Connor Zary scores first for Calgary in his first game since his assignment to the AHL. His first goal as a Wrangler in nearly three years. #Flames
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Recap: Connor Zary scores in AHL return, Wranglers beat Condors 2-1
Photo credit: Photo Credit: Angela Burger/Calgary Wranglers
Oct 10, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 10, 2026, 03:25 EDT
The Calgary Wranglers had a two game winning streak going into this game that they were looking to turn into three. They hosted the Bakersfield Condors, who are the Edmonton Oilers’ affiliate so there were a mix of fans in attendance for both sides. The first goal wasn’t scored until halfway through the game and it was Connor Zary who got on the board first. Ben Jones also netted his first goal of the season and the Wranglers were able to hang on for a 2-1 win.
Lineup notes
Both Brayden Pachal and Connor Zary, who were put on waivers earlier this week and then assigned to the Wranglers, suited up for this game. This was Zary’s first game with the Wranglers since the 2023-24 season and this was Pachal’s first game as a Wrangler and first game in the AHL since the 2022-23 season with the Henderson Silver Knights. Jonathan Castagna and Aydar Suniev were called up to the Flames this week and this gave room for Carter Wilkie and Alex Gallant to also play in their first game of the season. Kent Anderson and Will Dineen came out of the lineup to make room for these changes.
Wranglers lines
Rory Kerins – Ben Jones – Alex Nylander
Dryden Hunt – Connor Zary – William Stromgren
Sam Morton – Tyson Gross – Luke Philp
Alex Gallant – Carter Wilkie – Andrew Basha
Abram Wiebe – Mike Benning
Jake Livingstone – Hunter Brzustewicz
Axel Hurtig – Brayden Pachal
Arsenii Sergeev
Game at a glance
Sergeev was matched up against Matt Tomkins in net and it was Sergeev who would get the first shots on goal. At 4:45, the first penalty of the game was called against Bakersfield for tripping and the Wranglers were able to activate their power play. They got a few shots on goal before the power play was cut short by a tripping call against Mike Benning. Benning was quarterbacking the power play on the first unit before he was sent to the box.
At 7:07, one of the best chances of the period came from Sam Morton, who got out on a breakaway but was denied on his shot attempt. This started a string of shots and zone time for Calgary but did not move the numbers on the scoreboard. At 18:10, the Condors were called on another penalty, this time for high-sticking. The first period came to a close and the game remained scoreless. The Wranglers outshot the Condors 10-7 through the first 20 minutes.
In the second period, Calgary had 10 seconds of power play time to work with and it wasn’t enough for the Wranglers to work with. At 4:55, the Wranglers were penalty killing as Hunter Brzustewicz was called for tripping. The Condors got a bit of momentum from this but the home team was able to pull it back in their direction around the 9:30 mark of the period. At 10:34, the first goal of the game was scored by Connor Zary off a feed from Dryden Hunt.
Rory Kerins had a good chance later in the period at 16:11 when a pass came at him a little too far out of reach but he was able to stretch and settle the puck enough to take a shot on the breakaway that was stopped by Tomkins. At 16:58, there was a weird sequence in the neutral zone where Sam Morton kind of pump-faked out a hit and three guys ended up taking a tumble. It resulted in a bit of a scrum where the Condors got called for roughing.
On this power play, Hunter Brzustewicz took a shot from the point that Ben Jones deflected in at 17:59. William Stromgren earned the secondary assist on this play.
Ben Jones with a perfect deflection off Hunter Brzustewicz's shot from the point. 2-0 Wrangers
That was the end of the action in the second period and the Wranglers went into the second intermission up 2-0. Just over five minutes into the third period, the Condors got one on the board from their former rookie all-star, now sophomore, Quinn Hutson. Hutson rang a shot off both posts not leaving much for Sergeev to do with that. This goal came at 5:11.
The Wranglers dominated the zone time for the next few minutes and at 10:09, Dryden Hunt was called for tripping. At 12:08, Axel Hurtig was called for hooking and Tucker Robertson of the Condors was called for diving/embellishment. There was a brief moment where the Wranglers were shorthanded but then it carried into a four on four.
For the rest of the game, it was Bakersfield trying to find an equalizing goal. At 17:17, they pulled Tomkins for the extra attacker and there was over a good two minutes where the Wranglers were defending in their zone. Sam Morton was finally able to clear the puck and ice it then after slowly resetting, the Wranglers called a timeout to buy some time. The Condors didn’t love that they did that and after they started resetting again, they called a timeout in retaliation. That’s about as close to a rivalry as we saw in this game.
Brett Sutter said that the last couple minutes of the game were “the longest two minutes and a half minutes of my life,” and Calgary was able to come away with the 2-1 win. Shots finished 26-22 for Calgary. The three stars went to Arsenii Sergeev for the third star, Ben Jones for the second and Connor Zary for the first.
After the game, Zary spoke with the media and had a very insightful outlook on his return to the AHL. He said,
“It felt awesome. I think to score, to win, to be playing in a tight game at the end where things matter and every little play matters was exciting. That’s what you live for right? Like I’m here to play hockey. I’m here to have fun and when you can enjoy moments like that and the boys are up on the bench because someone blocked a shot in a 2-1 game, that’s the best part about it. So I think that was a lot of fun for me and I think just mentally kind of overcoming a couple of hurdles over the last week has been a lot, but to get out there and play hockey and win a game, it’s all fun.”
Scoring stat summary
William Stromgren – 1A
Dryden Hunt – 1A
Ben Jones – 1G
Connor Zary – 1G
Hunter Brzustewicz – 1A
Highlights
Next up
The Wranglers have a day between games and will be right back at the Saddledome on Sunday for their first afternoon game of the season. Puck drop is at 1:00 p.m. MT for the closer of this four game homestand as the Wranglers look to push this opening winning streak to four games.
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