The Abbotsford Canucks are one win away from the Calder Cup Final after going up 3-games-to-1 in their western conference final against the Texas Stars with a 5-4 double-overtime road win on Wednesday night.
The winning goal came from the venerable Danila Klimovich, his second of the playoffs, at the 3:21 mark of the second OT. “Venerable” is tongue-in-cheek; he’s only 22-years-old in his 4th year in Abby, it only feels a bit longer.
Defenceman Victor Mancini had a goal and an assist, as did red hot forward Linus Karlsson, 2nd in the AHL in playoff scoring.
Game-5 is Friday night in the Lone Star State. Not only do the Canucks hold a commanding lead in the series, they have the psychological edge over the Stars, a team that has to haul its arse back to British Columbia should it win Game-5 at home. In this situation, the team having to win three consecutive games to win a series often folds up.
Abbotsford wouldn’t mind. It would be the first trip to a Calder Cup Final for a Vancouver Canucks affiliate since the Travis Green coached Utica Comets lost to the Manchester Monarchs in five games in 2015.
While most of the hockey world was watching the Edmonton Oilers defeat the Florida Panthers in Game-1 of the Stanley Cup Final in overtime, the Abby Canucks were taking another step towards history. They’ll be up against the big show again on Friday, but again, they won’t mind, especially if it means punching their ticket to the American Hockey League’s big dance.
