Recap: Wranglers give up 4-0 lead in 5-4 loss to the Eagles
1 month ago
The Calgary Wranglers came home for the weekend to host the Colorado Eagles. They had a really good start to their game with a productive first period, but lost their gas as the game went on. Calgary ended up giving up five unanswered goals and fell to their Pacific Division opponents 5-4.
Lineup notes
The Wranglers confirmed before the game that the defenceman the organization acquired from the Dallas Stars in the Chris Tanev trade, Artem Grushnikov, would be playing in this game. He wore number two for the squad. Another addition to the blue line included the return of Mark Pysyk, who has been out for the last month with an injury.
Game at a glance
The starting goaltenders for this game were Dustin Wolf for Calgary and Ivan Prosvetov for the Eagles. Calgary came out hot in this game with most of the zone pressure in the first frame. Their efforts were rewarded early with a goal from Lucas Ciona at 2:50. Alex Gallant set Ciona up and Cole Schwindt earned an assist on this marker to extend his point streak.
The Eagles got a few shots on the board after this goal but the Wranglers would strike again a few minutes later. Rory Kerins picked up a turnover and set up Ben Jones for the second goal of the contest at 7:57.
Calgary contained their pressure and Ben Jones scored again just over two minutes later when he deflected a shot from the point from Yan Kuznetsov at 10:05.
The Eagles took a timeout after this goal to slow things down but still struggled to keep up after this trio of goals. Before the period came to an end, the Wranglers got one more past the goal line with goal number two for Lucas Ciona at 19:32. Jonathan Aspirot picked up the lone assist on Ciona’s first multi-goal game in the AHL.
At the end of the first period, the Wranglers had a 4-0 lead and an 11-7 edge in shots. Not to mention, two players already on hat trick watch. To start the second, the Eagles made a goaltending switch and Trent Miner took Prosvetov’s spot between the pipes.
The Wranglers took the first penalty of the game at 2:33 with an interference call against Jonathan Aspirot. The Eagles derived a bit of momentum off this opportunity but the score remained. On the other end, Ben Jones was hungry for goal number three and had over three solid opportunities that were turned away.
On one of them, he was rushed by Keaton Middleton and Lucas Ciona and Alex Gallant came to his defence. This resulted in a 4-on-3 for the Wranglers. Unfortunately, the Eagles would score their first goal off a shorthanded opportunity at 11:33. Tanner Kero banked the puck off the far post and beat Wolf.
Later in the period, the Eagles got a goal back when they took a media timeout and reviewed a play that showed the puck crossing the line. The game clock was reset and the goal was recorded at 18:10 by Brad Hunt. That was the last goal of the second and after 40 complete minutes of play, the Wranglers still had a 4-2 lead over the Eagles. In the middle frame, they were out-shot 13-6.
In the third, the Eagles continued rolling with another goal from Tanner Kero. There was lots of traffic in front and Kero got the final touch on it. This goal came at 3:53 and put the Eagles within one. The Wranglers tried to keep their opponents at bay for the better part of the period but couldn’t prevent the equalizer in the second half.
At 15:52, Riley Tufte beat Dustin Wolf with a shot off the end post similarly to Kero’s first marker and made it a 4-4 game. Calgary’s demeanour changed after this goal and they started playing in a more scrambled fashion.
At 19:15, Ben Meyers was open in front of the net and appeared to beat Wolf five hole to earn the Eagles’ first lead of the night. Calgary pulled Wolf at 19:28 to try and get one back but couldn’t corral the puck in the Eagles zone. Matt Coronato got a look before the game came to an end but it wasn’t enough to light the lamp.
The Wranglers gave up their comfortable 4-0 lead and fell to the Eagles 5-4. Lucas Ciona was the only Wrangler called out in the three stars picking up the third star of the night. The shots finished up 32-24 for Colorado.
Scoring stat summary
Cole Schwindt – 1A
Lucas Ciona – 2G
Ben Jones – 2G
Alex Gallant – 1A
Rory Kerins – 1A
Yan Kuznetsov – 1A
Adam Klapka – 1A
Jonathan Aspirot – 1A
Highlights
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Next up
These two have a day break between games before they continue their series on Sunday afternoon. The Wranglers could probably use a day to reset and come out on Sunday with the same energy they started Friday’s game with. Their next game against the Eagles is a matinee match-up with a noon start at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
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