Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
A massive challenge looms this weekend for the Abbotsford Canucks, whose 11-game winning streak is the longest in the AHL this season.
The Laval Rocket come to Abbotsford Centre tonight and Sunday, giving the Canucks a chance to match themselves against the first-overall team in the league.
Abbotsford sliced through their competition on a just-completed six-game road trip through Manitoba, San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego, outscoring their hosts 27-12. The first of their 11 consecutive wins came back on Mar. 8, and they have not slowed down since. Tied for sixth in the Pacific Division before the streak began, the Canucks head into the weekend with a playoff berth clinched and just five points behind the first-place Colorado Eagles.
Moreover, first-year head coach Manny Malhotra and his players have been able to go on this run with a succession of recalls to the parent Vancouver Canucks. Leading scorer Aatu Räty is with Vancouver, as are fellow forwards Nils Åman, Linus Karlsson and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Defensemen Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini are on recall as well.
But some help has returned to the roster. Goaltender Artūrs Šilovs rejoined the team from his recall to Vancouver, stepping back into the Abbotsford net this week for a team-wide masterpiece in which the Canucks held Bakersfield to just 13 shots on goal in a 2-1 win keyed by a third-period comeback. A night later in San Diego, they piled on four third-period goals for a 6-3 victory. Forward Max Sasson, back from Vancouver as well, registered a goal in the win over the Gulls.
Despite all of the talent still on NHL recall, the Canucks have continued to generate offensively. They have 46 goals in their 11-game winning streak and are averaging 3.35 goals per game this season, sixth-most in the league. And they can jump on teams early. Last Saturday at San Jose, a Sammy Blais goal 31 seconds into the game set up a four-goal first period. A night earlier, the Canucks delivered three goals in the opening 11:08 of the game. Abbotsford is an impressive 29-6-0-0 when scoring first this season.
Special-teams play can take a team far, too, and the Canucks have done well there also. Their penalty kill has burned off 83.0 percent of opposing power-play opportunities, and their power play is clicking at 19.0 percent and has yet to allow a shorthanded goal this season.
Now it’s back home to face Laval, a team that has never won in six visits to Abbotsford. The Rocket are on a 12-2-1-0 run and have won five straight on the road, including two wins at Manitoba earlier this week. Then the arch-rival Calgary Wranglers come to town next weekend; those teams staged two intense games on Abbotsford ice last month and could be on track for a potential postseason match-up.
With their fourth consecutive trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs locked up in the win at San Diego, this weekend is one more test for the AHL’s hottest team.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
