San Jose Barracuda forward Thomas Bordeleau (#17) races for the puck alongside Abbotsford Canucks defenseman Nick Cicek (#59) during the Canucks 3-2 win over the Barracuda at Tech CU Arena on Saturday FEB 24, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Abbotsford Canucks scored three unanswered goals in the third period for a 5-2 victory to sweep the weekend series on Saturday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost three games in a row. Abbotsford has won four games in a row.

Abbotsford (27-17-3-2) drew first blood early in the first period with a power play goal. Sheldon Dries picked the puck out of a scrum along the left boards. Dries poked the puck out to Linus Karlsson, who was wide open in front of the crease, and the left winger slipped the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona for his 12th goal of the season at the 1:38 mark.

The Canucks doubled its lead with a 4-on-4 goal just under five minutes later. Karlsson sent a shot from the left point and Dries redirected the puck past Chrona for his 16th goal of the season at the 6:29 mark.

San Jose (17-25-8-1) responded with a power play goal past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Cole Cassels shot from the left side of the crease was initially stopped by Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs but Thomas Bordeleau crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound for his 11th goal of the season at the 12:12 mark.

A scoreless second period was an entertaining one as the Canucks controlled play in the first half of the middle frame. The Barracuda had the Canucks on their heels in the final three minutes of the period with an extended period of offensive zone time but weren’t able to get a puck past Silovs despite a flurry of shots directed at the Canucks goaltender.

The ‘Cuda scored the equalizer early in the third period with its second power play goal of the game. Jacob Peterson whipped around from behind the net with a backhanded attempt. Scott Sabourin chipped in the rebound for his 13th goal of the season at the 2:14 mark.

Abbotsford regained the lead just over two minutes later thanks to a ‘Cuda turnover inside the Canucks zone. Aatu Raty skated into the Barracuda zone uncontested. Raty’s first shot attempt was block by Nathan Todd, but Raty beat Chrona with a wrist shot on his own rebound for his 11th goal of the season at the 4:36 mark.

Chase Wouters gave the Canucks an insurance goal when he redirected a shot from the point by Alex Kannok Leipert for his eighth goal of the season at the 14:20 mark.

Raty closed out the scoring with his second goal of the game, an empty netter, for his 12th goal of the season with 1:34 remaining in the game.

Silovs (14-10-5-3) finished the game stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faces to earn his 14th victory of the season. Chrona (5-13-4) made 23 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Abbotsford went 1-for-2.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Raty 2) Dries 3 Sabourin.

UP NEXT: San Jose heads out on the road to take on the Ontario Reign on Tuesday 2/27 at 7:00pm at Toyota Arena.