The Calgary Wranglers leadership group announcement from ice level
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Recap: Jonathan Castagna nets two in Wranglers season opening debut
Photo credit: Photo Credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Oct 3, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 3, 2026, 03:41 EDT
The Calgary Wranglers kicked off the 2026-27 season with a home game against the Abbotsford Canucks. Calgary didn’t have a lot of luck against them in their pre-season series but the home opener had a significantly better vibe about it and result. The Wranglers scored the first three goals of the game before giving one up late in the second period. Abbotsford got within one halfway through the third period, then Jonathan Castagna scored his second goal of the game with an empty netter to seal the 4-2 win.
Wranglers lines
William Stromgren – Rory Kerins – Aydar Suniev
Dryden Hunt – Ben Jones – Alex Nylander
Sam Morton – Tyson Gross – Andrew Basha
Will Dineen – Jonathan Castagna – Luke Philp
Jake Livingstone – Hunter Brzustewicz
Abram Wiebe – Mike Benning
Axel Hurtig – Kent Anderson
Arsenii Sergeev
Game at a glance
The Wranglers did their season-opening introductions to present this year’s teams and the updated leadership group. This included the announcement of Rory Kerins as their third Captain in team history and alternate captains Ben Jones, Sam Morton, Dryden Hunt, and Alex Gallant.
After the pre-game ceremony, the game got going with a goaltending matchup between Arsenii Sergeev and Nikita Tolopilo for the Canucks. The Wranglers were buzzing to start this game and it paid its dividends early with a game opening goal on the first registered shot of the game at 5:13. Jonathan Castagna buried a puck that he banked off the end boards and the assists went to Jake Livingstone and Luke Philp.
The first goal of the Wranglers' season comes off the stick of Jonathan Castagna
A couple of minutes after this goal, the first penalty of the game was called against Sam Morton. It was originally announced as a high sticking call, then was changed to a roughing call. Calgary killed this penalty off, allowing only one shot against and at 11:30, they lit the lamp again with a goal from Tyson Gross. Gross was set up by Dryden Hunt and Alex Nylander for a top shelf shot at 11:30.
Tyson Gross goes top shelf to put Calgary up 2-0
32 seconds after, Sam Morton was called for tripping. The Canucks managed another single shot effort on this power play that the Wranglers killed off. At 15:12, the Wranglers got their first power play chance of the game when Anri Ravinskis was called for slashing. This power play came and went and by the end of the first period, the Wranglers were up 2-0 and led the Canucks 9-3 in shots.
To start the second the Canucks had a noticeable push but the Wranglers managed to shut this down at 1:46 with a goal from Mike Benning. Benning took a point shot that was deflected off an Abbotsford player in front and found the back of the net. Ben Jones assisted on this goal as well as Alex Nylander for his second helper of the night.
Mike Benning with his first as a Wrangler off a point shot that was redirected by the Canucks.
The initial rush of the period passed, then at 10:19, Nikita Tolopilo tripped up Sam Morton on a scoring chance and Vilmer Alriksson served the penalty on the behalf of the Canucks’ netminder. This Wranglers power play was cut short when Hunter Brzustewicz was called for interference at 11:21. After these penalties were wrapped up, the Canucks had a noticeable push and at 18:18, Trey Fix-Wolansky took a shot on Arsenii Sergeev that gave up a juicy rebound and Ty Mueller buried it a second later.
The score stayed 3-1 by the end of the second but there was a bit of a scrum at the end of the period that resulted in a cross-checking call against Rory Kerins to start the third period. At the end of 40 minutes, the Canucks closed the gap in shots and were up to 16 shots to Calgary’s 17.
The Canucks came out hungry in the third period too and were dominating the Wranglers’ zone. Calgary got a bit of a relief at 6:02 when Kirill Kudryavtsev was called for tripping but weren’t super sharp on their power play. They gave up two shorthanded chances, then shortly after the penalty expired, Jimmy Schuldt got on past Sergeev to put this game within one. This goal came at 8:15.
Calgary got another power play opportunity at 9:48, but couldn’t manage any shots on this chance either. At 17:52, the Canucks pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. At 18:27, Jonathan Castagna had a chance to go for the empty net and took it. Castagna scored his second of the night and Will Dineen picked up the assist.
Make that two goals for Jonathan Castagna in his Wranglers debut
Castagna was thinking about the potential of a third goal on the night with the net remaining empty towards the end of the game. He said post-game:
“I mean, it definitely crossed my mind. I’m sure you can ask the guy I hit in the side of the face. I think he felt that I was trying to get the third one too. But it in hindsight maybe could’ve been a little chip out of the zone there but emotions got the best of me and I went for it.”
The Wranglers ended up finishing the last 90 seconds of the game and won 4-2. Calgary only had four shots in the third period and the final shot count was 32-21 for the Canucks. The three stars were swept by the Wranglers, with Arsenii Sergeev getting the third star, Jonathan Castagna getting the second and Mike Benning getting the first.
Scoring stat summary
Mike Benning – 1G
Will Dineen – 1A
Dryden Hunt – 1A
Ben Jones – 1A
Jake Livingstone – 1A
Tyson Gross – 1G
Jonathan Castagna – 2G
Luke Philp – 1A
Alex Nylander – 2A
Highlights
Next up
It’ll be a back to back series for this opening match-up, with the rematch going at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 5:00 p.m. MT on Saturday. Their parent clubs will face each other later in the evening, so we’ll see if one organization is able to pick up wins in both the NHL and AHL in the same night.
PRESENTED BY THE DFO CALGARY NEWSLETTER
Never miss what matters in the game. From lineup changes to breaking trades and must-read analysis, Daily Faceoff Calgary delivers the insight serious hockey fans rely on—straight to your inbox. Sign up for the Daily Faceoff Calgary newsletter!
Breaking News
- Recap: Jonathan Castagna nets two in Wranglers season opening debut
- Rory Kerins named third captain in Wranglers team history
- How to watch Flames prospects during the 2026-27 season
- The Flames’ European prospects are dealing with growing pains early this season
- Series Preview: Wranglers start season with home series against Canucks
Calgary FlamesTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$90,091,666
$70,041,666
Projected Cap Space
$13,908,334
$43,458,334
Current Cap Space
$14,126,790
$43,458,334
Active Players
23/23
16/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
2
1