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Abbotsford Canucks can't close out Calder Cup Final in Game 5

The Abbotsford Canucks pushed Game 5 to overtime, but a bad bounce gave the game to the Charlotte Checkers.
Daniel Wagner
Daniel Wagner
mancini-abbotsford-canucks-twitter-jun-21-2025
Victor Mancini and the Abbotsford Canucks came agonizingly close to winning the Calder Cup on Saturday.Abbotsford Canucks/Twitter

The Abbotsford Canucks came inches away from winning the Calder Cup on Saturday night.

Instead, a brutally unlucky bounce gave the Charlotte Checkers the win in overtime of Game 5, sending the Canucks back to Charlotte for Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7.

The Checkers opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 after Canucks defenceman Christian Wolanin got caught deep in the offensive zone and Sammy Blais failed to cover for him. Jack Devine fed the puck around the sliding Jett Woo to Ben Steeves, who deflected it up over Arturs Silovs. 

The Canucks got a golden opportunity to tie the game shortly after, however, as the Checkers took minor penalties just over a minute apart to give the Canucks a 5-on-3 power play. Arshdeep Bains took full advantage of the extra space to drive to the net for a jam play, with Linus Karlsson waiting at the side of the net to pop in the rebound, sending the game into the first intermission tied 1-1.

The two teams exchanged a flurry of goals in the second period, starting with another 2-on-1 goal for Charlotte.

Victor Mancini appeared to catch a rut with his skate and tumbled to the ice in the neutral zone, giving up the puck to Jesse Puljujarvi. He set up Brett Chorske, who fired the puck past Silovs' glove to make it 2-1.

Oh no, Victor Mancini, oh no. Checkers take the 2-1 lead over the #Canucks after Mancini catches an edge in the neutral zone.

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— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis.bsky.social) June 21, 2025 at 7:12 PM

The Checkers' lead, however, didn't even last a minute. Bains caught defenceman Michael Benning flat-footed and burst up ice as the Canucks broke out, with Max Sasson hitting him with a perfectly-weighted saucer pass for the breakaway. 

Bains made it look easy, opening up his stick to chip the puck past Kaapo Kähkönen's blocker as the goaltender anticipated a deke.

Quick response from the #Canucks, as Max Sasson springs Arshdeep Bains on a breakaway, and he calmly beats Kähkönen on the blocker side. Great goal.

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— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis.bsky.social) June 21, 2025 at 7:16 PM

Just over a minute later, the Canucks took their first (and only) lead of the game. 

Karlsson slipped the puck past a pinching Will Lockwood and hustled the other way for a 2-on-1. Justin Sourdif went to the ice like Kevin Bieksa, but Karlsson calmly maneuvered the puck past Sourdif's outstretched stick and whipped a shot past Kähkönen's blocker.

Linus Karlsson gets his second of the game to five the #Canucks the 3-2 lead! He chipped the puck past Will Lockwood and burst the other way, then outwaited the sliding Justin Sourdif to fire the puck past Kähkönen, then went for a little spin.

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— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis.bsky.social) June 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM

As Karlsson shot the puck, Lockwood launched himself at Karlsson, but only dealt a glancing blow that caused Karlsson to spin like a top for an unusual goal celebration.

The 3-2 lead was erased six minutes later after Ty Mueller took a penalty in the offensive zone. The Checkers cashed in on the power play, with Eamon Powerll setting up Rasmus Asplund for an off-speed shot in the bumper. Silovs seemed to get caught off-balance as he went into his post prior to the pass, causing him to lose his structure as he came out to challenge the shot.

After a four-goal second period, both teams — and their goaltenders — settled things down in the third. Both Kähkönen and Silovs came up with big stops to keep the score tied 3-3, while both teams drastically cut down on the number of odd-man rushes that were available.

That sent the game to overtime, where Max Sasson came agonizingly close to clinching the Calder Cup.

Sasson took a pass from Akito Hirose and slashed diagonally through the offensive zone, opening up a shooting lane with a burst of speed past Trevor Carrick. He shot back against the grain on Kähkönen, but rung the puck off the post.

Minutes later, Puljujarvi got two absurd bounces to go his way.

Puljujarvi tried to send a pass to Sourdif from behind the net, but Ty Mueller got a piece of the puck. Unfortunately, the piece he got sent the puck ricocheting into his own crease, where Guillaume Brisebois instinctively kicked out his skate to try to block the puck, only to send it into his own net.

It was an absurd way for this game to end, but it was reflective of just how tight this series has been, with three of the five games going to overtime. All it takes is one bad bounce to cost you a game.

The Canucks' top players came through in this game, with Karlsson scoring two goals and racking up a game-high eight shots on goal, while Bains tallied a goal and an assist, with five shots on goal. 

Even Silovs had a strong performance, despite giving up four goals. He made 36 saves and could only be said to be at fault on one of the goals against, which was a power play goal. The Vancouver Canucks prospects nearly secured the win on home ice.

Now the Canucks will need to win on the road to take home the Calder Cup, with Game 6 taking place on Monday, June 23.