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Abbotsford Canucks fall 3-2 in overtime to the Calgary Wranglers

Calgary’s Matthew Phillips scores just seven seconds into overtime after Canucks battle back
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Abbotsford Canucks captain Chase Wouters battles for the puck against Calgary’s Nicolas Meloche during AHL action on Wednesday (Jan. 18). (Abbotsford Canucks photo)

The Abbotsford Canucks battled back from an early 2-0 deficit against the Calgary Wranglers with goals in the second and third periods, only to see it all fall apart just seven seconds into overtime.

The American Hockey League’s leading scorer Matthew Phillips stole the puck after the overtime’s opening face-off, skated into the Canucks zone, found space and ripped a goal past Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs to give Calgary the 3-2 win on Wednesday (Jan. 18).

Abbotsford earned a single point in the loss, but the two points to division rival Calgary will hurt them in the standings.

The Wranglers opened the scoring at 6:20 of the first when Brett Sutter fooled Silovs while Calgary was shorthanded. Colton Poolman then put Calgary up by two when the teams were playing four-on-four.

Calgary dominated play in the first and outshot Abbotsford 17-4.

The tables were turned in the second period, as Abbotsford outshot Calgary 15-3 but Wranglers goalie Dustin Wolf was unstoppable for most of the period. Vasily Podkolzin finally got one past the AHL’s top-ranked goalie at 19:42. Abbotsford’s lack of success on the power play was a big story in the game and the team went zero for seven on Wednesday, including going zero for five in the middle frame.

The Canucks continued pressing in the third, outshooting Calgary 12-8 and they were rewarded at 13:16 when Christian Wolanin set up Arshdeep Bains perfectly to tie the game up.

Overtime came and went in the blink of an eye and Calgary collected a valuable two points.

Abbotsford ended up with the 31-29 shots edge and both Justin Dowling and Phil Di Giuseppe recorded five shots. The Canucks record now falls to 22-11-1-1 on the season while Calgary improves to 24-10-1-0. Abbotsford falls to fourth in the Pacific Division, while Calgary remains in second.

Tonight’s attendance at the Abbotsford Centre was 5,059.

The two teams meet again on Friday (Jan. 20) and Saturday (Jan. 21) at the AC.

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Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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