Abbotsford Completes Weekend Sweep of Reign with 5-3 Family Day Win

Abbotsford beat the Ontario Reign 5-3 at Rogers Forum, completing a two-game weekend sweep and extending the Canucks’ longest streak of the season to three games in front of a reported 5,461 Family Day crowd. The win followed Abbotsford’s 2-1 victory on Saturday and sends the teams back at it in California in two days.

Ontario opened the scoring after a miscue behind the net left Nikita Tolopilo out of position and Aatu Jämsen converted on Ontario’s first shot of the night. Abbotsford carried an early edge in traffic, out-shooting the Reign 8-3 through the opening stretch, but Phoenix Copley kept the visitors ahead until the middle frame.

Abbotsford answered 38 seconds into the second when Jonathan Lekkerimäki wired a shot from the right circle to knot the game. Two minutes later Nils Åman delivered a cross-ice feed that Ben Bérard buried to give Abbotsford a 2-1 lead. Glenn Gawdin tied it for Ontario at 15:28 of the second, keeping the game deadlocked heading to the final period; Abbotsford held a 7-5 shots advantage in the middle frame.

The decisive sequence came in the third. With just under six minutes remaining Ty Mueller fed Lekkerimäki for what PHN described as “another beauty” to restore the Canucks lead. Moments later Mueller circled the net and tucked a second goal past Copley with the netminder out of position, pushing the score to 5-3. Ontario pulled Copley for an extra attacker late but could not solve Tolopilo, who preserved the win.

“Nikita Tolopilo earned his fourth consecutive start between the pipes for the men in green, going head-to-head with Phoenix Copley at the other end,” the Abbotsford release said, and later added, “The Canucks sealed the 5–3 win, completing the weekend sweep in front of their home crowd.” Tolopilo was credited with the victory; sources note he was a steady presence for Abbotsford across the weekend.

Abbotsford kept almost the same group it trotted out on Saturday, rolling a full 12-and-6 lineup with Jujhar Khaira slotting in alongside Nick Poisson and Cooper Walker as the only change. CanucksArmy singled out the home aesthetic and momentum, noting, “This weekend marked the debut of Abbotsford’s green look at Rogers Forum. And you know what they say: look good, feel good. And for once, the results matched the vibe.” CanucksArmy also reported that Lekkerimäki’s marker was his team-leading 12th of the season and highlighted Tolopilo’s series work, while their Saturday recap credited him with a 31-save performance.

Abbotsford’s three-game streak is the club’s longest this season and the sweep of a Reign team that arrived tied near the top of the Western Conference gives the Canucks a clear momentum boost as the schedule flips to California for the next meeting.