Just call Arturs Silovs the Eliminator.
Springtime Silovs continued writing his epic chapter in the 2025 AHL playoffs with a third shutout in a third potential elimination game to carry the Abbotsford Canucks to a 5-0 win over the Colorado Eagles in the decisive game five of the Pacific Division final on Monday (May 25) afternoon.
Silovs forced to make a big save early
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
The Canucks took out the Eagles 3-2 in the series and have now advanced to the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.
Awaiting them is the Texas Stars, who rolled through the Central Division and defeated the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday (May 24) to advance. Abbotsford and Texas have never met and this marks the first time the Canucks have travelled to the state.
The Western Conference final opens at the Abbotsford Centre on Thursday (May 29) and game two is set for Saturday (May 31). Both games are set for 7 p.m.
It's time for some stargazing 猸愶笍
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The Canucks will host games one, two, six and seven against the Texas Stars in the Western Conference Finals!
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The magic of Silovs in elimination games began in round one against Tucson when he blanked the Roadrunners 5-0 in game three to send them back to the desert on April 26. He continued that trend in an elimination game four against the Coachella Valley Firebirds with 2-0 win on May 9. His shutout on Monday is his third shutout elimination game in a month, which is believed to be a unique AHL record.
Silovs was forced to stand on his head in the first period, as the Eagles pushed hard in the game's opening 15 minutes. Abbotsford had just three shots over 12 minutes into the first, but the final five minutes were all Abbotsford and they made it count.
Karlsson on the power play makes it 1-0, his sixth of the playoffs
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Arshdeep Bains made a cross-ice pass to Linus Karlsson on the power play, who made no mistake and opened the scoring at 17:46. Just one minute later, Jett Woo found a streaking Phi Di Giuseppe who beat Eagles goalie Trent Miner. Suddenly, despite being outplayed, the Canucks led 2-0 after 20 minutes. Colorado had the 9-7 shots edge after one.
Canucks defenceman Cole McWard scored his first career AHL playoff goal at 9:09 of the second and the vice around the Eagles' neck became much tighter. Silovs again came up big in the second, with another nine saves. The end of the second period saw Canucks forward Sammy Blais receive his fourth game misconduct of the playoffs and be assessed penalties with Colorado's T.J. Tynan.
Cole McWard puts Abbotsford up 3-0, great shot
鈥� Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
But the four-on-four play didn't seem to bother Abbotsford as Karlsson made it 4-0 with an individual fore checking effort just 34 seconds into the period. The Canucks played safe hockey for the remainder of the third and Di Giuseppe added his second into an empty net to seal the win. Silovs made another 16 saves in the third and 34 overall to earn the win. Abbotsford was out shot 34-24 in the game.
Karlsson, Di Giuseppe, Bains and Ty Mueller all had two-point nights and Di Giuseppe led all Canucks with four shots on goal. Seven Canucks (Woo, Wouters, Di Giuseppe, Mueller, Guillaume Brisebois, Victor Mancini and Karlsson) all finished at +2. Colorado's Jacob MacDonald, who was named the AHL's defenceman of the year this season, finished at a team-worst -4.
THAT'S KARLSS-IN 馃敟
鈥� X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Karlsson's seven goals are tied for the most in the AHL playoffs and he now has 10 points in 12 games in the postseason.
This marks the second consecutive year that Abbotsford has eliminated Colorado from the playoffs in Colorado. The Canucks also took out the Eagles 2-1 in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
The last time a Vancouver Canucks affiliate and Dallas Stars affiliate met was back on Feb. 18, 2015. The Utica Comets (Vancouver's AHL team at the time) won 5-2 and they were backstopped to victory by Jacob Markstrom.
The Comets advanced to the Calder Cup final in the 2014-15 season, but lost to the Manchester Monarchs. This is the deepest a Canucks farm team has advanced since then and the second-deepest a Canucks affiliate has ever been.
Continue visiting for ongoing coverage of the Canucks' journey in the Calder Cup playoffs.
