Calgary Wranglers recap: The Eagles get their revenge and split weekend series
1 month ago
The Calgary Wranglers and Colorado Eagles wrapped up their back-to-back two-game series on Saturday night. The Wranglers won the first match-up in a shootout on Friday with a 2-1 final score. This game also kept things low on the scoreboard until the third period, when the Eagles pulled ahead and picked up a 3-1 win.
Game at a glance
With these games coming one right after another, both teams decided to switch things up in net. Connor Murphy started for the Wranglers and Trent Miner started for the Eagles. Murphy would get the early tests with most of the first half of the period being all Eagles as far as shots went.
The Eagles put up five shots in the first nine and a half minutes before the Wranglers put up their first shot from Ben Jones at 9:32. Murphy turned away all the Eagles’ early opportunities and kept the home team at bay as his squad got their legs.
There weren’t any penalties until 11:54 when Clark Bishop and Riley Tufte were called for roughing. About a minute later, Jeremie Poirier was called for tripping and the Eagles a got power play opportunity. Poirier’s trip didn’t seem out of the ordinary but Poirier tacked on an unsportsmanlike conduct call that had William Stromgren serving his tripping call instead.
These penalties were served in their entirety and the score remained unchanged. Time wound down in the first period and after a full 20 minutes of hockey, the score was 0-0 and Colorado led 8-6 in the shot category.
Jeremie Poirier continued to wait in the penalty box in the second to serve the rest of his 10-minute call and was joined by Yan Kuznetsov at 1:45 when he was called for holding. The Wranglers killed off this call but shortly after, the Eagles got on the board. The home team struck first at 5:31 when Peter Holland redirected a pass in front from Jean-Luc Foudy.
The second had a quicker pace to it after this goal and some tensions between these two boiled over at 15:49. Captain, Brett Sutter got into his first fight of the year with Matthew Stienburg. Sutter got a few good licks in and it really wasn’t as a result of a large play, just a hit Sutter put on Stienburg he didn’t appreciate.
Either way, it was a good opportunity for the Calgary captain to drum up some energy for his team. This theme continued just over a minute later when Matthew Wedman was on the receiving end of a hit and Lucas Ciona stood up for him. These two fought and took their respective spots in the penalty box.
That was it for the second-period fighting and by the end of the frame, the Eagles led the Wranglers 1-0. Calgary had a slight edge in shots in the second 13-12. In the third, the Eagles got the next marker at 7:15 with a goal from Jack Ahcan.
The Wranglers and Eagles were on a four-on-four then Sam Malinski set up Ahcan for the one-timer from the point and beat Murphy. The Wranglers answered back shortly after on the power play with a goal from Adam Klapka. It was reviewed for goaltender interference as it appeared Mitch McLain made contact with Miner but the goal stood. Cole Schwindt and Jeremie Poirier assisted on Klapka’s 17th goal of the season.
The Eagles netted one more before the end of the period with a goal from Riley Tufte at 16:52. The Wranglers turned over the puck behind the net and Tufte was right in front to beat Murphy off a backhander.
The Wranglers tried to make something happen in the last three minutes and pulled Murphy at 17:37. No goals or additional shots were put up by the end of regulation and the Eagles took a 3-1 win. Shots finished up at 30-28 for Colorado.
Next up
The Wranglers return home for a midweek series next week. They’ll host the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Both games have a 7:00 p.m. MT puck drop.
Let’s get rowdy! GAME DAY hosted by Flamesnation & Barn Burner at Greta Bar YYC is coming at you live on Saturday March 23rd! Join the crew at our favorite Game Day Watch Party spot, Greta, to watch Calgary take on Vancouver! Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are $10! Good food, good prizes and a guaranteed good time. This event is brought to you by McLeod Law LLP and Village Honda. Get your tickets at nationgear.ca before they sell out!
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