Moose tripped by Canucks, 3-2, in OT

The Manitoba Moose (31-17-4-3) rematched with the Abbotsford Canucks (32-21-2-3) on Wednesday evening at Abbotsford Centre. Manitoba was coming off a 4-3 win against the Canucks the previous night.

Neither side was able to find twine through the opening 20 minutes of play. The Moose were granted a single chance on the power play, while the Canucks earned three opportunities. Manitoba’s Oskari Salminen and Abbotsford’s Auturs Silovs both ended the frame with eight saves apiece as the horn sounded to end the stanza.

Abbotsford opened the scoring 1:21 into the second frame. Justin Dowling and Kyle Rau sprinted down the ice on a two-on-one rush. With space running out, Rau found Nils Hoglander trailing the play to beat Salminen in tight. The Moose tied the contest near the halfway point of the frame on a two-man advantage. Jansen Harkins sent the puck to Ville Heinola, who quickly sauced it the waiting Leon Gawanke to beat Silovs with a quick one-timer. Abbotsford pushed back ahead late in the period, as Jett Woo sent a shot from the blue line that beat Salminen under the bar. Manitoba trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes and were down 21-15 in shots.

Manitoba tied the contest 53 seconds into the third period. Declan Chisholm found Wyatt Bongiovanni, who stumped Silovs with a short side shot. The goal was the lone tally of the frame. With both sides securing a point, the clubs geared up for overtime. In the extra frame, Manitoba was forced on the penalty kill and the Canucks took advantage. Rau poked a Tristen Nielsen rebound under the pad of Salminen to end the contest. Salminen took the loss and ended with 28 stops, while Silovs picked up the win while making 20 saves.