Eighth time’s the charm for the Abbotsford Canucks?
After seven straight losses at home — with an added four road losses to bring the losing streak to 11 — the Abbotsford Canucks have their first coveted win at the newly-renamed Rogers Forum this season.
On top of that? It was also the debut for goaltender Aku Koskenvuo, who stopped 33 of 36 shots in the 4-3 shootout win over the San Jose Barracuda. The 2021 fifth-round pick was playing just his third professional hockey game, after making two starts the week prior for the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL.
Koskenvuo is the sixth goalie to be used by the Canucks this season, and the third netminder to debut in just over a month into the 2025-26 season. Projected starter Nikita Tolopilo left the home opener on October 24 with a potential groin injury and has not played since. The most experienced AHL goalie, Jiri Patera, has been continually called up to assist Kevin Lankinen and the Vancouver Canucks as they go without the perennially-injured Thatcher Demko. Ty Young has played the most games on the active AHL roster, with six appearances — even though he also left a game early due to injury in Colorado, making way for former NAHL goalie CJ Kier, the EBUG of the night in a 4-1 loss to the league-leading Eagles. Young’s tandem mate in Kalamazoo the previous season, Jonathan Lemieux, also stepped in for Abbotsford for two games. At the time of writing, the Canucks have played 16 games, using a new goalie every 2.67 games on average.
The weather could also be described as average for a November Wednesday in the Fraser Valley, as wind and rain pelted the spectators trickling into the arena after nightfall. The streak-breaking game on November 12 against San Jose was the last home game for nearly three weeks, so Abbotsford fans flocked to watch the Canucks take the ice, even with their unsatisfactory record on the season thus far.
San Jose scored first, midway through the opening period, before making it 2-0 just over a minute into the middle frame. Abbotsford was able to tie it, with Joe Arntsen scoring his first goal of the year, and Ty Mueller getting the second goal later on the power play, though San Jose would retake a one-goal lead with just over five minutes left in the second period.
The teams battled back and forth in the third — Abbotsford had 16 shots in 20 minutes, compared to the 15 they had mustered up in the previous 40 — though the lone goal came as time trickled down on the game clock. Joseph LaBate scored with 1:16 left in regulation to tie the game at three on the power play, and Abbotsford were back in it, still searching for the coveted two points on home ice for the first time this season.
Overtime solved nothing, and it was onto the shootout. The home team elected to shoot first, and the Canucks’ second shooter Vilmer Alriksson was the first to score, though the Barracuda’s Oliver Wahlstrom scored to tie the shootout result at one. It was the fourth Canucks shooter, Ben Berard, who scored the winning Abbotsford goal, as Koskenvuo stopped the attempt by Luca Cagnoni at the other end of the ice and earned his first AHL win. For the first time this season, Canucks fans left the building optimistic about a win, rather than reeling from yet another loss.
“We have an awesome fan base. They showed it last playoffs, and we want to give them something to come watch.” Canucks forward Ty Mueller said after the game.
“It’s not a good feeling when you lose that many games in a row. Knowing that they’re still behind you and still showing up and cheering for you is huge, and being able to do that in front of them tonight was very special.”
Since the Canucks finally captured that coveted first win at home, they went on to have losing efforts against the San Diego Gulls and the Coachella Valley Firebirds, with score lines of 7-0 and 5-2, respectively. They continue on the road for the rest of the month, with consecutive weekend stints against the San Jose Barracuda and Tucson Roadrunners.
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