The Abbotsford Canucks and Bakersfield Condors had mirror image games on Tuesday (March 12) and Wednesday (March 13), with Bakersfield opening with a 4-1 win and then Abbotsford volleying back with a 4-1 victory.
Adding to the mirror effect was that Abbotsford received the game’s lone power play on Wednesday, while Bakersfield got the only power play opportunity on Tuesday.
Condors take the early lead pic.twitter.com/zXzTcuGTw0
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) March 14, 2024
Wednesday’s game didn’t exactly start according to plan for the Canucks, as Bakersfield’s Matvey Petrov scored just 70 seconds into the game.
Canucks forward Tristen Nielsen knotted the game up at 17:11 of the first with his 10th on the season. The Fort St. John product is on pace to set a new AHL career record for goals after potting 14 in 2022-23.
Long, dominant few minutes by Abbotsford as Nielsen beats Rodrigue to tie the game up pic.twitter.com/n2ALAddrzm
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) March 14, 2024
The returning Max Sasson put Abbotsford up at 11:04 of the second with his 14th on the season. The rookie forward had missed the past nine games with an injury. That goal proved to be the game winner, a category that Sasson leads the Canucks in with six.
Sasson makes it 2-1, they missed him a lot. He has 14 goals now pic.twitter.com/nSC86o634b
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) March 14, 2024
Abbotsford then got a pair of goals from leading goal scorer Sheldon Dries in the third. Dries now has 23 goals and he sits tied for ninth in the AHL in goals.
Karlsson with the steal and set-up to Dries, 3-1 Abbotsford pic.twitter.com/BgoYPVWDsd
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) March 14, 2024
Wednesday marked an outstanding performance from Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo, who made 26 saves for his 15th win on the season. Tolopilo was named the game’s first star and he is now the Canucks de factor starter after Arturs Silovs was called up to Vancouver this week following the injury of the NHL team’s starter Thatcher Demko.
Abbotsford outshot Bakersfield 38-27 and Sasson, Linus Karlsson and defenceman Filip Johansson all recorded four shots. Karlsson had a strong game with two assists and Sasson was a team-best +3.
Wednesday also marked the return of Guillaume Brisebois to the Abbotsford Canucks roster. He recorded two shots on goal and was a +1. Brisebois has been injured since early in the season and hasn’t played in Abbotsford since Feb. 20, 2023. He spent significant time in Vancouver last season.
BAKED TO PERFECTION 👩🍳 pic.twitter.com/39HX11YLOi
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) March 14, 2024
Tuesday’s 4-1 loss saw the Canucks commit two poor turnovers that led to goals and have challenges beating Condors starting goalie Jack Campbell.
Bakersfield went up 2-0 midway through the second period before Matt Irwin got the Canucks on the board. Bakersfield responded with goals from Sam Gagner and Philip Broberg to put the game away in the third.
Brutal giveaway by Loewen leads to Condors goal pic.twitter.com/zCbiEKtKxN
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) March 13, 2024
Abbotsford players Cooper Walker, Akito Hirose and Cole McWard were all -3 on Tuesday, with forwards Jermaine Loewen and Ty Glover a -2. Walker, Hirose and Loewen all did not dress in Wednesday’s game.
The Canucks now sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division after the pair of games and jumped over the Calgary Wranglers in the standings after Wednesday’s win.
The club next hosts the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday (March 16). That game is being billed as “Top Dogs Night”, with dog races being promoted.
The Canucks and Silver Knights also play on Sunday (March 17) at 4 p.m.