ABBOTSFORD, B.C. (theahl.com) … Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored twice and Artūrs Šilovs made 32 saves as Abbotsford moved to within one victory of a Calder Cup championship with a 3-2 win over Charlotte on Thursday night.
The Canucks lead the best-of-seven series, three games to one, and can secure the Vancouver organization’s first-ever AHL title in Game 5 on Saturday at Abbotsford Centre (9 ET, AHLTV on FloHockey, NHL Network, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio).
Lekkerimäki, a scratch for five straight games before returning to the lineup for Game 3, opened the scoring just 1:15 into Thursday’s contest, and his goal 3:47 into the third proved to be the game-winner as Abbotsford built a 3-0 lead before holding off a late Checkers rally.
Arshdeep Bains scored his sixth goal in the last six games for the Canucks, and Ty Mueller registered two assists.
Šilovs (15-6) extended his shutout streak to 100:12 before Charlotte got on the board with a power-play goal from Kyle Criscuolo at 8:34 of the third period. It was the first power-play goal allowed by Abbotsford on home ice all postseason.
Jack Devine, who joined Charlotte in April following his senior season at the University of Denver, scored his first professional goal with 26.4 seconds remaining.
Kaapo Kähkönen (11-5) made 20 stops for the Checkers.
NOTES: Attendance was 7,161, the fourth sellout of the series and the largest crowd ever for an AHL game at Abbotsford Centre… Criscuolo’s third-period goal for Charlotte ended a run of nine consecutive goals scored by the Canucks… Three teams in AHL history have won the Calder Cup after trailing 3-1 in the Finals: the 1949 Providence Reds (vs. Hershey), the 1947 Hershey Bears (vs. Pittsburgh) and the 1946 Buffalo Bisons (vs. Cleveland).
Darren Francis Photography
(Abbotsford leads series, 3-1)
Game 1 – Fri., June 13 – Abbotsford 4, CHARLOTTE 3 (2OT)
Game 2 – Sun., June 15 – CHARLOTTE 3, Abbotsford 2 (OT)
Game 3 – Tue., June 17 – ABBOTSFORD 6, Charlotte 1
Game 4 – Thu., June 19 – ABBOTSFORD 3, Charlotte 2
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
