Guess who’s back?
Back again.
Cody’s back.
Tell your friends [to read this instalment of the Farmies and click all the ads].
It’s game three, and because the Baby Canucks
split the first two games against the Coachella Valley Firebirds
with Dave Hall at the Farmies’ helm, it made sense to split coverage of their opening round to see if we could will a couple more wins into existence, and see if the Canucks can get past the Pacific Division Semifinals for the first time in franchise history.
Because I haven’t been on my AHL coverage for most of the season, let me rewind a bit and see how the club faired by the numbers heading into Wednesday night’s massive Game Three victory.
Head Coach Manny Malhotra has done a commendable job maximizing his club’s ability to control play at 5-on-5 and on special teams through five playoff games.
During the regular season, the Baby Canucks finished with the 16th and 17th-ranked power play and penalty kill, respectively. They were the only club not to surrender a shorthanded goal. A part of that was club discipline; the team was 22nd by “times shorthanded.” Nikita Tolopilo and Arturs Silovs—the leaders by total games started—finished the regular season with sub-850 save percentages while shorthanded. While that stat should cause you to raise your eyebrows, it’s worth noting that the Farm was
exceptional at suppressing shots on goal.
With Tolopilo starting, the club averaged 4.4 penalty kills per game, allowing an average of 1.18 shots against per PK. With Silovs starting, the club averaged 3.3 penalty kills per game, allowing an average of 1.26 shots against per PK. When shots
did get through the Canucks’ defences, it was usually a grade-A chance.
Ironically, they gave up their only shorthanded goal of the season during their first game of the playoffs but have gone 4/20 since for the 2nd-best power play in the division. Their PK has gone 14/14 with a shorthanded goal to boot.
The top-six Malhotra started against the Firebirds in Game Two was a noticeable diversion from the norm. Neither trio had much experience together during the regular season, and their work during playoffs had been
just okay.
Game 2 top six and their regular season 5v5 goal differential numbers during the regular season
After giving up three goals in the first twenty minutes, Malhotra switched up his top six to something more familiar, resulting in a remarkable four-goal comeback to take the lead, which would ultimately be spoiled in overtime by a very unfortunate misplay of the puck by Nikita Tolopilo.
Game 2 top six before and after changes, and their 5v5 goal differential numbers during these playoffs
Ahead of Wednesday night’s action, the Farm controlled goalscoring best with rookie defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev on the ice at 5-on-5. In five games, the Baby Canucks have yet to concede a goal, with Kudryavtsev holding fort at 5-on-5.
Following their win, the club holds a positive goal differential of plus-3 at 5-on-5, scoring 16 while conceding 13.
2024-25 Abbotsford Canucks on-ice goal differential numbers before game three against Coachella Valley
Guillaume Brisebois, Max Sasson, and Tristen Nielsen’s team-leading (for the wrong reasons) negative on-ice goal differential at 5-on-5 continued a worrying trend from the regular season where all three finished at the bottom of 5v5-goalscoring control. While Malhotra is correct in using his speediest, most veteran players in tough matchups, their inability to at least trade even at 5-on-5 has hurt the club.
Game three was a step in the right direction for Sasson, as he figured on Kudryavtsev’s game-winning goal that made it 2-zip in the first period. Sasson has two points at 5-on-5 this postseason, both secondary assists.
With that little reflexive primer out of the way, let’s see how Wednesday unfolded.
Loaded lines
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May 8, 2025
The bad news hit early ahead of game three, with Aatu Räty and Jett Woo joining the already-long list of injured players.
Additionally, Danila Klimovich joined Vilmer Alriksson, Ty Glover, and Christian Felton on the list of healthy scratches.
In positive news, Jonathan Lekkerimäki rejoined the starting lineup after having missed the last three playoff games with an injury stemming from complications to oral surgery.
The Farm looked janky to start their set of home games against the Firebirds. The Farm’s rejigged top six, centred by Max Sasson and Ty Mueller, struggled to move the puck up the ice from the d-zone, resulting in a handful of good looks for the Firebirds.
