The Abbotsford Canucks franchise record nine-game win streak ended with an enormous thud on Thursday (April 28) in Winnipeg.
Needing just one point to guarantee home ice in round one of the American Hockey League playoffs, Abbotsford was humbled 7-1 by the Manitoba Moose.
The goals came early and often as Manitoba opened up a 2-0 lead mid-way through the first period and added a goal with 22 seconds left. Michael DiPietro was shelled in the opening frame and the Canucks were outshot 20-6 after one.
DiPietro doing A LOT to keep Abbotsford relevant in this game! Some struggles to regain possession inside the d-zone result in two huge saves from Mikey
— Cody Severtson (@CodySevertson) April 29, 2022
Canucks outshot 14-6 through 17 minutes#AbbyCanucks #Canucks pic.twitter.com/3BQl2HiwZ0
The Canucks came out better in the second period and made it a 3-1 game when Brannon McManus took advantage of a mistake by Moose goalie Mikhail Berdin at 5:49, but that would be as close as the Canucks would get. Manitoba added three more goals in the second period to make it 6-1 after 40 minutes. Abbotsford was outshot 13-12 in the second frame.
GOALS GOALS AND MORE GOALS!
— x-Manitoba Moose (@ManitobaMoose) April 29, 2022
🚨: Declan Chisholm
🍎: Johnathan Kovacevic pic.twitter.com/ltQg7PueTU
Emergency back-up goalie Rylan Toth replaced DiPietro to start the third period and the UBC Thunderbird netminder allowed one goal and made 11 saves in 20 minutes of action. DiPietro made 27 saves in his two periods of work. Abbotsford was outshot 45-22 in the loss.
Manitoba had two-point nights from Nicholas Jonas, Evan Polei, Mikey Eyssimont, C.J. Suess, Ville Heinola, and Bobby Lynch. John Stevens led the Canucks with four shots on goal.
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The game ranks as Abbotsford’s worst loss this season. The previous worst losses occurred on Jan. 6 (6-2 loss to the Bakersfield Condors) and Feb. 4 (7-3 loss to the Stockton Heat).
Abbotsford can still clinch home ice in round one with at least one point in Saturday’s rematch against the Moose. A single point places the Canucks in fourth place and a win sees them end up in third. Zero points on Saturday and they can still host, but have to hope that Bakersfield loses on Saturday night against the Heat.
Saturday’s game occurs at noon Abbotsford time.
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