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Silovs' playoff brilliance continues in latest Abbotsford Canucks win

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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May 17 2025, 5:23 pm
Silovs' playoff brilliance continues in latest Abbotsford Canucks win
@AbbyCanucks/X

The Abbotsford Canucks couldn’t have asked for a better start to their Pacific Division Finals series on Friday night.

The Canucks were able to punch their ticket to the Pacific Division Final last week, defeating the Coachella Valley Firebirds by a 3-1 series final. It was a historic night for the franchise, which has never made it this deep into the AHL playoffs. Based on Friday’s result, their run might not end anytime soon, either.

The Canucks were able to take a 1-0 series lead over the Colorado Eagles last night thanks to a 2-0 victory.

Arturs Silovs was the main storyline in Game 1, kicking aside all 22 shots he faced en route to being named the game’s first star. That is already the third shutout of the playoffs for the 24-year-old, who has an incredible 1.50 GAA paired with a .942 SV percentage through eight appearances.

“We relied on structure and trying to limit their quality looks, and then obviously Arty standing tall at key moments to save us was big,” head coach Manny Malhotra said. “That’s definitely not a recipe that we want to continue to flirt with.”

The Canucks were able to open the scoring in the second period on a power play goal from Ty Mueller. It appeared that may be the only goal in the outing, though Victor Mancini was able to seal the deal on an empty net tally in the dying seconds of the third period.

Game 2 of this best-of-five series between the Canucks and Eagles will be played on Tuesday night, before the two teams head to Colorado to conclude the series.

Defeating this Eagles team will be no easy feat, as they finished the season with a Pacific Division-best 43- 43-21-5-3 record. That said, if Silovs is able to continue kicking the way he has so far in the postseason, the Canucks could very well find themselves advancing to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history.

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