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It was a battle of the goaltenders at the Abbotsford Centre tonight, as the Abbotsford Canucks won 1–0 against the Texas Stars in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Western Conference Final. Akito Hirose scored the lone goal of the game to grab his first of the playoffs. Artūrs Šilovs had yet another phenomenal night in net for the AHL Canucks, stopping all 26 of Texas’ shots on goal. This marks his fifth shutout of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, making him one away from tying a league record.
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The “Arty” chants were in full force tonight as the crowd serenaded Šilovs after every slick save he made. He managed to stop the puck from entering a near-empty net during the first period and continued his great play in the crease during all of Abbotsford’s power plays on the night. He was the main reason why Texas didn’t have a lead going into the third period, as the Stars completely took over the second period. Five minutes into the third period, he made spectacular save after spectacular save even after Abbotsford gave the puck away in their own zone a couple of times.
“I feel good, you know, I think we upped our level in general, like we’re not playing anything a little bit smarter. Like, you know, talking more with the defense and forwards, how we want to play, and I think we have pretty good structure and I think just combining together, it makes things easier,” Šilovs said of how the team came to play tonight.
Aatu Räty slotted back into the lineup for the first time in eight games, getting some time on the penalty kill to start. However, his night ended very quickly after he made a hit and headed down the tunnel immediately after. He did not come back out for the second or third period.
Abbotsford’s stellar penalty kill was tested early on, with Linus Karlsson being sent to the box for tripping. Despite some early pressure, the AHL Canucks jammed up the Stars’ lanes and even got their own breakaway chance once the penalty ended. In the second period, Šilovs took a tripping call, making Abbotsford shorthanded for another two minutes. Less than four minutes later, Sammy Blais took a high-sticking penalty to make Abbotsford shorthanded for the third time in the game. They killed their fourth penalty after Tristen Nielsen served a bench minor for too many men.
It took nearly 50 minutes for the game’s opening goal to be scored, but finally, Abbotsford found the back of the net after a shot by Hirose trickled past Remi Poirier and in. This was Hirose’s first game back in the lineup after missing two matches to make room for Kirill Kudryavstev, who had been taken out for Christian Wolanin. Tonight, he came in for Cole McWard.
“We’ve got a deep team. Everybody, when they come in, they contribute. So it was good to get a goal, but I think the zero on our side is a lot more important,” Hirose said postgame of the team’s effort.
“Obviously, we’re happy he scored, but he did a lot of other really good things throughout the course of the night — breaking pucks in well, had some really good defensive stops, but he played a sound game and that’s what we expected,” Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra said of Hirose’s performance tonight.
With 2:46 left in the third period, Texas appeared to have tied the game up with a quick goal. However, upon further review, the tally was taken away, allowing Abbotsford to maintain their 1–0 lead. With the win, Abbotsford secures a 2–0 lead on the Stars heading into Texas as well as at least one other game at the Abbotsford Centre.
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
No scoring.
2nd Period:
No scoring.
3rd Period:
7:39 – ABB: Akito Hirose (1) from Linus Karlsson and Max Sasson
Game 3: Monday, June 2 at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park @ 5:00pm PT
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