Recap: Odd shots and special teams earns Wranglers 2-1 win over Condors
4 months ago
It was baby Flames and baby Oilers night on the ‘Dome ice on Tuesday when the Wranglers took on the Condors for the first game of a back-to-back. Calgary had a couple of new bodies in the lineup and that helped contribute to a win for the home team. The Wranglers beat the Condors in a 2-1 decision.
Lineup notes
A few line changes were made going into this game. The newly signed collegiate forward, Sam Morton, skated in his first professional game with the team and played on a line with Ben Jones and Jakob Pelletier. Pelletier was sent down per the Flames earlier in the day and added some more minutes to his average ice time with the Wranglers’ top line.
There was another interesting change in the forwards with Jonathan Aspirot switching his defensive role to a more offensive one. He was the odd man out in this game in the defensive pairings but still deserved a spot in the lineup with the way he has been playing this season. Aspirot skated on a line with Riley Damiani and Lucas Ciona as a winger.
Game at a glance
The goaltending matchup for this game consisted of Oscar Dansk for the Wranglers and Jack Campbell for the Condors. Both faced a few shots in the opening half of the frame but weren’t tested early too hard.
At 14:36, Jordan Oesterle set up Jonathan Aspirot for a breakaway that he was taken down by the legs on and slid into the net, knocking the post off. He was awarded a penalty shot and scored on it. He took a shot off of Jack Campbell’s pads that popped up behind the Condors netminder and into the back of the net. It was one of those goals that would take thousands of tries to try and recreate.
That penalty shot was the main highlight of the first period and after 20 complete minutes of play, the Wranglers led the Condors 1-0. Shots in the first frame were 9-8 for Calgary. In the second period, Jakob Pelletier got an early look but didn’t score. He will be someone who can greatly assist the Wranglers in their quest for playoff qualification.
Later in the period, the Wranglers were in the last 10 seconds of a 4-on-4 and Adam Erne was sprung on a partial breakaway that he buried five hole on Oscar Dansk. This goal came at 12:56.
Just over a minute later, the Wranglers were on the power play. Pelletier appeared to have scored with 5:07 to go in the period but it was immediately waved off for goaltender interference. They were still able to use this power play to pull ahead, however, with a goal from Mitch McLain. McLain scored at 15:16 for his 100th AHL point. Sam Morton assisted on this goal for his first professional point and Ben Jones picked up the secondary assist. McLain was parked in front of the net and scored to earn his 100th AHL point.
By the end of the second period, the Wranglers held their one-goal lead with a 2-1 score. Shots through the middle frame were 11-11. In the third period, the Wranglers were awarded another penalty shot at 5:20. Ben Jones drew a call off his breakaway after the Condors touched the puck. Jones shot at Campbell’s five-hole and shot the rebound into the back of the net. However, in this scenario, that marker wouldn’t count.
The Condors tried to even things up but were running out of time in regulation. They pulled Campbell at 16:56 and again at 17:36 to try and squeeze in another goal but were unsuccessful. At the end of regulation, the Wranglers won 2-1 and led the way in shots 32-29. Oscar Dansk picked up the win between the pipes and the Wranglers swept the three stars. Mitch McLain earned the first, Jonathan Aspirot earned the second and Dansk earned the third.
Scoring stat summary
Mitch McLain – 1G
Ben Jones – 1A
Sam Morton – 1A
Jonathan Aspirot – 1G
Highlights
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Next up
There will be less than 24 hours between these games with their next game taking place on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. MT. After this win, the Wranglers are tied with the Condors in points but the Condors have a slight edge in winning percentage that puts them in the fifth spot in the Pacific. The Wranglers could overthrow their rivals spot with a win on Wednesday.
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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