The third line that was so successful for Abbotsford in game three broke up the ‘monotony of puck-moving struggles’ with a quick-up and attack from Sammy Blais and Nate Smith, punctuated by a strong forearm check from Jujhar Khaira.
Arturs Silovs, too, looked shaky to start. While point shots have never been his specialty, an early one from defenceman Ryan Jones deflected into Silovs’ bread basket that got lost to the ether.
Abbotsford GM Ryan Johnson spoke with Sportsnet650’s Halford & Brough on Wednesday morning about the importance of starting games strong and not losing sight of their fundamentals. Maybe it was the pressure of a tied series and how game two was thrown away, but the club did
not stick to their fundamentals to start this one.
The club’s best look came from Captain Chase Wouters, who blocked a routine board-and-out, hunted down the puck below the goal line, and curled a pass into the slot toward Dino Kambeitz for a dangerous scoring opportunity.
The good vibes from Kambeitz’s early chance in his first shift of Calder Playoff action this season were not long for this world, as Phil Di Giuseppe would take a holding penalty seconds later, handing the Firebirds the game’s first power play opportunity.
Wouters, Mueller, Brisebois, and Victor Mancini, led the Farm’s PK to start this one. After winning the faceoff back to Mancini, the right-shot defenceman rifled the puck down the ice before killing another minute off the clock.
The Farm’s second PK group was led by Sasson, Arshdeep Bains, Akito Hirose, and Cole McWard, who fought off one shot attempt before killing the remainder of the Firebirds’ early power play.
Upon the return to 5-on-5, Coachella Valley’s Ryan Winterton chipped a puck past Hirose in the neutral zone, then again over the slashing stick of Kirill Kudryavtsev for a dangerous chance in tight on Silovs.
Following the ensuing post-scrum brouhaha, Blais ate a spear from Coachella Valley’s Ville Ottavainen. As the refs spoke with the two team captains, Blais ate a
second jab, this time from Coachella Valley’s John Hayden. The between-whistles sparring between teams required offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to Hayden and Blais. After all was said and done, Abbotsford had the power play opportunity.
Malhotra first ran his second power play unit, featuring Wouters, Bains, Sasson, Lekkerimäki, and Kudryavtsev. While they registered a handful of attempts up the slot, they got nothing through traffic onto goaltender Nikke Kokko.
After a clearance, Malhotra threw out his first unit, featuring Mueller, Linus Karlsson, Tristen Nielsen, Nate Smith, and Mancini. Again, lots of attempts, but nothing on net.
Mancini would go to the box after cross-checking Logan Morrison in front of Silovs’ crease, continuing the Farm’s less-than-stellar opening frame.
Mercifully, a sharp-angle try from Eduard Sale and a failed shorthanded drive from Bains would stand as the best looks for either team, and the latter didn’t even see a shot get off.
The above is Cody’s roundabout way of saying, “The Farm’s PK was sharp.”
In true Canuck fashion, after getting outshot 8-0 through 15 minutes—though, realistically, they traded even in actual shot
attempts—the club finally got on the board with some shots on goal.
In their first meaningful offensive-zone cycle of the game, Akito Hirose threaded a pass to Nate Smith past three Firebird skaters. With time and space available, Smith went glove side with his initial shot, which Kokko blocked, then batted his own rebound mid-air past Kokko’s
blocker side, sparking some much-needed life into the crowd.
1-0 Canucks: Nate Smith from Akito Hirose and Sammy Blais
The 5’8″ Tristen Nielsen kept the momentum rolling on the club’s next shift by trucking the 6’5″ Ottavainen along the left side half-wall.
Then, after several minutes of helter-skelter play inside the d-zone, Kirill Kudryavtsev made it 2-zip with less than 20 seconds left in the opening frame.
2-0 Canucks: Kirill Kudryavtsev from Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Max Sasson
The goal sequence first began with Silovs accidentally playing a would-be icing from behind his net.
The returning Lekkerimäki was locked in a d-zone half-wall battle with the much larger Jani Nyman as the 6’4″ Finn tried to move the puck down low to Brandon Biro for a give-and-go setup. Arshdeep Bains picked off Biro’s centring pass, moving the puck cross-ice to Sasson for the exit.
