Despite several key call-ups impacting the Abbotsford Canucks roster, the club managed to battle the Manitoba Moose to overtime on Tuesday (March 16) but ultimately fell 2-1.
Abbotsford entered Tuesday’s game without forwards Sheldon Rempal and Nic Petan, as well as defenceman Noah Juulsen, who have all been added to Vancouver’s roster. Forward Phil Di Giuseppe suffered an injury on Sunday (March 13) and it was also revealed that forward Justin Bailey is also injured and not expected to return till April.
Tuesday’s game saw Abbotsford’s Devante Stephens open the scoring at 7:52 of the first period, but the lead was short lived as Manitoba’s C.J. Suess tied the game up at 10:20.
Jump in on the rush: ✅
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) March 16, 2022
Score on your own rebound: ✅
Devo shows us how it’s done.#AbbyCanucks pic.twitter.com/S6yXRY2Aw2
A scoreless second and third period followed, with Moose forward Jeff Malott emerging as the overtime hero at 4:12 of the extra frame.
There was some controversy with the winning goal, as many observers stated that the Moose may have had too many men on the ice. Abbotsford head coach Trent Cull pointed out it’s unfortunate, but there’s not much the team can do in that situation.
“I wish we were going to a shootout,” Cull said. “It felt like there were too many men on the ice. I went down the tunnel because I wanted to see the video. I think the refs missed the call but what do you say? There’s no recourse, there’s no video replay. There’s nothing we can do.”
Michael DiPietro made 24 saves in the loss and Abbotsford was out shot 26-20. No Canucks player recorded more than two shots.
Attendance for Tuesday’s game was 4,259.
The two teams meet again at the Abbotsford Centre tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m.