Series preview: Wranglers head to the desert to face the Roadrunners
1 month ago
The Calgary Wranglers are back on the road after a pair of games at home last weekend. They’ll play two back-to-back games in Tucson against the Roadrunners to kick off this week of hockey. The Roadrunners sit two spots ahead of the Wranglers in the Pacific Division standings so a good showing against them could do them some good for their winning percentage.
Projected lineups
Calgary
Emilio Pettersen – Ben Jones – Adam Klapka
Rory Kerins – Cole Schwindt – Brett Sutter
Lucas Ciona – Clark Bishop – Mitch McLain
Mark Duarte – Matthew Wedman – William Stromgren
Jeremie Poirier – Colton Poolman
Mark Pysyk – Artem Grushnikov
Yan Kuznetsov – Jonathan Aspirot
Dustin Wolf
Oscar Dansk
Tucson
Colin Theisen – Jan Jenik – Josh Doan
Leonard – Justin Kirkland – Austin Poganski
Milos Kelemen – Nathan Smith – Aku Raty
Ben McCartney – Travis Barron – Cameron Hebig
Vladislav Kolyachonok – Victor Soderstrom
Max Szuber – Steven Kampfer
Patrik Koch – Peter Diliberatore
Matthew Villalta
Dylan Wells
Leaders
Calgary
Matt Coronato – 40GP, 15G, 27A (Inactive on NHL call-up)
Ben Jones – 52GP, 18G, 16A
Emilio Pettersen – 52GP, 7G, 22A
Tucson
Josh Doan – 52GP, 22G, 16A
Aku Raty – 38GP, 12G, 18A
Dylan Guenther – 29GP, 10G, 18A (Inactive on NHL call-up)
Notes and expectations
It is a quick turnaround between games for the Calgary Wranglers this week. They last played on Sunday when they beat the Colorado Eagles 3-1. Even with just a full day between these games, there were a few roster changes this Calgary team is facing for their road trip.
They announced on Monday morning that their All-Star rookie, Matt Coronato was called up to the Flames. Connor Zary was announced as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and the Flames needed another forward on hand. Coronato didn’t end up skating in the Flames’ game against the Kraken on Monday night.
As far as other pending transactions around the Wranglers, they also confirmed that netminder, Connor Murphy has now returned to the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL and Patrick Kudla and Gabriel Chicoine were released from their professional tryouts. Kudla played in six games with the team and Chicoine didn’t end up skating in a game at all.
The Wranglers have had a rotating lineup all season but even more so recently with their available players. The lineups usually vary from night to night with two or three guys swapping out. With Coronato at the NHL level, Ilya Nikolaev, Rory Kerins, and possibly Alex Gallant are expected to rotate into this series. The coaching staff is weary of managing game time and trying to keep their guys healthy for the last 20 games of the regular season.
This team is still able to adapt to rotating lines and lineups, however. In their last two games, Ben Jones has emerged as the top point producer he is with some clutch performances. He scored the opening goal in their win over the Eagles on Sunday and scored two in their loss to the same team on Friday. He has been consistently at the top of scoring this season and is the player to watch going into this series.
The Wranglers and Roadrunners get their series going on Tuesday night with a 6:30 p.m. MT start. Their next game will be played on Wednesday with the same puck drop time. These games can be streamed on AHL.tv for a fee and FlamesNation contributors Mike Gould and I will have updates on X (formerly Twitter).
Get ready for the Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline Show, coming to you on March 8th LIVE from 11 AM to 3 PM EST!! Join Tyler Yaremchuk, Frank Seravalli and friends for 4 hours of non-stop action as they dive deep into the heart of the trade deadline. They will be breaking down every trade, discussing the impact on teams, predicting the playoff picture, and giving you the inside scoop on all the wheeling and dealing happening around the league. Tune in live on March 8th from 11 AM to 3 PM EST for the The Daily Faceoff Live Trade Deadline special you won’t want to miss!
Recent articles from Paige Siewert
