The Farmies: Danila Klimovich healthy scratched ahead of 4-3 overtime loss to the Colorado Eagles

After Nikita Tolopilo made his fourth start in five games on Tuesday, Arturs Silovs got the nod for Wednesday’s game. Silovs was coming off his first win in four starts.

Among the skaters, the only alteration was at forward, with Aidan McDonough returning to the lineup for the first time since February 10th. He replaced the struggling Danila Klimovich, who was limited to just a single shift in the third period while playing on the team’s fourth line on Tuesday.

Additionally, rookie centreman Max Sasson missed his third consecutive game with an injury.

1st period

The Canucks came out of the gate with high energy, wasting no time in making an impact.

1-0 Canucks: Abbotsford goal, Linus Karlsson from Sheldon Dries and Tristen Nielsen

Less than a minute into the game, Linus Karlsson capitalized on a rebound generated by his initial shot, finding the back of the net against former Vancouver Giant goaltender Trent Miner.

The goal pushed Karlsson’s impressive point streak to three goals and nine points over his last six games. With Bains in Vancouver, the goal leapfrogged him into sole possession of second place in team scoring despite playing fewer games than most of the lineup, thanks to his time in Vancouver. Bains still leads the club with 39 points in 42 games.

In addition to the goal, the opening frame saw plenty of action over the first five minutes. Arturs Silovs showcased his skill with several solid saves, including an impressive stretch save off a two-on-one.

Okay, Arturs.

Shortly after, Trent Miner stood tall himself, denying Aatu Räty with a point-blank save. Räty, who has been on a heater himself, was looking to extend his hot streak.

After allowing an early goal on his first shot faced, Miner had settled in nicely with a dozen saves through the midway point of the period.

Thanks to a hard-fought shift of sustained pressure in the Colorado end, the Canucks earned the game’s first power play when Keaton Middleton—public enemy number one—was penalized for cross-checking.

For those unaware, Middleton was the player who delivered the late hit on Vasily Podkolzin back in October, injuring the power forward and causing him to miss several weeks with a head injury.

PP1 –Aatu Räty, Shedlon Dries, Tisten Nielsen, Linus Karlsson and Filip Johansson
PP2– Vasily Podkolzin, Chase Wouters, John Stevens, Jett Woo and Akito Hirose

The best chance on the man advantage came courtesy of a soft feed from Räty to Sheldon Dries in the slot. Once again, Miner calmly made the save, redirecting the shot out of harm’s way.

1-1 Tie: Colorado goal, Keaton Middleton from Riley Tufte

Devastation. Seconds after the unsuccessful power play, the Eagles capitalized on a jam play, with Keaton Middleton cashing in on the rebound to even the game at one.

Unfortunately, although most in the building felt they had a case, the Canucks were unable to challenge the play for goaltender interference, and the goal stood as initially called.

After a hectic 15 minutes, during which both teams combined for 16 shots, the game settled down, and both clubs caught their breath with some neutral zone and low-impact plays.

That was until the four-minute mark when Colorado’s Peter Holland got caught closing his hand on the puck after a face-off, sending the Canucks to their second power play of the period.

Despite the man advantage, the Canucks struggled to generate any significant opportunities until the final moments when the penalty had just expired. Ty Glover found the rebound off of a Cole McWard one-timer, only to be denied again by the Eagles’ netminder.

2-1 Eagles: Colorado goal, Jean-Luc Foudy from Callahan Burke

With just seconds remaining on the clock, and despite a strong start from the Canucks, the Eagles managed to grab a late goal for the second straight game. On Tuesday, Colorado scored off a face-off play with six seconds left. Wednesday, it was a down-low jam play with several Canucks caught scrambling below the goal line.

Jean-Luc Foudy found the back of the net after receiving a slick behind-the-net pass from Callahan Burke, deflating the building right before the intermission.

2nd period

The second frame opened with a Linus Karlsson tripping call, sending the AHL’s second-best penalty kill to work early in the middle frame.

PK1 –Chase Wouters, John Stevens, Nick Cicek, Jett Woo
PK2– Sheldon Dries, Marc Gatcomb, Cole McWard, Matt Irwin

Silovs stood strong throughout the penalty kill, making a notable push save off of a one-timer attempt from Peter Holland.

From this point, Jeremy Colliton tossed the line combinations into the blender, experimenting with various combinations throughout the second period in an attempt to find some magic for the equalizing goal.

Despite the Canucks’ efforts, the Eagles dominated most of the initial moments of the period, outshooting them 6-2 over the first six minutes.

With 12 shots on goal, it wasn’t for a lack of effort; the Canucks just could not get anything going in the second period.

