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Linus Karlsson. Tristen Nielsen. Chase Wouters. Max Sasson. Sammy Blais. Phil Di Giuseppe. Jett Woo. Danila Klimovich. Guillaume Brisebois.
Nine different players have scored the last nine goals for the Abbotsford Canucks.
Not only is the balanced attack serving the Canucks well early in the American Hockey League playoffs, it’s also notable that names like Arshdeep Bains, Aaty Räty, Ty Mueller and Jonathan Lekkerimäki aren’t on that list. And that’s not a knock on any of those players or the way they’ve performed to this point in the playoffs. It’s more an idea of the firepower this team possesses and the way that it’s going about the business of winning these days.
The score by committee approach has served Abbotsford well with the Canucks posting victories in three of their four postseason games so far.
The Canucks spread their scoring around in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Coachella Valley to open the second round of the Pacific Division playoffs. Woo, Klimovich and Brisebois all scored first period goals to help erase an early deficit to give Abbotsford a leg up in this best-of-five series that resumes on Saturday night in the desert.
Guillaume Brisebois!
The veteran defenceman redirects the PDG dish to pick up his first career AHL playoff goal to double the Abby #Canucks lead.
That's three first-time goalscorers for the Canucks! pic.twitter.com/N4Mo0foOHT
— Dave Hall (@davehall1289) May 2, 2025
Manny Malhotra is getting buy-in across the board, and that is reflected on the scoresheet. With so many players contributing to the team’s early playoff success, the Canucks aren’t relying on one or two guys to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.
Veteran Sammy Blais leads the team with three goals in the playoffs while Linus Karlsson and Tristen Nielsen have two apiece. Otherwise, it’s been a goal here and a goal there from throughout the lineup, and last night included a pair from defencemen that combined for four goals between them during the regular season.
At some point, it stands to reason the likes of Bains, Räty and Mueller – a group that accounted for 40 AHL goals this season – will find their goal-scoring touch. So Abbotsford knows it still has weapons in reserve. And the hope has to be that Lekkerimäki, who has missed the past two games as a result of the aftereffects of dental surgery, will get a clean bill of health and rediscover the form that led to 19 goals in just 36 minor league games this season.
This is all a way of saying that it’s likely the Canucks can – and should – get better in the days and weeks ahead. And that’s a lot to process when you consider this team has won 11 straight road games as part of an 18-2-1 roll down the stretch and now into the postseason.
By grabbing Wednesday’s opener, Abbotsford has foisted all of the pressure on Coachella Valley. The Canucks have secured at least a split in their two games in Palm Springs and will now have a chance to bring a commanding two-game lead home with them when the series shifts to the Fraser Valley next Wednesday.
If the Canucks continue to get contributions from throughout the lineup, their firepower may simply be too much for the Firebirds.
More must-reads:
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Brendan Gallagher and Joe Veleno change lines
At practice this morning, there wasn’t much at stake. I say that because the club has 18 healthy skaters, so we shouldn’t have expected anything extra on the ice. Barring an eventual recall, that’s the reality of the club right now. Yes, we’re keeping an eye on the goaltending situation, but there’s not too much chaos in town at the moment, let’s say. But just because the Canadiens don’t have any new ingredients for their fruit salad doesn’t mean the chef can’t stir it up a bit, regardless. And this morning, he did. Looking at the offensive trios, there’s one change from Saturday’s game against the Senators at the Bell Centre. And that is? Brendan Gallagher and Joe Veleno have switched places. Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov Bolduc – Dach – Gallagher Anderson – Evans – Veleno Did Martin St-Louis want to punish someone? Are we talking about an idea to add energy to the Bolduc and Dach line, two guys who want to give more? Who knows. We also don’t know if these trios will hold up for tomorrow’s game (possibly), when the Flyers come to town. We should have more answers tomorrow. But Bolduc and Gally together, we know it can work. overtime – Nice. – Interesting. – Indeed. – Of note. – Transaction.
