Abbotsford Canucks young stars Will Lockwood and Linus Karlsson again fueled the home team to a win, as Abbotsford downed the Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-2 on Friday (Nov. 4).
Lockwood and Karlsson are first and second respectively on the Canucks in scoring early into the season and they set the pace on Friday. Lockwood scored a pair of goals and Karlsson scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the win.
"Our forecheck created a bunch of chances, we didn’t take penalties. It’s nice to see us get rewarded for that.”
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) November 5, 2022
Jeremy Colliton addressed the media following Abbotsford's 5-2 victory over Coachella Valley pic.twitter.com/Z4mxE3Cq6Y
The Firebirds opened the scoring at 9:54 of the first period, but Yushiroh Hirano tied the game up at 11:15 with his second on the season. Lockwood added a goal with just 12 seconds left in the first to put the Canucks up 2-1.
The second period was all Abbotsford, with Karlsson scoring on the power play at 3:58 and Wyatt Kalnyuk scoring his first American Hockey League goal at 10:22. Lockwood added another goal in the third period, with the Firebirds scoring a late goal.
Linus 𝙂𝙤𝙖𝙡sson with his third of the year and our third of the night🎉! pic.twitter.com/PHq1h40MRm
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) November 5, 2022
Forward Kyle Rau also recorded two assists in the win. The Firebirds outshot the Canucks 26-20 and Abbotsford goalie Collin Delia made 24 saves to record his second win this season.
"It's easy to play. We have guys sacrificing their body, it's crazy."
— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) November 5, 2022
Collin Delia addressed the media following Abbotsford's 5-2 victory over Coachella Valley pic.twitter.com/ynFxmvYmyM
Karlsson leads the Canucks this season with 10 points in seven games, while Lockwood has a team-high five goals.
Abbotsford’s record improves to 4-2-0-1 and they sit in third place in the AHL’s Pacific Division. According to the AHL, attendance at the Abbotsford Centre for the game was 4,012.
The two teams meet again on Saturday (Nov. 5). Face-off is set for 7 p.m.
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