Recap: Wranglers come up short in shootout against Condors
1 month ago
It was a snowy spring night at the Saddledome and the Wranglers were hosting the Condors looking to sweep their two-game series. Bakersfield came to light it up in the shot category and pulled off a 3-2 shootout win. The silver lining for the Wranglers was no position damage to their playoff standings and a three out of a possible four-point series.
Game at a glance
On the back end of this back-to-back series, the Wranglers and Condors made some changes between the pipes. Connor Murphy started for Calgary and Olivier Rodrigue started for Bakersfield. No other drastic changes were made and Jonathan Aspirot skated as a forward with Lucas Ciona and Riley Damiani for the second night in a row.
The early effort was all Bakersfield as they held the zone and challenged Murphy early. Yan Kuznetsov drew the first penalty of the game, which further fuelled their momentum. They were up to 10 shots just past the halfway point of the period while the Wranglers had yet to put one up. Jakob Pelletier got the first shot on goal just shy of the 12-minute mark.
At 12:48 the Condors were called for tripping and the Wranglers were able to get some more time in the zone. However, they lost control of the puck and Max Wanner came up on a breakaway and ripped a slap shot point blank on Murphy that went in. The Wranglers got another power play later in the period that thankfully didn’t end up in another shorthanded goal. Jeremie Poirier got perhaps the best look for the home team on this power play but Calgary couldn’t fully capitalize.
Poirier got sandwiched in front of the Condors bench shortly after and Mitch McLain was right there to stand up for him. This very well could’ve resulted in a fight that the officials prevented. At the end of the period, the Wranglers were down 1-0 and behind 14-9 in shots. Jeremie Poirier took his time leaving the ice surface and had some words for his opponents.
In the second, the Wranglers came out with a bit more puck control but still weren’t keeping up in shots. Calgary was able to get on the board with Sam Morton’s first professional goal. Cole Schwindt set him up for the one-timer and he connected. Jordan Oesterle also assisted on this marker at 12:26.
At the end of the period, the Wranglers and Condors were evened up 1-1 despite Calgary being out-shot 13-8 in the middle frame. In the third, Bakersfield pulled ahead with a goal from Dylan Holloway. Jeremie Poirier turned over the puck in the Condors zone and sprung Holloway on a breakaway at 5:22.
The Wranglers had a very quick answer back with Adam Klapka scoring on the next shift. Klapka got his stick on a loose puck and roofed a shot past Rodrigue. This goal was unassisted and came 35 seconds after the Condors’ marker.
These teams were tempted to let their emotions boil over but a mix of a tight game and the officials keeping control of the game prevented anything beyond roughing calls being called. The Wranglers saved themselves from being down again when the Condors appeared to have scored with five minutes left in regulation. Connor Murphy pulled off quite the save and the officials waved it off. After review, the call stood.
Calgary had some of their best chances to pull ahead in the final minutes of play but didn’t score. At the end of regulation, the score was tied 2-2 and the shots were 44-26 Bakersfield. In overtime, both sides had a couple of chances but still didn’t find a winner in the extra frame. Shots were 3-2 for Calgary.
The shootout went to four rounds. Murphy stopped Dylan Holloway, and then Cole Schwindt was stopped. Sam Gagner scored in the second round, and Jeremie Poirier followed up with a goal. In the third round, Lane Pederson scored for the Condors then William Stromgren kept Calgary alive in the third round. In the fourth round, Matvey Petrov scored and Sam Morton wasn’t able to score on his attempt.
The Wranglers fell 3-2 in the shootout and Murphy was kept busy with shots finishing 47-29 for the Condors.
Scoring stat summary
Cole Schwindt – 1A
Jordan Oesterle – 1A
Adam Klapka – 1G
Sam Morton – 1G
Highlights
Failed to load video.
Next up
The Wranglers still have two more games this week in California. They’ll play the Ontario Reign on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. MT and the San Diego Gulls on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. MT.
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!
Recent articles from Paige Siewert
