Abbotsford Canucks and the third period woes

JEN FIELD/GATG

November 2 marked the final game of a 6 game home series. Abbotsford Canucks looked for their first win on home ice, while the Henderson Silver Knights looked to break a franchise record win streak. 

Ty Young started in net. This would be his third start of the season. 

The first period started with solid game play from both teams. Each consistently driving the puck into the opposing zone and setting up plays. 

Henderson’s Ben Hemmerling opened the scoring on a breakaway at 8:32 in the first period. 

Abbotsford came close to tying the game but Jesper Vikman of Henderson managed to keep the puck out of the net. 

Henderson’s Jeremey Davies took the first penalty of the game for interference at 18:56 in the first. Giving Abbotsford the man advantage. 

Joseph LaBate capitalized on the power play to tie the game at 18:53 in the first. The goal was assisted by Ben Berard and Jimmy Schuldt. 

The first period ended 1-1. 

Abbotsford had some close calls early in the second to pull ahead, but Vikman continued to be a wall for Henderson in net. 

Henderson’s Braeden Bowman took a high-sticking penalty at 5:39 in the second, giving Abbotsford their second power play of the night. 

Joseph LaBate would again capitalize on the power play to give Abbotsford their first lead of the night at 7:14. The goal again was assisted by Berard and Schuldt again. 

Schuldt talked about what he likes about LaBate and Berard’s playing style after the game, stating; “Joseph, just how big he is and how well he kind of thinks the game and anticipates it. He’s a hard guy to box out…Benny’s been really good…seems like every opportunity he’s gotten on the power play.”

This line's chemistry and power play drive helped put Abbotsford on the board twice in the game. Watching them together you could see them read each other and set up a copy and paste for those 2 goals. 

The energy and drive began to pick up for Abbotsford as they looked to widen the score.

Danila Klimovich took an interference penalty at 9:39 in the second. This would be Henderson’s first power play of the game. 

Henderson’s Raphael Lavoie capitalized on the man advantage to tie the game 2-2 at 10:41 in the second. 

Nikolai Knyzhov took a hooking penalty a few minutes later at 14:04. Giving Henderson the man advantage for the second time in the period. Abbotsford battled hard on the penalty kill keeping the score 2-2. 

Henderson’s Jackson Hallum scored their third goal of the night at 6:03, giving them their second lead of the night. 

Robby Drazner took a hooking penalty at 18:30, giving Henderson their third power play in the second. 

The period would end 3-2 for Henderson. 

The third period began with Abbotsford on the penalty kill for 30 seconds.  They would be 2-1 on the penalty kill, and kept the game 3-2 for Henderson. 

Henderson’s Mitch McLain scored at 2:55 in the third period. Making it 4-2 for Henderson. 

Henderson’s Jeremy Davies scored at 8:10 in the third to make the game 5-2. 

Henderson pulled their goalie with just over 10 minutes left in the period for an extra attacker. However, Klimovich took a penalty at 9:37 for roughing. Abbotsford battled hard on the defensive to keep them 3-1 on the penalty kill. 

Henderson’s Tuomas Uronen scored at 12:34 in the third, to put the game 6-2. 

LaBate and Henderson’s McLain took penalties at 15:19 for roughing, putting the game 4-on-4. 

Nils Åman would take a tripping penalty at 15:50, putting the game 3-on-4 in favour of Henderson. Henderson’s Lukas Cormier scored on the advantage putting the game 7-2 at 17:00 in the third.  

Ben Bernard scored a late goal at 18:54 in the third, assisted by Drazner and Schuldt.

The game ended 7-3 for Henderson, giving them their franchise record of a 7 game win streak. 

This was not the outcome the team wanted, and after a strong start in the beginning of the game, the third period took a lot out of Abbotsford.

After the game LaBate talked about the third period struggles stating “I can’t say [it’s] experience or anything, but I think you know anytime you’re not scoring a lot of five on five goals, it makes it really hard to win.” 

The team has had a lot of solid starts to their games, only to crumble in the third.  

Schuldt also commented on the third period saying; “[W]hen things go wrong, I think we kind of go into a shell instead of getting back to what got us there. And, it’s like, I think there’s games where we played 48 to 50 minutes really well and then kind of fall apart for 10 minutes. So I think, you know, if there’s a bad shift we just kind of get right back to it, instead of sitting back and just letting the puck stay in our end.”

Abbotsford will head on the road for 2 games in Colorado, before coming back to the Abbotsford Centre to face off against the San Jose Barracuda on November 11 and 12, 2025. The games will start at 7 pm, PST.