Linus Karlsson scored twice and Artūrs Šilovs made 32 saves for his fourth shutout of the postseason as the Abbotsford Canucks eliminated the Colorado Eagles with a 5-0 victory in the winner-take-all fifth game of the Pacific Division Finals on Monday afternoon.
Abbotsford advances to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in team history, and will host Game 1 against the Texas Stars on Thursday evening.
Abbotsford withstood several Colorado scoring chances early in the game, and the contest remained scoreless until Karlsson scored on a power play with 2:14 remaining in the opening period.
Exactly one minute later, the Canucks struck again when Phil Di Giuseppe took a pass from Jett Woo and snapped home a wrister from the right-wing circle. It was the fourth goal of the playoffs but the first point of the series for Di Giuseppe.
Defenseman Cole McWard gave Abbotsford a 3-0 lead at 9:09 of the second period, taking a pass from Arshdeep Bains at center ice and skating all the way in before beating Trent Miner five-hole for his first goal since Mar. 22.
The teams were skating four-on-four to begin the third period when Karlsson notched his second goal of the game and seventh of the postseason 34 seconds into the stanza. Di Giuseppe tacked on his second of the night into an empty net with 4:07 to play.
Bains and Ty Mueller recorded two assists each in the contest, and Šilovs (8-3) continued his MVP-like playoff run with his third series-clinching shutout in as many rounds. Šilovs has a .935 save percentage in 12 starts this postseason.
Miner (5-4) made 19 saves for the Eagles, who were eliminated by Abbotsford on home ice for the second year in a row.
(Abbotsford wins series, 3-2)
Game 1 – Fri., May 16 – ABBOTSFORD 2, Colorado 0
Game 2 – Sun., May 18 – Colorado 5, ABBOTSFORD 3
Game 3 – Wed., May 21 – Abbotsford 3, COLORADO 2 (OT)
Game 4 – Fri., May 23 – COLORADO 3, Abbotsford 1
Game 5 – Mon., May 26 – Abbotsford 5, COLORADO 0
