Series Preview: An opportunity for the Wranglers’ revenge on the Firebirds
1 year ago
It took the Calgary Wranglers four games to secure their win. This weekend, they will be hoping to build off that momentum and earn some redemption for their first two losses of the season. The Wranglers started their season against the Coachella Valley Firebirds earlier this month and fell on back to back nights. The first game was within inches of a full Wranglers comeback but the second was more of a secured win for the Firebirds with a final score of 3-1.
Dustin Wolf especially is going to want another shot at this team after being pulled just over halfway through the home opener. Going from one of the best goalies in the AHL to not finishing the first game of the season is something he’s going to want to make up for. Other players such as Connor Zary, who was pretty quiet on the production side of things up until last game, are going to want to start adding some numbers to their stat sheet and what better time than against a team you’ve already seen twice this season. We’re looking at you too Jakob Pelletier, who has gone four games with top minutes but without a point.
Projected Lineups
Calgary
Jakob Pelletier – Martin Pospisil – Matthew Phillips
Ben Jones – Connor Zary – Radim Zohorna
Mitch McLain – Brett Sutter – Walker Duehr
Alex Gallant – Cole Schwindt – Adam Klapka
Ben Jones – Connor Zary – Radim Zohorna
Mitch McLain – Brett Sutter – Walker Duehr
Alex Gallant – Cole Schwindt – Adam Klapka
Dennis Gilbert – Nick DeSimone
Jeremie Poirier – Nicolas Meloche
Ilya Solovyov – Colton Poolman
Jeremie Poirier – Nicolas Meloche
Ilya Solovyov – Colton Poolman
Dustin Wolf
Oscar Dansk
Oscar Dansk
Coachella Valley
Max McCormick – Alexander True – Kole Lind
Cameron Hughes – Andrew Poturalski – Jesper Froden
Carsen Twarynski – Luke Henman – John Hayden
Tye Kartye – Ville Petman – Austin Poganski
Cameron Hughes – Andrew Poturalski – Jesper Froden
Carsen Twarynski – Luke Henman – John Hayden
Tye Kartye – Ville Petman – Austin Poganski
Michal Kempny – Brogan Rafferty
Gustav Olofsson – Ryker Evans
Peetro Seppala – Matt Tennyson
Gustav Olofsson – Ryker Evans
Peetro Seppala – Matt Tennyson
Joey Daccord
Callum Booth
Callum Booth
Leading scorers
Calgary
- Brett Sutter – 4GP, 1G, 4A
- Matthew Phillips – 4GP, 3G, 2A
- Nick DeSimone – 4GP, 1G, 3A
Coachella Valley
- Jesper Froden – 4GP, 4G, 4A
- Kole Lind – 4GP, 3G, 4A
- Andrew Poturalski – 4GP, 1G, 5A
Notes and expectations
Clark Bishop was dealt a four-game suspension as decided upon by the league for cross-checking in the first Colorado Eagles game. He has already served one of these games with the second half of the Colorado series but the remainder of his suspension will keep him out of this Coachella Valley series. The next game Bishop will be eligible to play in will be their home game on Friday, Nov. 4 against the Tucson Roadrunners.
In lighter news, there was a certain player in the Wranglers last game that brought some life into this slow-starting team. That was Connor Zary. Some of the line combinations were switched up a bit and while Zary was “demoted” to the second line, he had his best game so far this season with two goals in their Eagles 4-2 win. While Zary seems to be a natural linemate for Matthew Phillips and Jakob Pelletier, something has just been missing there. Martin Pospisil has spent some time on a line with those two last season here and there and could be a better fit for their style of play.
I am also very curious to see Dustin Wolf and Oscar Dansk’s approach to these games. The Firebirds are a solid team and both have had their struggles against them. To go with the type of rotation the Wranglers have been using this season so far, I would imagine Wolf starts Friday night and Dansk starts Saturday. They have started these games with confidence, however, once the goals get rolling, they unravel. Some early Calgary scoring or at least holding the Firebirds to low amounts of scoring for the first period or two should provide a better game all around.
This series is going to be an interesting test for the Wranglers to see if things are starting to come together in the team’s third series of the season. Friday’s game starts off at 8:00 p.m. MT and Saturday’s puck drop will be at 4:00 p.m. MT. Both games can be caught on AHL.TV with a subscription and FlamesNation contributors Mike Gould and myself, Paige Siewert, will have updates via Twitter.
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