CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theahl.com) … Danila Klimovich scored on a power play 10:25 into the second overtime period as Abbotsford took Game 1 of the 2025 Calder Cup Finals, 4-3, in Charlotte on Friday night.
The best-of-seven series continues Sunday afternoon (4 ET, AHLTV on FloHockey, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio).
Klimovich snapped a shot from the left-wing dot that got past the glove hand of Kaapo Kähkönen for the winning goal. It was Klimovich’s second OT winner of this postseason.
Arturs Šilovs (13-5) made 51 saves on the night, stopping all 23 shots he faced in overtime.
The Canucks stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to send the game to overtime. Nate Smith scored 22 seconds after the Checkers had grabbed the two-goal lead in the second period, and Ty Mueller netted the game-tying goal with 11:46 left in regulation.
Abbotsford’s Max Sasson opened the series’ scoring 4:34 into the game, before MacKenzie Entwistle tied it just over three minutes later. Oliver Okuliar’s goal with six-tenths of a second left in the opening period put the Checkers ahead 2-1, and Justin Sourdif made it 3-1 at 7:08 of the second.
Charlotte thought they had won the game off a face-off earlier in the second overtime, but the on-ice officials conferred and determined that the puck had been dropped prematurely.
Kähkönen (10-3) finished with 26 stops for the Checkers, who saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end.
NOTES: Attendance for Game 1 was 8,667, the largest crowd ever for an AHL game at Bojangles Coliseum… The Canucks were 2-for-7 on the power play, and killed off all five Charlotte advantages – including two in the first overtime period… Friday’s contest was the longest Calder Cup Finals game since May 30, 2003, when the Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the Houston Aeros at 14:56 of the fourth overtime… The Game 1 winner has actually lost each of the last four Finals series, including 2019 was Charlotte dropped Game 1 at home to Chicago in OT before winning the next four games.
Photo: Ian Yount
(Abbotsford leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Fri., June 13 – Abbotsford 4, CHARLOTTE 3 (2OT)
Game 2 – Sun., June 15 – Abbotsford at Charlotte, 4:00
Game 3 – Tue., June 17 – Charlotte at Abbotsford, 10:00
Game 4 – Thu., June 19 – Charlotte at Abbotsford, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sat., June 21 – Charlotte at Abbotsford, 9:00
*Game 6 – Mon., June 23 – Abbotsford at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 25 – Abbotsford at Charlotte, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
