LOVELAND, CO. - Abbotsford made the biggest play of the night when it mattered most, cashing in on a late power play to edge the Colorado Eagles 4-3 on Saturday.
Kole Lind was the driving force for the Canucks, piling up two goals and an assist. Nikita Tolopilo picked up his first win of the season in goal, turning aside 32 of Colorado’s 35 shots.
Colorado struck first just 1:40 into the game. Jake Wise scored from the slot to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead, but Abbotsford answered quickly. Only 2:28 later, Lind snapped home a wrister from the right-wing circle to tie things up at 1-1.
The opening period stayed tight from there. Abbotsford held a slim edge in shots, 11-8, but the teams went to the first intermission even.
Lind struck again in the second, this time from the left-wing circle at the 9:01 mark to put Abbotsford in front 2-1. Colorado responded late in the period when Sean Behrens drove between the circles and blasted one home to knot the score at 2-2 with 5:39 remaining.
The seesaw continued in the third. Ty Mueller put Abbotsford back ahead 3-2 when he steered a pass in the low slot into the net at 6:05, but Colorado answered again. Alex Gagne buried a rebound at the side of the crease to make it 3-3 with 9:21 left.
That set up the deciding moment on the man advantage. Braeden Cootes pushed in a rebound at 14:50, and that goal stood as the winner in Abbotsford’s 4-3 victory.
Ilya Nabokov took the loss for Colorado, allowing four goals on 27 shots.
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