Recap: Calgary Wranglers rolled over 7-2 in homestand closer against the Canucks
7 months ago
The Calgary Wranglers lost their good juju from their new Outlaw uniforms on Sunday and had quite a challenging game. From what could be one of the team’s worst games last year and this year included, the Wranglers were very much straying from their renowned play. A lot of uncharacteristic afternoons took place for Calgary individuals with Wolf’s day ending after goal number four and the Wranglers falling in the last game of their four-game homestand 7-2.
Lineup notes
Not a lot of changes on the Wranglers’ side for this game. Mitch McLain rotated out of the lineup and Ilya Nikolaev came back in. Dustin Wolf started once again and the Canucks opted to switch goaltenders and give Nikita Tolopilo the start.
In the middle of the game, the Flames announced they sent Nick DeSimone back down to the Wranglers but won’t be seen in the lineup until at least their next game on Dec. 1 against the Henderson Silver Knights.
Wranglers lines
Matt Coronato – Clark Bishop – Dryden Hunt
Rory Kerins – Cole Schwindt – Adam Klapka
Emilio Pettersen – Ben Jones – William Stromgren
Lucas Ciona – Ilya Nikolaev – Alex Gallant
Ilya Solovyov – Jordan Oesterle
Yan Kuznetsov – Brady Lyle
Jonathan Aspirot – Sam Jardine
Dustin Wolf
Game at a glance
Calgary was not looking at their best to start this game. Abbotsford definitely carried the majority of the energy and looked ready to play in this afternoon match-up. They would be rewarded for their start only 90 seconds into the game when Chad Nychuk scored the first Canucks goal of the day and his first in the league. He took a shot from the point that Dustin Wolf made a bit of a mental error on and it slipped past him.
The Wranglers weren’t getting any zone time in the opening five minutes and about five and a half minutes into the game, Jett Woo was dealt a penalty and the Wranglers were able to register their first shot. It came from Cole Schwindt on the top power play unit and ended up being the best opportunity of the period.
Unfortunately, that was the only shot they had on their first man advantage. A few minutes later, the Canucks struck again with an even-strength goal from Aidan McDonough. Jett Woo took the shot and McDonough deflected it in front to put the Canucks up 2-0.
The Wranglers got another power play with limited chances in the Canucks zone then Jonathan Aspirot took a tripping call at 16:36. Just nine seconds before this penalty kill was set to expire, Aatu Raty received a pass in the Wranglers zone he stickhandled to get Wolf down on and waited for him to drop to elevate the puck over his shoulder. This goal came at 18:27.
The period ended with a Canucks penalty that would carry over to the second and arguably one of the Wranglers’ worst starts of the season. Abbotsford out-shot them 11-4 in the opening frame. The second didn’t start out much better either. The Wranglers were unable to generate a shot on their remaining power play time and with just a second to go in the Canucks penalty, Marc Gatcomb was sprung on a breakaway that ended in the back of the net. Just 1:36 into the second period, Dustin Wolf’s afternoon was done and Oscar Dansk came in relief.
At 5:19, the Canucks struck again with a goal from Tristen Nielsen. He took a shot that deflected off the post and in and made it 5-0 for the away team. The Wranglers continued to play on their heels and 11:05 into the second, Alex Gallant cross-checked Jett Woo around the neck area and it ended both of their afternoons.
Gallant was dealt a cross-checking major that William Stromgren served and a game misconduct. On this Canucks power play, Sheldon Dries played a rebound off of the boards and jammed the puck past Dansk to make it a 6-0 game.
Just over a minute and a half later, Matt Coronato scored his seventh goal of the season when he deked out an Abbotsford defender and just got the puck on net. Jordan Oesterle and Cole Schwindt assisted on this first Calgary Wranglers goal of the afternoon at 15:58.
The celebration of this goal was pretty much non-existent with how spread the score was and Calgary lined up for the next faceoff before their goal song even finished. The second period finished up with a 6-1 score favouring the Canucks and the Wranglers much closer in shots with a 14-13 differential in the middle frame.
The third period felt as if the energy had been sucked out of the building. Which is understandable. What didn’t help the home team’s cause was another marker for Abbotsford at 9:44. Filip Johansson scored his first of the season. The puck popped up and over Dansk’s pads on this shot and landed in the back of the net.
After this goal, the Canucks took a penalty and really eased back into their expected win. They didn’t register any more shots for the remainder of the game and in the Wranglers’ last-ditch effort, they were able to put another one on the board.
Adam Klapka scored his eighth goal of the season at exactly the 15 minute mark of the period. Ben Jones assisted and Matt Coronoto also picked up his second point of the afternoon with an assist.
The last five minutes wound down and the score remained 7-2 for the Canucks in the end. Despite this blowout, Calgary earned a split on the weekend. Shots finished 32-31 for the Canucks and special teams were an opportunity for improvement. The Wranglers went zero for seven and the Canucks went two for three on the man advantage.
Scoring stat summary
Matt Coronato – 1G, 1A
Cole Schwindt – 1A
Jordan Oesterle – 1A
Adam Klapka – 1G
Ben Jones – 1A
Next up
After playing two four game weeks in a row, the Wranglers’ workload lightens up this coming week. In this four game homestand, they went 2-2. Now they’ll go on the road to work on that record. They won’t have any game action until Friday, Dec. 1 when they face the Henderson Silver Knights in their building. That game is set for 8:00 p.m. MT.
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