Not to be deterred by losing the physical war of attrition against Nyman, Lekkerimäki scooted up into the rush with Sasson and Bains, using his feet to break away from Ottavainen and set up Kudryavtsev for the point shot goal past a screened Kokko.
By Canuck standards, the turnaround over the final minutes was both hilarious
and impressive.
The Farm looked much sharper at the start of the second period. For starters, they matched their first-period shot total in the opening five minutes, with lots of crisp east-west passing and skating for separation to create meaningful looks.
As someone who has watched MANY iterations of the Vancouver Canucks’ farm team and who has only watched a dozen of this team’s games this season, I found myself totally impressed by how Malhotra has this team playing. Obviously, playstyle is heavily personnel-dependent. However, it was surreal to watch a team as young as this one lean on their skating to create space, attack in layers, and utilize east-west passing in straight lines to break the puck out of and into the zone.
Farm teams of the past leaned so heavily on simple chip-and-chase exits and entries. Very little of the Farms’ offence leaned on skating. Most of the time, the club leaned on their ability to tie the puck up along the boards in the neutral zone or offensive zone and hopefully win the puck out into space for a waiting attacker to shoot. This club appears to know that its strength is its ability to move and create space with a possession-based attacking game.
A sequence early in the middle frame exemplifies this diversified attack.
After hunting down a loose puck into the neutral zone after losing the zone, a retreating Victor Mancini threw Ian McKinnon off his back before spinning to catch Di Giuseppe in the neutral zone for the zone entry.
Di Giuseppe’s pass to Karlsson at the point split the Firebirds’ defence, opening space for Karlsson to spot Mueller as he slid into the middle for a shot attempt. Karlsson doesn’t plant at this point, either. He keeps his feet moving, collapsing toward the middle to catch Mueller’s blocked shot. Karlsson’s second attack stutters the entire Firebirds’ lineup, drawing four skaters toward him like a supermassive red giant. The space opened up by simply cutting toward a loose puck opens Mueller for a second shot attempt, uncontested, at the side of Kokko’s net.
Perhaps this isn’t anything to be impressed by. However, watching this team play 30 minutes of playoff hockey really hammered how supremely unappealing the Canucks’ Farm’s style of hockey has been for the better part of a half-decade.
This feels materially, fundamentally, different than the Farms of yonder.
Anyway, the refs caught McWard draping his arm around Jacob Melanson while backchecking, putting Abbotsford back on the penalty kill (they held Coachella Valley to just a single shot on goal).
The players ramped up their physicality near the midway point of the period. Blais was out for blood after the earlier spear, throwing a crushing hit on Melanson inside the neutral zone that got the crowd on their feet.
However, a run of icings, offsides, and pucks-off-the-glass-and-out really killed that momentum.
While it wasn’t much, after the litany of whistles, I appreciated this exit and entry for Abbotsford by McWard and Bains, leading to a backhander on Kokko by Sasson.
With 5:45 to go, Sasson drew a high-sticking penalty against Ottavainen, giving Abbotsford a late power play opportunity that should have probably given Abbotsford a 3-nothing lead. Unfortunately, the man advantage concluded with just a single shot on goal and an incredible “what could have been?” for Arshdeep Bains.
That is as wide-open a net as you’ll ever get on a 5-on-4, and Bains duffs it wide off a terrific heads-up play from Sasson.
Obligatory GIF of Silovs saving a point shot, in case anyone from the goalie guild is reading.
The Firebirds pushed late in the frame, giving them a 20-14 edge in shots on goal despite the donut on the scoreboard.
The Farm bought into the “shut it down” mentality for the third period. Despite giving up an early goal, the club held a chasing Coachella Valley to six shots on net. There weren’t too many sellouts during the first 40 minutes for blocking shots, but Chase Wouters set the tone early when he sold out to get a piece of a point shot to slow it down toward Silovs, a big reason why the Firebirds struggled to equalize.
Wouters’ block helped the Canucks break the puck out of the d-zone, leading to a perimeter shot from Di Giuseppe that
nearly trickled its way past the goal line.
