Abbotsford Takes 1-0 Series Lead with 4-2 Win over Eagles
Apr 24, 2024
LOVELAND, CO. – Abbotsford forward Sheldon Dries netted a pair of goals, including the game winner, while goaltender Zach Sawchenko turned aside 28 of the 30 shots he faced, as the Canucks defeated the Colorado Eagles 4-2 in Game One of their best-of-three, Opening Round series of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Forwards Cal Burke and Ivan Ivan each found the back of the net in the defeat. Colorado goaltender Ivan Prosvetov suffered the loss in net allowing three goals on 17 shots.
Abbotsford would open the scoring just 1:56 into the contest when forward Arshdeep Bains tucked home a wraparound, giving the Canucks an early 1-0 edge.
The Eagles would counter on a power play, as Burke streaked through the right-wing circle before lighting the lamp with a wrister, tying the game at 1-1 with 8:10 remaining in the first period. Colorado would go on to outshoot Abbotsford 8-7 in the opening frame, as the two teams left for the first intermission still deadlocked at 1-1.
The Canucks hopped back on top when Dries buried a wrister from between the circles, giving Abbotsford a 3-2 advantage at the 7:13 mark of the second period.
The Eagles would generate an answer when forward Ivan Ivan collected a pass from behind the net at the top of the crease and banged the puck home, tying the game at 2-2 with 6:27 remaining in the middle frame.
As time ticked down in the period, a 3-on-1 rush would set up Dries to throw the puck to the low slot where it would deflect off an Eagles skater and past Prosvetov, putting Abbotsford on top 3-2 at the 19:33 mark of the second stanza.
Still trailing 3-2 as the puck dropped on the third period, Colorado would struggle to find an equalizer, eventually being forced to pull Prosvetov in favor of the extra attacker in the final 90 seconds of regulation. The move would set up Canucks forward Linus Karlsson to net an empty-netter from the blue line, finalizing the 4-2 score with 26 seconds left to play.
The Eagles outshot Abbotsford by a final count of 30-18, as Colorado finished the night going 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Eagles will be back in action when they take on the Abbotsford Canucks in Game Two of the Calder Cup Playoffs on Friday, April 26th at 7:05pm MT at Blue Arena. Tickets for all playoff games are on sale now. You can find more information on ticket packages by visiting ColoradoEagles.com or by calling the ticket department at (970) 686-7468.