Scenes from Leafs’ morning skate: Cowan promoted to 1st power play, Nylander will play vs. Penguins
Packers have two trade options to replace Tucker Kraft
The Green Bay Packers lost much more than a game on Sunday afternoon. Star tight end Tucker Kraft, who had blossomed as one of the biggest threats for their passing game, suffered a potential season-ending knee injury. Kraft's production was quite valuable for Matt LaFleur's team, hauling in 32 passes on 44 targets for 489 yards and six touchdowns. Now, with Kraft potentially out of the picture and the trade deadline just hours away, the Packers have two candidates to consider as his replacement. Packers should trade for David Njoku or Chig Okonkwo Jordan Love is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in intermediate throws and using the middle of the field. The Packers need to exploit that with another playmaking tight end. With the Cleveland Browns sitting on a 2-6 record and David Njoku still waiting to get a contract extension, he'd be a solid and reliable addition at a reasonable price. He's up to 27 receptions for 260 yards and two scores this season. While he's been vocal about his desire to stay in Cleveland, Browns rookie TE Harold Fannin Jr. is already the No. 1 option. If the Browns are reluctant to give Njoku up, the Packers can always reach out to the Tennessee Titans, who, at 1-8, are already going through a panic sale of their own. Cam Ward hasn't developed much chemistry with Chigoziem Okonkwo. Given that Okonkwo is in the final year of his rookie contract, he's also a no-brainer trade candidate. Despite the limited opportunities and inconsistent playing time, Okonkwo has turned 29 catches into 281 yards. He may only need a change of scenery to break out.
Mike Vrabel responds to accusation that Patriots simulated Falcons' snap on key fourth-quarter play
The 'Most 300-yard, 4 touchdown NFL games' quiz
Since the renaissance of Sam Darnold’s career in Minnesota last season, one of the reputational issues the veteran needed to shake was his play in primetime. Against the Washington Commanders on ‘Sunday Night Football,’ he did what he could to put that narrative to bed by completing 21-of-24 passes for 330 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in a dominant 38-14 win. Darnold was deadly accurate Sunday night, completing every pass he attempted in the first half before throwing just eight times in the second half and giving way to Drew Lock in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand. The Seahawks gave Darnold a three- year, $100.5 million contract after his career-year in Minnesota last season. So far he’s rewarded them with 2,084 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions en route to a 6-2 record through eight games. Which brings us to today’s quiz. It was the third time of Darnold’s career – and second already of the 2025 campaign – that he’s thrown for at least 300 yards and four touchdowns in the same game. With that being said, can you name every NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl Era to do that at least three times? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
Three wild statistics about the 2025 World Series you may not know
The 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays will go down as one of the best seven-game Fall Classics in history. Won in extra innings by the Dodgers on Saturday night, this year's World Series had plenty of wild moments and memorable performances. However, there were also some things that happened during this year's World Series that were historic but also didn't make as many headlines as Yoshinobu Yamamoto's MVP pitching or Will Smith's World Series-winning home run. With that in mind, here are three things that will add this year's World Series to the baseball record books. This 2025 World Series was just like ... 1926? Sure, this year's World Series went seven games. However, the pattern of wins between Toronto and Los Angeles was unlike anything seen in the Fall Classic since the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in seven games in 1926. Per Elias, the 2025 World Series was just the second-ever World Series to follow the path of the home team winning Game 1, road team winning Game 2, home team winning Game 3, and the road team winning Games 4 through 7, joining the Cardinals and Yankees 1926. The Dodgers player made headlines and history Los Angeles outfielder Justin Dean was in the middle of one of the most talked about plays of Game 6 when he signaled to the umpires that Addison Barger's hit to left-center in the ninth inning was wedged under the wall. With that signal, the umpires ruled it to be a dead ball, keeping Barger to a double and preventing Myles Straw from scoring from first base (he was held at third with the dead ball call). That decision kept the Los Angeles lead at 3-1, which would be the final as Tyler Glasnow worked his way out of the jam to record the save. Dean being put into the game for defensive purposes happened more than you might have thought during not only the World Series but the entire postseason as well. The 28-year-old Dean appeared in 12 games this postseason but did not register a plate appearance, entering a defensive replacement in center field 10 times and as a pinch-runner twice. His 12 games played during the postseason are the most ever in a single postseason without any plate appearances (among non-pitchers), surpassing the previous record of 10 games without a plate appearance by Clay Bellinger in 2000. Bellinger appeared in 11 games for the Yankees in 2000, getting a hit in his lone plate appearance. Hitting home runs? It's an international thing. Trailing 4-3 in the ninth inning of Game 7, Miguel Rojas of the Dodgers launched a game-tying home run, marking the 10th home run of the World Series hit by an internationally born player. Also joining Rojas as a player born outside the United States to hit a homer during the Fall Classic were Shohei Ohtani (three homers), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (two), Alejandro Kirk (two), Enrique Hernandez (one) and Teoscar Hernandez (one). Per Elias, the 10 home runs are the most in a single World Series by internationally born players, breaking a tie with 2017 and 2019, which had nine each.
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