Captain Rory Kerins gets Calgary on the board first with a power play marker
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Recap: Wranglers special teams explodes against Condors, going four for five in 4-3 win
Photo credit: Photo Credit: Angela Burger/Calgary Wranglers
Oct 18, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 18, 2026, 02:20 EDT
The Calgary Wranglers wrapped up their week of hockey with a one game stop in Bakersfield to face the Condors on Saturday night. It was the Condors’ home opener and their first game since splitting the series with the Wranglers last weekend. Bakersfield did start on their heels a little bit and Calgary took advantage with a game opening power play goal. The goals went back and forth from there and Ben Jones kept his goal streak alive to get the Wranglers evened up 2-2. In the third period, Andrew Basha netted his first of the year and Kerins got his second power play goal of the game to give the Wranglers enough of a lead to last them to the end. The final score was 4-3 Calgary as they take a 2-1 lead in the season series.
Lineup notes
There were a few tweaks and line shifts in this game. Connor Zary was back at centre but was bumped down to the third line with Dryden Hunt and Luke Philp. Tyson Gross got the promotion up to the top line with Sam Morton and William Stromgren, who have both shown well in recent games. Rory Kerins moved from centre to wing to play with Ben Jones and Alex Nylander and Nikita Pavlychev returned to the lineup in place of Alex Gallant.
On the blue line, two pairings switched with Mike Benning and Hunter Brzustewicz paired up and Abram Wiebe and Jake Livingstone lined up. Benning was paired with Abram Wiebe on Friday and Brzustewicz was paired with Livingstone. In net, Kirill Zarubin got the nod as expected.
Wranglers lines
Sam Morton – Tyson Gross – William Stromgren
Rory Kerins – Ben Jones – Alex Nylander
Dryden Hunt – Connor Zary – Luke Philp
Nikita Pavlychev – Carter Wilkie – Andrew Basha
Mike Benning – Hunter Brzustewicz
Axel Hurtig – Brayden Pachal
Abram Wiebe – Jake Livingstone
Kirill Zarubin
Game at a glance
The Wranglers went back to Kirill Zarubin for this game after Arsenii Sergeev got the start in the other two games this week. On the Condors’ end, they started Matt Tomkins. The Wranglers weren’t worse for wear at all after their game on Friday night and got five shots on goal in the first three minutes and a bit. Bakersfield was noticeably a bit stunned by this and ended up taking a penalty at 7:18.
On this first Wranglers power play, Rory Kerins was screening in the crease and a passing play got the puck up to him to chip it past Tomkins. Kerins’ power play goal was assisted by Dryden Hunt and William Stromgren at 8:06.
20 seconds later, the Wranglers took their first penalty of the game as Luke Philp was called for hooking. Calgary killed this off and for the back half of the period, the Condors showed signs of life. They caught up in shots and with 36 seconds to go in the frame, Brayden Pachal was called for cross-checking. At the end of the period, the Wranglers were up 1-0 and shots were 9-8 for the Wranglers.
Calgary killed off the remaining time in Pachal’s penalty in the second period and at 2:26, they were on a power play of their own. They got a couple of looks then Nikita Pavlychev was called for tripping at 5:44. At 6:27, the first shot of the power play went past Zarubin. The goal came from Damien Carfagna, who took a shot from the slot that was tight to the far post.
The special teams continued and at 7:08, the Condors were called for slashing. Just 11 seconds into this power play, Kirill Zarubin misplayed a puck behind his net and Tucker Robertson buried the puck in the empty net to give the Condors a 2-1 lead. Before this power play came to an end, Ben Jones snuck a puck five hole on Tomkins and scored at 9:30. Assists went to William Stromgren and Hunter Brzustewicz.
Who other than Ben Jones? He sneaks this one five hole for his seventh goal of the season
After this goal, Hunter Brzustewicz was called for high-sticking at 10:15 and Kirill Zarubin and his team against him managed to keep a flurry of shots out of the net. Connor Zary had one last chance with 28 seconds to go in the period and was narrowly denied. At the end of two periods, it was a 2-2 game and the Condors pulled ahead 19-16 in shots.
In a special teams-riddled game, another chance came up at 4:14, when the Condors were called for hooking. In the last few seconds of this power play, Connor Zary set up Andrew Basha for his first goal of the season at 5:58. Luke Philp picked up the secondary assist.
Andrew Basha was due for one and he found it on the power play. His first goal of the season
At 9:21, Bakersfield was tagged again. This time for delay of game. This caused an argument on ice and the Condors bench was looking for further explanation from the on-ice officials before Eduards Tralmaks went over to the box. Just nine seconds into this power play, Rory Kerins scored his second power play marker of the night with a faceoff win that went back to Hunter Brzustewicz, then to William Stromgren before Kerins finished the play off at 9:30.
Just how they drew it up. Rory Kerins' second power play goal of the night
At 9:58, Tyson Gross was called for tripping but the Condors didn’t score on this chance. Instead, they scored the first even strength goal of the game at 14:30 from Riley Stillman. Stillman’s shot went off the back post and out so fast it took them a second to react but it was in fact a good goal.
The Wranglers were still up 4-3 and at 18:17, the Condors pulled Tomkins for the extra attacker. At 19:56, Luke Philp was called for hooking and the home team opted to use this time for their timeout to get one more play drawn up to try and even the score. They weren’t successful and Calgary picked up the 4-3 win. Shots finished 29-24 for Bakersfield and two Wranglers players ended up on the three stars. Andrew Basha picked up the third star of the game and Rory Kerins picked up the first. The Wranglers went four for five on the power play in this game and gave up one shorthanded goal and one power play goal.
Scoring stat summary
Rory Kerins – 2G
William Stromgren – 2A
Dryden Hunt – 2A
Ben Jones – 1G
Luke Philp – 1A
Connor Zary – 1A
Hunter Brzustewicz – 2A
Andrew Basha – 1G
Highlights
Next up
The Wranglers continue their road trip for three more games. Their next stop will be in Ontario, CA, where they will face the Reign for the first time this season in a weekday match up on Tuesday. Game time for that one is set for 8:00 p.m. MT.
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