The green led to goals on Monday (Feb. 7) for the Abbotsford Canucks.
The American Hockey League team wore greens at home for the first-time ever against the Tuscon Roadrunners last night and exploded for the biggest offensive output in team history with an 8-5 win.
Sheldon Dries opened the scoring with his first of two goals on the night at 3:11 of the opening period, but the Roadrunners evened the game up just 79 seconds later. Defenceman Jack Rathbone made it a 2-1 game at 7:38 with a power play goal.
The second period saw the Canucks get two goals from Sheldon Rempal and one from Nic Petan and Abbotsford led 5-2 after 40 minutes.
Nic Petan with goal number 2️⃣ tonight for the #AbbyCanucks!
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) February 8, 2022
Sheldon Rempal with the 🍎 Remps has now set a new franchise record with 5️⃣ points tonight (2-3-5)! pic.twitter.com/qc6EuRdkX4
Both teams scored three goals in the third, with Petan, Guillaume Brisebois and Dries adding to the scoresheet. Abbotsford’s power play was red hot on Monday, going four for five but they also allowed three power play goals.
A number of Canucks had impressive offensive nights, as Rathbone (one goal, four assists) and Rempal (two goals, three assists) both had five point nights. Petan collected four (two goals, two assists) and Dries had three (two goals, one assist).
“It’s nice to find the scoresheet, but it’s pretty easy when you’re playing with players like Petan, Rempal, Di Giuseppe and Dries...
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) February 8, 2022
“The crowd was pretty fired up. It was great to see that kind of atmosphere tonight."
🗣️ Jack Rathbone#AbbyCanucks pic.twitter.com/WVRcyct3KZ
“It feels good (to score five points),” Rathbone said after the game. “I’m not going to lie, it’s nice to find the scoresheet. My job is easy when I’m playing with players like Nic Petan, Sheldon Rempal and Sheldon Dries. It was fun snapping the puck around and it was big tonight to score like we did.”
Abbotsford continued its streak of high shot totals and outshot Tucson 39-33. The second period saw Abbotsford record 14 shots. Petan led all Canucks with six, while Di Giuseppe and Rempal both had five.
Spencer Martin made 28 saves for the win and his AHL record now improves to 6-1-2-1. He also turned aside a penalty shot awarded to Roadrunners forward Michael Carcone in the second period.
Abbotsford’s record moves to 16-15-3-1 on the season with the win. They remain in sixth place in the Pacific Division.
The Canucks will once again wear green on Wednesday (Feb. 9) when the two teams meet again and will do so for the rest of the season. Wednesday’s game faces off at 7 p.m. at the Abbotsford Centre.
