The Canucks drop game 1 against the Ontario Reign 3-1

The Abbotsford Canucks kicked off Round 2 of the Calder Cup Playoffs, taking on the Ontario Reign for the first game of the Pacific Division Semifinals.

The Canucks continued to go with Zach Sawchenko between the pipes, as he went up against Erik Portillo from the Reign. No changes to the defensive pairing since the last series, as Christian Wolanin and Nick Cicek kicked things off, followed by Matt Irwin and Filip Johansson, and Cole McWard and Akito Hirose.

Up front, Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson stick together. Vasily Podkolzin returns to the Abbotsford Canucks lineup following his stint in Vancouver, and he was reunited with Arshdeep Bains and John Stevens. Sheldon Dries centered Marc Gatcomb and Tristen Nielsen, and Dmitri Zlodeev and Cooper Walker bookended Chase Wouters to round out the Canucks lineup.

Neither team was able to get themselves on the board in the first twenty minutes of play. Despite some close chances, a couple of back-and-forth penalties resulted in more defensive-style play, and the period closed out scoreless.

The second period saw a lot of back-and-forth play, a test of the team's endurance. It wasn’t until the Reign found themselves with possession of the puck in the Canucks zone, that Wyatte Wylie was able to rip one in front, and it was deflected by T.J. Tynan to put Ontario up 1-0. The Canucks couldn’t get one before the end of the period and headed into the final frame down by 1.

The Reign was quick to get things started in the third period when Alex Turcotte picked up the rebound from Samuel Fagemo to give Ontario an insurance goal. Shortly thereafter, Max Sasson was able to intercept the puck right in front of the net, quickly turned it over, and fired it home to cut the Reigns lead in half. Unfortunately, just a few minutes later, Nikita Pavlychev was able to provide insurance once again when he ripped one home from the point to put the Reign up 3-1 and restored their 2-goal lead. The Canucks pulled Sawchenko out of the net to gain an extra body on the ice, but no one was able to find the back of the net again.

The Canucks drop game one in the series 3-1 against the Ontario Reign, and will look to reset and battle back on Sunday, before returning home to the Abbotsford Centre.

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