Roadrunners’ Rally Falls Short in 4-2 Loss at Abbotsford

Roadrunners Recap: 12/19/2025

Game #25: Tucson Roadrunners (2) at Abbotsford Canucks (4)

SOG: TUC (35) – ABB (27)

PP: TUC (0/1) – ABB (1/2)

ABBOTSFORD SCORING: Chase Wouters (3), Mackenzie MacEachern (6), Jonathan Lekkerimäki (6), Arshdeep Bains (1)
TUCSON SCORING: Austin Poganski (7), Dmitri Simashev (2)

ABBOTSFORD, BC – The Tucson Roadrunners (10-11-4-0) built a one-goal lead midway through the game, but the Abbotsford Canucks (7-15-2-3) answered with three unanswered goals to hand Tucson a 4-2 loss on Friday at Rogers Forum.

After Abbotsford opened the scoring, Roadrunners captain Austin Poganski netted his seventh goal of the season to even the game 1-1 early in the first period.

Tucson took its lone lead at 2-1 midway through the second period when rookie defenseman Dmitri Simashev scored his second goal of the season. Abbotsford responded late in the frame, as Mackenzie MacEachern capitalized on the power play with just under five minutes remaining to tie the game.

The Canucks pulled away in the third period, scoring twice in a span of 2:42. Jonathan Lekkerimäki put Abbotsford ahead early in the frame before Arshdeep Bains added an insurance marker off the rush.

The loss snapped Tucson’s four-game point streak.

NOTABLES

• Austin Poganski’s first-period goal extended his point streak to a season-high three games dating back to Dec. 12 vs. Bakersfield. He has four points (1g, 3a) during the stretch, marking his second three-game point streak of the season and his first since recording four points (1g, 3a) from Nov. 7–14.
• Sammy Walker registered the primary assist on Poganski’s first-period tally, pushing his point streak to a season-best three games dating back to Dec. 12 vs. Bakersfield. Walker has four points (1g, 3a) over that span and has recorded an assist in three straight contests.
• Noel Nordh collected the secondary assist on Poganski’s goal, continuing his recent strong play. Nordh has points in six of his last seven games, totaling six points (1g, 5a) in that stretch.
• Tucson recorded a season-high 19 shots on goal in the first period, surpassing its previous high of 18, accomplished on Dec. 12 vs. Bakersfield (second period) and Nov. 23 vs. Colorado (first period).
• Dmitri Simashev’s second-period goal extended his point streak to four games dating back to Dec. 6 at San Jose. The rookie defenseman has six points (2g, 4a) during the streak and is producing at a point-per-game pace with six points in his first six career AHL games.
• Cameron Hebig recorded the secondary assist on Simashev’s goal, extending his point streak to a season-high five games dating back to Dec. 5 at San Jose. Hebig has eight points (5g, 3a) during that span.
• Hebig needs one more assist to tie Michael Carcone for fourth all-time in franchise history with 81 assists.
• Hebig matched the team’s season-best point streak and became the third Roadrunner to post a five-game point streak this season, joining Noel Nordh (Nov. 29–Dec. 12, 1g, 4a) and Ben McCartney (Oct. 10–24, 3g, 4a).
• Tucson has scored in the first period in four straight games dating back to Dec. 6 at San Jose, totaling six first-period goals during that stretch.
• The Roadrunners have scored at least one goal in the second period in six consecutive games dating back to Dec. 3 at Bakersfield, producing 10 second-period goals over that span.

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST PERIOD
Abbotsford came out flying and generated three grade-A chances in the opening minute, but Tucson goaltender Matthew Villalta stood tall and denied each opportunity — including a point-blank look from Ty Mueller — to keep the Roadrunners even early.

Tucson nearly struck first 90 seconds in when Cameron Hebig broke free on a breakaway, deked to his backhand and lifted a shot toward the top-right corner, but Canucks netminder Nikita Tolopilo turned it aside with his blocker.

The Canucks opened the scoring at 3:15 when Chase Wouters slipped behind the defense on a breakaway and flipped the puck over Villalta’s glove to give Abbotsford a 1-0 lead.

The Roadrunners responded just over four minutes later. Noel Nordh won a puck battle along the boards and fed Sammy Walker in the left circle. Walker drove toward the goal line before snapping a pass into the slot for Poganski, who buried a one-timer glove-side to tie the game 1-1 at 7:19.

The game’s physicality also ramped up midway through the frame, culminating in an even fight near center ice between Roadrunners assistant captain Ben McCartney and Canucks defenseman Jett Woo. The tilt between the two Manitoba natives immediately energized Tucson. The Roadrunners responded on the next shift when Nordh broke into the Abbotsford zone and fired a low, hard shot that created a rebound chance for Sam Lipkin. Moments later, Michal Kunc snapped a hard shot from the point that deflected through traffic and rang off the far post.

Tucson nearly grabbed the lead again in the closing seconds when Maveric Lamoureux’s slapshot from the high slot kicked to Nordh at the doorstep, but Tolopilo made a last-second stop to keep the game tied at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

SECOND PERIOD
Tucson carried its late first-period momentum into the middle frame, controlling play early and generating the first four shots in the opening two-and-a-half minutes. Artem Duda had a strong look from the low slot, while Julian Lutz followed with a chance from the left circle as the Roadrunners dictated the pace.

The sustained pressure paid off at 5:41 when rookie Owen Allard drew the game’s first power play after being tripped behind the net by Abbotsford’s Sawyer Mynio. Tucson’s advantage was short-lived, however, as a tripping call against the Roadrunners created a brief four-on-four before the Canucks went on the power play.

After killing off Abbotsford’s man advantage, Tucson countered with a two-on-one rush at even strength, but Sammy Walker’s one-timer from the left circle was gloved by Tolopilo just before the midway point of the period.

The Roadrunners broke through moments later. Michal Kunc found Simashev open in the right circle, and the rookie defenseman wired a one-timer past Tolopilo to give Tucson a 2-1 lead at 10:25.

Abbotsford threatened to answer with its second breakaway of the period when Nils Åman slipped behind the Tucson defense, but Villalta turned aside the opportunity with his biggest save of the night to maintain the Roadrunners’ lead with under seven minutes remaining.

Åman later drew a slashing penalty, and Abbotsford capitalized on the ensuing power play when MacEachern scored to tie the game 2-2 with five minutes left in the period.

THIRD PERIOD
The Roadrunners came out with pace for the second-straight period and generated three scoring chances in the opening 30 seconds, capped by a point-blank one-timer from Ty Tullio, but Tolopilo turned it aside with the glove to keep the game tied.

Abbotsford answered with a run of its own, firing three consecutive shots, with the third coming from Lekkerimäki, who beat Villalta at 4:18 to put the Canucks back in front, 3-2.

The Canucks doubled its lead just under three minutes later when Bains scored off the rush at the seven-minute mark to giving Abbotsford a 4-2 advantage.

UP NEXT
The Roadrunners will look to split the series against the Canucks in Saturday’s finale at Rogers Forum. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. AZT Fans can listen live on FOX Sports 1450 AM and the iHeartRadio app and watch on AHLtv on FloHockey.

HIGHLIGHTS