Darren Francis Photography
Tucson got a 38-save performance from Jaxson Stauber and a three-point night from Ben McCartney, and evened their Pacific Division first-round series with a 4-1 win in Abbotsford on Thursday night.
The deciding Game 3 of the best-of-three series is set for Saturday evening at Abbotsford Centre.
Stauber, who backed up Matt Villalta in Game 1 on Wednesday, stopped all 31 shots he faced over the first two periods while the Roadrunners built a 3-0 lead on goals by McCartney, Andrew Agozzino and Kailer Yamamoto.
Linus Karlsson got the Canucks on the board 2:54 into the third, but McCartney tacked on an empty-netter to close out the scoring.
It was the first career postseason victory for Stauber, who lost his only start during last year’s playoffs with Rockford.
Artūrs Šilovs (1-1) turned aside 28 of 31 shots for the Canucks.
(Series tied, 1-1)
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – ABBOTSFORD 4, Tucson 3
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 24 – Tucson 4, ABBOTSFORD 1
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Tucson at Abbotsford, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
