for the first time in the playoffs. Trent Miner stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced. 

Colorado was the best home ice team in the AHL during the regular season and will hope to make the most of home ice advantage again this afternoon. The team is 3-1 at home in the playoffs outscoring opponents 11-7 in the four games played at Blue Arena.

Megna leads Colorado with five playoff goals and has a share of the team scoring lead with Matthew Phillips and Tye Felhaber. All three players have registered eight points in the eight games they have played.

Oskar Olausson has an assist in each of the past three games and leads Colorado with three points in this series.

Game 5 of this matchup was pushed to Memorial Day Monday afternoon because of a series of high school graduation ceremonies held in the building over the weekend.

Series at a Glance

Game 1: 2-0 Abbotsford

Game 2: 5-3 Colorado

Game 3: 3-2 OT Abbotsford

Game 4: 3-1 Colorado

The Eagles have outscored the Canucks 10-9 in the series. Abbotsford holds a 112-110 edge in shots on goal. The Canucks are 2 for 10 (20%) on the power play while the Eagles are 1 for 13 (7.7%). 

Jonathan Lekkerimäki leads the series with four points. Sammy Blais, Linus Karlsson and Victor Mancini all have three apiece for Abbotsford while Oskar Olausson leads Colorado with three points. Eight other Eagles have two points apiece through the first four games.

Colorado netminder Trent Miner has a 1.87 GAA and a .928% save percentage in the series. Abbotsford’s Arturs Silovs has posted a 2.13 GAA, a .917% save percentage and shutout in Game 1.

Monday’s winner will have home ice advantage in the best of seven Western Conference Final.

Around the AHL Playoffs

Texas and Milwaukee are tied 2-2 in the other Western Conference series. Game 5 in that series goes on Sunday afternoon.

Laval and Rochester are deadlocked 2-2 in their North Division Final. They will settle that series on Sunday. The winner will face Charlotte in the Eastern Conference Final. 

The Checkers swept two-time defending Calder Cup champion Hershey to advance.

Make sure to join the Rink Wide postgame live stream immediately following tonight’s game. Rink Wide will provide a full breakdown and comprehensive coverage of the Abbotsford Canucks through the AHL playoffs. When the final buzzer sounds, be sure to log onto Rink Wide and join the YouTube live chat to discuss the game with other Canucks fans. Subscribe to the Rink Wide YouTube channel and never miss an episode.