The Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers started with the two teams splitting the first two games in Edmonton before the series returned to Florida, where the Panthers celebrated their return to home ice by walloping the Oilers 6-to-1.
So far, the Calder Cup Final is following the same script, albeit with the team that is part of the Panthers' system on the losing end.
The Abbotsford Canucks against the Panthers' AHL farm team, the Charlotte Checkers, then in the first overtime period. Instead, the Checkers evened the series as it headed north of the border to Abbotsford for Games 3, 4, and 5.
The Canucks were lucky to escape Charlotte with the series tied 1-1, however, as the Checkers badly outshot the Canucks in both games, with only Arturs Silovs standing between the Canucks and a blowout. They needed a much better effort on home ice if they wanted any chance of winning the Cup.
They got a much better effort, with a couple of Vancouver Canucks prospects leading the way.
Abbotsford came out flying in the first period and were unlucky to give up the first goal against the flow of play. Charlotte defenceman Matt Kiersted threw a puck toward the net, and Oliver Okuliar deflected it down between Arturs Silovs legs with what Silovs argued was a high stick. He appeared to have a case, but the goal stood, sending the Checkers into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
The Canucks responded in the second period on the power play. Arshdeep Bains won a battle with Marek Alscher for a puck, freeing it up to Linus Karlsson, who spotted Sammy Blais wide open in front of the net and fed him with a beautiful backhand pass. Blais showed some silky mitts with a deke to the forehand to beat Kaapo Kähkönen upstairs.
It was a fairly even game through two periods and the 1-1 score reflected that. Then the Canucks blew it all up in the third period.
The line of Bains, Karlsson, and Max Sasson was a force to be reckoned with, as they won battles all over the ice and kept possession with crisp passes. The goal that ultimately stood up as the game-winner was a great example, as Bains took a hit from behind but stayed in the play, making a pass from his tuchus to Sasson, who set up Karlsson for an open net at the backdoor.
Bains with the pass from his ass to Sasson, who sets up Karlsson for the backdoor goal to make it 2-1 #Canucks.
— Daniel Wagner ()
It was a marvellous play by all three players, as even Karlsson didn't just tap the puck in, but finished the play with authority.
Sasson nearly made it 3-1 midway through the third period when Karlsson sprung him on a breakaway, but Kähkönen came up with the glove save. He couldn't do anything, however, about Bains' power play goal shortly after.
Some quick puck movement took advantage of the Checkers' aggressive penalty kill, as Bains attempted to give Karlsson another open net at the backdoor, only for his pass to be intercepted by Checkers defenceman Trevor Carrick, who deflected the puck into his own net.
Special teams was key in this game, as that goal meant the Canucks were 2-for-2 on the power play, while they killed off all three of the Checkers' chances with the man advantage.
Then Silovs got into the scoring, jumping out of his net to spring Phil Di Giuseppe on a 2-on-1 with Jonathan Lekkerimäki. With the defenceman taking away the pass, Di Giuseppe kept and sniped, firing the puck just under the crossbar, with Silovs getting the only assist on the play.
That put the game out of reach, but the Checkers still pulled the goaltender with a few minutes left in hopes of a miraculous comeback. Instead, Karlsson battled hard along the boards and dove out to get the puck to Bains, who hitt he empty net from his own blue line to make it 5-1.
For good measure, Tristen Nielsen added one more goal 24 seconds later, picking off a terrible pass by Jesse Puljujarvi for a breakaway before tucking the puck five-hole on Kähkönen with a lovely backhand deke.
Just like that, Abbotsford took a 2-1 series lead with the lopsided win. Bains and Karlsson both had four-point nights, while Sasson had a game-high five shots on goal, tied with Ty Mueller. Kirill Kudryavtsev added to his playoff-leading plus/minus with a plus-3 performance, bringing him to plus-16 in the playoffs.
While Silovs didn't face as many pucks as he did in the first two games in Charlotte, he still came up with some clutch stops to hold the Checkers at just one goal, finishing with 28 saves on 29 shots.
There were also plenty of penalties, as it continued to be a feisty series with lots of post-whistle shenanigans. The two teams combined for 66 minutes in penalties, including ten-minute misconducts late in the game for Jujhar Khaira and Nate Smith of the Canucks and Riley Bezeau and MacKenzie Entwhistle of the Checkers.
Game 4 is on Thursday, June 19, at the Abbotsford Centre. The game is sold out, but the Canucks released standing-room-only tickets for Game 3 and may do so again for Game 4.
