The Abbotsford Canucks’ Calder Cup Finals matchup against the Charlotte Checkers has officially begun, with the AHL Canucks winning 4–3 in double-overtime in Game 1 tonight. Max Sasson opened the scoring in the series on the power play, with Nate Smith, Ty Mueller, and Danila Klimovich finding the back of the net as well. Artūrs Šilovs started his 19th consecutive game of the Calder Cup Playoffs, stopping an astounding 51 of 54 shots against. 

Game 1 started with big openings for each team. A big hit resulting in an in-tight chance for Sammy Blais almost resulted in an Abbotsford goal a minute into the first period, but Checkers goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen made the stop. Immediately after, Jesse Puljujärvi had a speedy break in on Šilovs, but Abbotsford’s goaltender swung the glove up to make the save. 

Western Conference Finals Game 6 hero, Sasson, opened the scoring for Abbotsford off an early power play. While Blais tried working the puck in-tight around Kähkönen, the puck ended up on Sasson’s stick for a near-open tap-in at the edge of Charlotte’s crease. This was Sasson’s fifth goal of the playoffs and third on the power play. 

It didn’t take long for Charlotte to tie the game up with a shot from MacKenzie Entwistle. In an unfortunate sequence for Abbotsford, directly after the Checkers’ game-tying goal, Danila Klimovich took a four-minute high-sticking penalty. While this could have gone sideways quickly for the AHL Canucks, Abbotsford’s penalty kill stepped up when it needed to as always. A big reason for this was Šilovs, who made big stops on the penalty kill and on even-strength to keep the game tied. 

Abbotsford looked a little slow to start the second period, with the worst of it coming in the Checkers’ 3–1 goal nearly halfway through the game. However, a breakaway for Smith only a few seconds after cut Abbotsford’s deficit back down to one. After killing their third penalty of the game, the AHL Canucks were given a four-minute power play after Trevor Carrick was called for high-sticking. Neither team scored on their second period power play opportunities, though Abbotsford escaped with around a minute and 20 seconds left on their fourth of the night to end the frame. 

The third period yielded a golden opportunity for Abbotsford, who tied the game with 11:46 left in the frame and were given a power play less than a minute after. In their fifth man-advantage of the game, the AHL Canucks were unable to convert and almost gave up a shorthanded goal against when Charlotte’s Justin Sourdif had a breakaway chance. With four minutes left in the third, Abbotsford was given their sixth power play of the game after Dennis Cesana received a tripping call. The AHL Canucks finished the game 2/7 on the power play (more on that later). 

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Regardless of who won, one notable negative for both teams in this game was the ice. Abbotsford and Charlotte players alike were seen unable to complete certain plays due to the ice being too soft. Bojangles Coliseum’s ice crew were spotted shoveling slush from around both creases at various points throughout the game. 

The game-winning goal came after 30:25 minutes of overtime, most of which saw Charlotte dominating. By the end of the game, shots were 54–30 for the Checkers. This included a fluky goal scored by Mueller on his own net after a faceoff win during the second overtime period. Charlotte believed they’d won after the puck went past Šilovs, but after some discussion amongst the referees, the goal was called off as Abbotsford’s goaltender was not made aware of the fact that play was starting. As a result, play continued. 

Charlotte made the grave mistake of taking a puck-over-glass penalty halfway through the second overtime, putting Abbotsford on their seventh power play of the night. While on the man-advantage, Klimovich scored the eventual winner, making this his second double-overtime game-winning goal of the playoffs. 

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

4:34 - ABB: Max Sasson (5) from Sammy Blais and Kirill Kudryavstev (PPG) 

7:59 - CLT: MacKenzie Entwistle (2) from Jesse Puljujärvi and Matt Kiersted 

19:59 - CLT: Oliver Okuliar (3) from Michael Benning and Matt Kiersted 

2nd Period: 

7:08 - CLT: Justin Sourdif (4) from Kyle Criscuolo 

7:30 - ABB: Nate Smith (4) from Sammy Blais 

3rd Period: 

8:14 - ABB: Ty Mueller (3) from Tristen Nielsen 

Double Overtime: 

10:25 - ABB: Danila Klimovich (3) from Max Sasson

Game 2: Sunday, June 15 @ Bojangles Coliseum, 1:00 pm PT

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