Abbotsford Canucks Defeat Manitoba Moose 4-1 on Autism Acceptance Night

Danila Klimovich buried two goals and Ty Young was untouchable through the opening period as the Abbotsford Canucks handled the Manitoba Moose 4-1 at Rogers Forum on Wednesday night, a victory that was never seriously in doubt after the first 16 minutes.

Nils Åman got things started at 14:26 of the first, sending a rebound to the back of the net while Thomas Milic was down and out of position. Less than two minutes later, Klimovich ripped a power-play laser from the right circle past Milic to push the lead to 2-0. Young then made it look easy at the other end, stopping all 11 shots he faced in the opening frame.

Manitoba clawed one back at 8:08 of the second on a Mason Shaw power-play goal, his 15th of the season. Phil Di Giuseppe picked up the assist to extend his point streak to five games, a run that now sits at one goal and four assists. The Moose outshot Abbotsford 8-4 in the middle period and had another power-play chance late, but Young robbed Samuel Fagemo on a one-timer to keep the score at 2-1 heading to the third.

From there, Abbotsford shut the door. The Moose were outshot 10-4 in the final frame and Klimovich made it 3-1 at 52:39, burying a feed from Cole Clayton while parked in front of the net. When Manitoba pulled Milic with just over two minutes remaining, Jimmy Schuldt put it away with an empty-netter from down the ice at 58:22, sealing the 4-1 final with 1:38 left.

The night also marked the AHL debut of Austin Brimmers, who drew into the Abbotsford lineup alongside Nick Poisson.

Moose defenceman Dawson Barteaux acknowledged Abbotsford's quality while finding some silver lining. "I thought there were a good amount of positives. You have to give them credit, they're a hard team to play. There are some things to clean up, but I think we played a pretty clean game."

On the Manitoba side, Kale Clague moved into a tie with Isaak Phillips for the most points among Moose defencemen at 22 points on the season, but the team has now allowed four goals in consecutive losses.

The game was played as Autism Acceptance Night, with Rogers Forum offering a sensory-friendly environment, PA duties handled by Ryan Chilton, and the Vancouver Orcas taking the ice during the intermission.

Abbotsford will take a day off before turning attention to the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday, March 14.