3-1 Eagles: Colorado goal, Tanner Kero from Fredrik Olofsson and Dalton Smith

This momentum propelled the Eagles to extend their lead with a two-on-one opportunity, as Chase Wouters failed to pick up his man in the middle, leading to Fredrik Olofsson setting up Tanner Kero, who had all the time in the world to push it past Silovs.

The best chance of the period for the Canucks came off the stick of Chase Wouters following a driven wraparound from Vasily Podkolzin.

Miner managed to get the pad down to shut the door before Wouters was sent crashing to the ice with a heavy, uncalled cross-check.

Shortly after, Akito Hirose was roughed up in the corner, allowing Callahan Burke to send a cross-ice feed to Jean-Luc Foudy for a shot on goal. Silovs dove cross-ice with a stretch save to keep the score at 3-1.

Both netminders were strong over the first two frames. Despite allowing three goals, Silovs had made several key saves. Meanwhile, Trent Miner was working with a 29-save performance through 40 minutes.

The Canucks drew a late-period power play, during which both units looked strong. But, again, nothing to it.

With good movement and a few shots, they did their best to cut the lead to one. Podkolzin fired two shots but couldn’t solve Miner, resulting in a scoreless frame for the home team.

3rd period

Down 3-1, the odds were stacked against the Canucks, who were 2-15-0 on the season when trailing after two periods.

Meanwhile, Colorado held an impressive 22-2-1 when leading after two periods. The comeback attempt wasn’t going to be easy sledding.

Tristen Nielsen did his part to get things going early. He grabbed a grade-A chance in the slot, attempting to open the scoring in the third, but couldn’t find the far side to put it past his former Vancouver Giants teammate.

The bulldog brought the heat in the final period of the game, adding a few more shots to his ledge over the next several minutes. He was the clear-cut top performer in the early stages of the period for either team.

With the fourth line pressing, Marc Gatcomb grabbed a nice attempt off the wraparound after mucking it up from behind the net. By that point, Miner had made 37 saves through the midway point of the third.

3-2 Eagles: Abbotsford goal, Sheldon Dries from Linus Karlsson

Finally, with seven minutes remaining and 40 shots on net, Sheldon Dries scored his team-leading 17th goal. He jammed at the loose puck, threading it through Miner’s five-hole to cut the Eagles’ lead to one.

The Canucks had brought the energy throughout the entire frame and were rewarded on the scoreboard. They simply didn’t let up and kept pushing for an equalizer.

Just a few shifts later, Dries came inches away from cashing in on his second goal just minutes apart.

3-3 Tie: Abbotsford goal, Matt Irwin from Sheldon Dries

Fast-forward to the four-minute mark: Dries won a face-off back to Victoria native Matt Irwin, who snapped a seeing-eye shot to beat Miner clean with his third of the season.

With the primary assist, Dries reached a season-high three-point evening.

With seconds counting down, Cooper Walker found himself all alone on a breakaway at the end of his shift to call the game late.

Unfortunately, he was gassed and could not corral the puck to find a way to get the puck off his backhand.

Despite their 2-15-0 record when trailing, the Canucks late press paid off, capping a terrific period to send the game to extra time.

Overtime

Podkolzin picked up the frame’s first golden opportunity, dropping the shoulders and turning on the jets for a drive on goal.

Seconds later, it was the Eagles’ turn, with Foudy breaking through and opening Silovs up for a scoring chance. Fortunately, the Latvian netminder stuck with Foudy and stretched out to keep the game going.

4-3 Eagles: Colorado goal, Cedric Pare from Ben Meyers and Sam Malinski

After thrilling back-and-forth action, the game was seconds away from a shootout.

Then Cedric Pare delivered a short-side snipe with the Canucks’ backing up in a straight line through the d-zone, hand-cuffing Silovs to end the game.

Despite clawing back and making an exciting game of it, it wasn’t enough, and the Eagles took the 4-3 victory to take the lead in the season series (3-2).

Final score

The Colorado Eagles defeat the Abbotsford Canucks 4-3 in OT.

CanucksArmy’s Three Stars

The first star, without a doubt, belongs to the Canucks first-line centre, Sheldon Dries. Dries played hard all night and came up big in the third period when needed. He finished the game with a season-high three points, a goal, two assists, and six shots on net.

It’s not every day that the netminder who allows four goals gets a star nomination, but Arturs Silovs was up to the task on Wednesday night, making several key stops to keep this game salvageable. He made 26 saves in the effort and was not the sole reason for the game’s final decision.

The final star belongs to Tristen Nielsen. He added a single assist, contributing to the opening goal just one minute in. However, more than that, Nielsen set the tone all night, including in the third period. He was all over the ice in the final frame and gave the team the boost they so badly needed. It’s typical stuff from the bulldog, but it’s the type of playstyle that cannot be understated.

Next on the docket

The Canucks will head out on a five-game road swing, which kicks off on Saturday in Bakersfield to take on the Condors at 7:00 pm Pacific Time.