It may not be ranked as the prettiest goal of Christian Wolanin's career – probably not top-10 or even top-20, but he and the Abbotsford Canucks will take it.
The club's all-time leading scorer for defenceman has dazzled offensively and won the AHL's Eddie Shore Award in 2022-23, yet Thursday's (May 29) clutch overtime winner to help the Canucks edge the Texas Stars 3-2 was, well, a little basic.
"I took a shot, close your eyes and see what happens," he said, recalling what stands as likely the biggest overtime goal in franchise history. "My grandma gives me crap for not shooting enough but I was looking to just get off the ice and get a hard one on net and get us an offensive zone face-off."
WOLANIN. CALLS. GAME❗️
— X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Wolanin was sitting at the point following an extended offensive zone shift by the line of Sammy Blais, Nate Smith and Juhjar Khaira. Smith found him alone and Wolanin wired a shot and it beat Stars goalie Remi Poirier five-hole at 5:51 of the extra frame.
He said it was likely the most consequential goal he's ever scored, but admitted it may not make his top highlight reel.
"In terms of how important it was, probably number one," he said. "This is the furthest I've ever played in the playoffs since the national championship in college – but in terms of how nice it was, maybe top-50."
Wolanin with the OT winner and the Canucks take game one. Very entertaining night
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka)
Abbotsford and Texas met for the first time ever on Thursday and the inaugural clash was an extremely close encounter.
Texas opened the scoring at 8:59 when former Vancouver Canucks forward Kole Lind notched his seventh of the postseason. Abbotsford evened the game up at 18:56 when Guillaume Brisebois scored his second of the playoffs. Brisebois has been a steady force on the backend and his two goals in the playoffs match the two he scored in 48 games in the regular season.
BRISE ON THE BOARD 🔥
— X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
The first period ended with Texas holding a 13-12 shots edge, but it was a very even 20 minutes.
Abbotsford jumped ahead when Linus Karlsson set-up Ty Mueller perfectly at 6:32 of the second. Texas answered back at 12:10 as Antonio Stranges pounced on a big rebound from Arturs Silovs. Abbotsford's lone power play occurred in the second period and was unable to convert, but the Canucks out shot the Stars 15-12.
TY MUELLER! 🚨
— FloHockey (@FloHockey)
Canucks take a 2-1 lead |
The Canucks continued pumping up the offensive intensity in the third and out shot Texas 15-9, but could not solve Poirier. A key moment occurred late in the third when Jonathan Lekkerimaki took a high-sticking penalty and Abbotsford's nearly perfect penalty kill once again stepped up. Silovs also made several key saves in the third.
Apparently we're just an Artūrs Šilovs highlights page now? |
— FloHockey (@FloHockey)
Overtime saw both teams record four shots, before Wolanin was crowned the OT hero. Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra said his team's ability to battle back was a big factor in the win.
"The term resilient comes to mind for our group," he said. "There was a lot of frustration that set in throughout the game and obviously we have to give them credit – they're a very highly skilled team and they were able to get sustained pressure on us. There's things we want to clean up."
“They’re a very high skilled, high quality team and they were able to get some sustained pressure on us.”
— X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Head Coach Manny Malhotra addressed the media following tonight’s overtime win over the Texas Stars.
FULL MEDIA |
One of the major improvements that Malhotra wants to see for game two is in the face-off draw. Abbotsford struggled in the dot and he said it was noticeable.
"Not very well," he said, when asked about how his team performed on the draw. "There's a number of things that go into that and we'll look at it again tonight, but starting with the puck is definitely an advantage. That's something that we will need to get better at come Saturday."
He did say the late penalty kill was a big moment in the game and the Canucks have now killed 97 per cent of all penalties in the playoffs.
"Obviously that was massive for us," he said of the late kill and the PK all playoffs. "They've proven throughout the playoffs that they are reliable and we've been able to gain or keep momentum as a result of them. But that's a product of guys just understanding that every moment in the game counts."
yeeeeehaWWWWW 🤠
— X - Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks)
Mueller and Karlsson both had two-point nights for Abbotsford and Karlsson now leads the team with 12 points. Abbotsford out shot Texas 46-38 and Canucks forward Phil Di Giuseppe recorded 10 shots – which is believed to be a new team record for shots in a playoff game. Karlsson, Mueller, Arshdeep Bains and Jett Woo all finished at +2. Texas defenceman Luke Krys and forward Matthew Seminoff both were a -2. Stars forwards Kole Lind and Matej Blumel had five shots apiece.
Silovs made 36 saves for his ninth win of the playoffs, while Poirier also had a good game with 43 saves in the loss.
Abbotsford takes a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven and game two is set for Saturday (May 31) at the Abbotsford Centre. The series then shifts to Texas for game three on Monday (June 2) and game four on Wedensday (June 4). Game five, if necessary, would occur in Texas on Friday (June 6).
DÉJÀ VU. | |
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL)
Meanwhile in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Charlotte Checkers now have a 2-0 lead on the Lavel Rocket in that best-of-seven series. Charlotte won 5-1 in game one on Wednesday (May 28) and then defeated the Rocket 5-2 on Thursday. The winner of Abbotsford vs. Texas plays the winner of that series for the Calder Cup.
Continue visiting for ongoing coverage of the Canucks' journey in the Calder Cup playoffs.
