The Abbotsford Centre is on track to have a large crowd for tonight’s (Friday) critical game four of the Pacific Division semifinal between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Calgary Wranglers.
Ticketmaster is showing fewer than 100 tickets are available as of early this afternoon. Face-off is set for 7 p.m.
The Canucks trail in the best-of-five series 2-1 and are in a must-win situation. A loss and the team is eliminated from the playoffs. A win and they survive to play a decisive game five, which is scheduled for the AC on Sunday (May 7).
Yeah, going to be a big crowd tonight for game four 👀
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) May 5, 2023
Sell-out imminent https://t.co/XrDifd2LdB pic.twitter.com/7LkQfVWpp1
Abbotsford posted a 3-2 win on Wednesday (May 3) to stay alive. The two teams met in game one on April 26, with Calgary earning a 3-2 overtime win. The Wranglers also won game two 4-3 in overtime.
Wranglers head coach Mitch Love stated that he needs his team to be more decisive with the puck in game four.
“I thought our execution was a little slow tonight,” he said, following Wednesday’s game. “I thought we hung onto pucks a little too long. We have to either make decisions with pucks towards the net or transitioning pucks through the neutral zone quicker. We need to do things quicker and have a little more urgency to our game in terms of trying to close a team out.”
"I thought our execution was a little slow tonight."
— y- Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) May 4, 2023
Head coach Mitch Love addressed the media following the Game 3 setback on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/10K5708SOy
Love acknowledged that Abbotsford is a good team and some of the Canucks top players stepped up on Wednesday. He also praised the play of goalie Dustin Wolf, who he said gave the Wranglers a chance to win.
Wranglers defenceman Nick DeSimone said special teams was the difference on Wednesday, but he believes his team can bounce back.
“We’re a confident group,” he said, after Wednesday’s game. “We knew they were going to have their best game of the series and they did that. Got to give them credit, their backs were against the wall at home and they played a really good game. We know what we have to do to be better.”
"We know what we have to do to be better."
— y- Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) May 4, 2023
Nick DeSimone spoke to the media after the Game 3 setback. pic.twitter.com/2naBeQYKkx
The lineup for the Canucks will not be released until prior to face-off, but photos from a recent practice show that forward Aatu Räty was present. He has not dressed the last two games due to an injury. There is also a question mark as to who will be starting in goal. Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs have been swapping starts for weeks, but Martin did win the crucial game three.
Visit abbynews.com for post-game coverage from tonight’s game four.
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