Image: Ian Yount, Charlotte Checkers / Abbotsford Canucks Facebook / Klimovich scores his second double OT winner and leads Canucks to a 1-0 lead Friday, June 13.

By Alyssa Conti

ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS

Abbotsford Canucks head to Game 2 with 1-0 lead after double OT win Friday

Jun 15, 2025 | 10:01 AM

ABBOTSFORD — The Charlotte Checkers have given the Canucks a run for their money in Game 1, but Abbotsford still has a 1-0 lead heading to Game 2 of their first Calder Cup Final.

More than 8,600 fans spent their Friday night (Jun. 13) at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte– and they stayed there for four hours as both teams played a hard-fought double overtime game.

Scoring opened with Canucks forward Max Sasson shooting a power play goal at 4:34 into the first period, but the Checkers returned the favour two-fold, including a buzzer-beating goal by Charlotte’s Oliver Okuliar with one second left in the period.

B.C.-born Checkers forward Justin Sourdif gave his team a 3-1 lead at seven minutes into the second period, and Abbotsford’s Nate Smith responded only 22 seconds later.

Ty Mueller evened out the score halfway through the third – the only goal that period – forcing the game into overtime with a 3-3 tie.

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Charlotte looked to end the game quickly as they outshot Canucks 16-3 in the fourth, but Artūrs Šilovs kept his gates shut, prolonging the sudden death match.

After a face-off at around 3:38 into the second OT, the Checkers thought they won when the puck slid into the Canucks net while Šilovs wasn’t set. Despite the celebration, officials called the goal off due to an improper start.

Canucks took their second chance as Danila Klimovich drove a puck past Charlotte goalie Kaapo Kähkönen and called the game, marking his second double OT winner in the Calder Cup playoffs.

“That’s their style of hockey– they apply pressure on pressure on pressure,” said Canucks coach Manny Malhotra in a post-game press conference. “So it wasn’t a surprise that they were coming at us. “As the game went on, I felt we got our legs going and more into it, and I can’t say it enough about our group, how resilient they are in terms of finding a way to get things done.”

Game 2 starts at 1 p.m. Pacific Time today (Jun. 15) in Charlotte.