The Farm could have used that insurance tally, as a flubbed board-and-out from Joe Arntsen off a pass from Silovs led to a goal for Ryan Winterton that halved Abbtosford’s lead.
2-1 Canucks: Ryan Winterton from Logan Morrison and Joe Arntsen (just kidding)
It was a tough sequence for Arntsen, who subbed into the lineup for the injured Jett Woo after having missed all of the playoffs and having not played a game since April 16th. Arntsen had played reasonably well in spot duty. Unfortunately, he blindly played a board-and-out into the glove of Logan Morrison, the Firebirds’ third-leading scorer.
The Canucks rallied with a handful of chances in tight around Kokko’s crease, only for their passes to miss by inches.
The Farm looked for a half-dozen doorstep tap-ins during the third period. The first ten minutes were littered with the club moving the puck east-west as they tried splitting the Firebirds’ defence to create space for the easy tap-in opportunity. Unfortunately, every time they did, the timing of a defensive stick lift or the cross-ice pass itself never seemed to be on their side.
Approaching the midway point, the Firebirds got away with playing the puck with six skaters on the ice twice in as many minutes. The crowd was (correctly) not happy.
Fortunately, Sammy Blais rifled a shot on Kokko that hit him so hard that it knocked his stick out of his hands. The resulting pressure from Abbotsford’s 3rd-line had Coachella Valley reeling.
Kirill Kudryavtsev’s play on this sequence must be highlighted, as his ability to keep the play alive was, dare I say, Quinn Hughes-esque.
The pressure resulting from Kudryavtsev’s holds and shot attempts saw Abbotsford nearly catch Coachella Valley in shots on goal and concluded with Abbotsford earning an offensive zone faceoff for their first line.
Don’t let the above shift fool you, there were plenty of warts to Abbotsford’s game in the third. Guillaume Brisebois did his best JT Miller impression by backhanding a pass toward the slot for Max Sasson. Sasson missed Brisebois’ pass, giving Coachella Valley’s Nik Brouillard a massive scoring opportunity. Silovs was game.
After disregarding a handful of missed ‘too many men’ penalties and a dozen or so hooking infractions against Nate Smith and Ty Mueller, the refs collectively remembered the purpose they serve and assessed Luke Henman with a hooking penalty.
Kudryavtsev recorded the club’s lone shot on goal on the man advantage, seconds off the initial faceoff win.
The home team wasn’t looking to force plays on this late power play. In fact, they were more than content to let the Firebirds tire themselves out chasing the puck in the d-zone and breaking the puck out. Upon the return to 5-on-5, the Canucks were
all over Coachella Valley inside their end, relentless in their attack to prevent them from pulling Kokko for the extra attacker.
The Firebirds didn’t get Kokko to the bench until there was a minute left in the game. By that point, it was
way too late, as the Canucks had yet to concede possession, resulting in an empty netter for Phil Di Giuseppe to seal it.
3-1 Canucks: Phil Di Giuseppe from Jujhar Khaira and Victor Mancini
Maybe Silovs didn’t want Nikita Tolopilo to feel bad about his misplay behind the net that resulted in Abbotsford’s loss in game two. Whatever it was, this little “oopsy” in the final minute was quite funny.
FINAL SCORE: 3-1 Abbotsford Canucks
Overall, it was an impressive win despite the handful of warts. The club rallied from an unlucky start where the shot chart didn’t match the eye test. Kirill Kudryavtsev had a stellar game, adding a goal to his playoff stat line and another plus-2 to his on-ice goal differential at 5-on-5. Nate Smith played a professional game and probably should have drawn six or seven penalties with his work around the net. Smith’s goal broke up the monotony of bad bounces, and his team-leading four shots proved the difference when the club needed it most. Additionally, Arturs Silovs was also very sharp after some early rust.
- Kirill Kudryavtsev
- Arturs Silovs
- Nate Smith
Honourable mentions: Akito Hirose and Victor Mancini
With Wednesday’s win, Abbotsford takes a 2-1 series lead and has the potential to move on to the Pacific Division Finals for the first time in franchise history with a win on Friday.
The puck drops at 7 PM at the Abbotsford Centre.
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