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Abbotsford Canucks win third straight, sweep San Jose on the road

Canucks sit in third place heading into the AHL all-star break, host Tucson on Friday
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Arturs Silovs recorded his 19th win after the Canucks beat San Jose 3-2 on Saturday (Feb. 4). (San Jose Barracuda photo)

No Aman, Di Giuseppe and Podkolzin was no problem for the Abbotsford Canucks – as they posted a 3-2 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday (Feb. 4) afternoon.

The Vancouver Canucks announced earlier on Saturday that forward Nils Aman, Phil Di Giuseppe and Vasily Podkolzin were all being recalled to Vancouver, meaning three forward spots opened up for Abbotsford’s roster later that day.

Abbotsford filled it in with Matt Alfaro, Vincent Arseneau and Marc Gatcomb and that line stepped up in big way by scoring what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.

With the game tied at two, a strong forechecking shift by that line eventually led to an Arseneau second period goal. Defenceman Noah Juulsen dished the puck to Alfaro, who then slid the puck through the crease to an open Arsenau who batted the puck home at 16:09 in the middle frame.

The Barracuda led 1-0 after one and controlled the first due to Abbotsford taking a number of penalties. Derrick Pouliot on the power play at 7:23 was the lone goal in the first. San Jose outshot Abbotsford 9-6 and Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs had to make several big saves to keep it close in the first.

The second period was all Abbotsford, as Tristen Nielsen scored just 30 seconds into the second, but San Jose grabbed the lead back at 5:30 when Kyle Criscuolo beat Silovs. Rookie Linus Karlsson tied the game back up at 8:05 after a great set-up by captain Chase Wouters. The goal was Karlsson’s 15th on the season. He ranks fourth in the AHL for goals by a rookie.

Arseneau’s goal put the Canucks up 3-2 after two and they outshot San Jose 19-9 in the middle frame. There was no scoring in the third, but again Silovs made several key saves. San Jose had the 12-8 shots advantage.

Abbotsford outshot San Jose 33-30 in the game and defenceman Jett Woo and Christian Wolanin led the way with four shots on goal. Silovs made 28 saves and he has now recorded 19 wins on the season.

Forward Aatu Räty played in his second game as a Canuck and posted one shot on goal and was a +1. He played on the second line with Kyle Rau and Nielsen.

Abbotsford also signed emergency back-up goalie David Guy for Saturday, as back-up Jake Kupsky was injured on Friday. Kupsky’s status has not been released by the team.

After a stumble in late-January, the Canucks have now won three straight and are back in third place in the Pacific Division. The club’s record now sits at 26-15-2-2 as the team heads into the short AHL all-star break. Defenceman Christian Wolanin will be representing the team at the game, which occurs on Monday (Feb. 6).

The next home game for the Canucks is on Friday (Feb. 10) when the Tucson Roadrunners come to the Abbotsford Centre. That game is being promoted as “Celebrating the Sedins”, with legendary Vancouver Canucks players Daniel and Henrik Sedin in the building.

RELATED: Abbotsford Canucks leapfrog into third place after 3-2 win over San Jose

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Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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