The Abbotsford Canucks set the tone in the first and the power play caught fire in the second to pace a 6-2 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday (Dec. 20).
It didn’t take long for the Canucks to get on the scoreboard, as Kyle Rau opened up the game offensively at 3:58 of the first period and just over seven minutes later John Stevens put Abbotsford up 2-0.
Di Giuseppe with some aggressive forechecking gets the puck and eventually sets up Stevens, 2-0 Abbotsford pic.twitter.com/4h2QmsmCIx
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) December 21, 2022
Abbotsford was all over San Jose in the first, outshooting the visitors 10-4 and having a number of quality chances turned aside by former Abbotsford Heat goalie Aaron Dell.
San Jose’s Andrew Agozzino potted his ninth to make it a one-goal game at 5:16 of the second period and the Barracuda came out a lot stronger in the second period, but the Abbotsford power play finally bumped their slump and scored two with the man advantage in the second period.
Lockwood with his 11th, as the Canucks score again on the power play and make it 4-1 pic.twitter.com/ZdZhLKjV9h
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) December 21, 2022
Justin Dowling made it a 3-1 game at 9:14 and Will Lockwood buried another power play marker at 14:44 to put the Canucks up 4-1 after two.
Phil Di Giuseppe increased that lead to 5-1 after he stole the puck, used his speed to turn that opportunity into a breakaway and then fooled Dell with a backhand toe-drag at 3:32 of the third. Rau added his second on the night at 8:51. San Jose added a late power play goal to reach the 6-2 final.
Di Giuseppe showing off his magic hands with that beautiful goal, 5-1 Abbotsford pic.twitter.com/XZk2xcu6wN
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) December 21, 2022
That was just Phil-thy 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Pxu5ZXy4lL
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) December 21, 2022
It was a tremendous offensive night for a number of Canucks, especially the line of Dowling, Lockwood and Rau. Dowling collected four points, while Rau and Lockwood both had two. Defenceman Christian Wolanin continued his incredible scoring pace with three assists and he now leads the American Hockey League with 28 assists and is third in the league in points with 32.
Di Giuseppe also had a two-point night for Abbotsford and led the team with four shots on goal. Nils Höglander, who was assigned to Abbotsford on Monday (Dec. 19), recorded three shots in his AHL debut. Defenceman Travis Dermott, also making his first appearance with the Abbotsford Canucks, was a +2.
RELATED: Canucks forward Nils Hoglander assigned to Abbotsford
Goalie Arturs Silovs continued his strong play in between the pipes for the Canucks and he made 22 saves to post his 10th win this season.
There's no place like home for the holidays ❄️ pic.twitter.com/wJEfmiCRcS
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) December 21, 2022
Abbotsford record now improves to 15-9-1-1 and they sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division. Attendance for the game was a reported 4,719. The two teams meet again in the Abbotsford Centre. on Wednesday (Dec. 21) at 7 p.m.
After this week the Canucks close out the season with games in Winnipeg against the Manitoba Moose on Dec. 30 and 31.