The Calgary Wranglers’ spirits were high after Friday’s win against the Abbotsford Canucks. However, all the positives they generated were quickly put out by a heavily offensive game that ended in a 8-4 win for Abbotsford. The Canucks scored three goals in both the first and second period and two in the third.
While the Wranglers scored a few themselves, it was not nearly enough to keep up with the scoring explosion on the other end.
Lineup notes
There weren’t many changes in the lineup for this game after just playing on Friday night. Dryden Hunt was back after missing the last four games awaiting the birth of his child and to free up a forward spot, Trevor Janicke came out of the lineup. The top line was back to its usual identity and the trickle down through the lines moved a skater here and there.
Wranglers lines
Dryden Hunt – Rory Kerins – Martin Frk
Kyler Kupka – Sam Morton – Clark Bishop
William Stromgren – David Silye – Parker Bell
Alex Gallant – Brett Davis – Lucas Ciona
Jonathan Aspirot – Tyson Barrie
Yan Kuznetsov – Hunter Brzustewicz
Artem Grushnikov – Jeremie Poirier
Devin Cooley
Waltteri Ignatjew
Game at a glance
Both teams switched things up between the pipes for this game with Devin Cooley starting for Calgary and Ty Young starting for Abbotsford. There weren’t any shots in the opening minutes so the first bit of action consisted of a Wranglers power play just 2:18 in. They only managed to get one shot off on this opportunity and play continued.
The first goal came at 6:27 from Cole McWard. Aatu Raty won the faceoff in the offensive zone and McWard shot the puck past Cooley to take the lead early in this game. The Wranglers had a chance to even things up on the second power play of the period when Tyson Barrie set up Rory Kerins in front of the net but could not get the puck across the line.
A few minutes later, Calgary managed to answer back before they hit the halfway mark of the period when Hunter Brzustewicz made a slick evasive move through the slot, passed to Kyler Kupka, then to Yan Kuznetsov who took the shot from the point and Parker Bell deflected it in. This goal came at 9:03.
https://twitter.com/AHLWranglers/status/1896010292917625316
Just over a minute after Bell evened up the scoring, the Canucks took the lead again. Akito Hirose was deep in the zone and positioned his body for a pass but ended up shooting short side on Cooley and lighting the lamp.
The Wranglers misfortune continued when Rory Kerins was called for a high sticking double minor when he was going for the puck along the boards. This Canucks power play extended their lead when Aatu Raty finished a passing play off with a slap shot past Cooley at 13:56.
The was the last of the goals and the power plays through the first and after 20 minutes of play, the Wranglers trailed the Canucks 3-1. The shots in the opening frame were 12-10 Abbotsford.
Kerins made up for his extended penalty call from the first period with a goal just 1:29 into the second period. Hunter Brzustewicz set up Kerins on the doorstep and Kerins delivered. Picking up the secondary assist on this marker was Martin Frk.
https://twitter.com/AHLWranglers/status/1896020581692080256
This score lasted for about five minutes until Chase Wouters retook the two goal lead for Abbotsford with a one-timer at 6:30. The next shift got a little messy when Alex Gallant was called for elbowing on Jett Woo then roughing after the whistle. This play was talked about for a while, and then four minutes against Gallant ended up being the decision. This Wranglers’ coaching staff used this stoppage to make a change in net. Waltteri Ignatjew came in for Cooley at 6:49.
At 7:22, Sammy Blais ripped a diagonal shot top corner and beat Ignatjew on the first shot he faced. It was a 5-2 game at this point and when the teams lined up for the next faceoff at center ice, Clark Bishop crosschecked Jonathan Lekkermaki before the puck was dropped. Linus Karlsson stepped in and got a roughing call for his involvement.
Abbotsford still ended up on a power play and scored another power play goal at 8:45, putting them up to three power play goals on the night. Chase Wouters scored this one after the puck was tangled up in the corner for an extended period of time and he was wide open to rip a shot past Ignatjew once the puck was turned over.
The penalty string continued at 10:48 when offsetting calls were made against Chase Wouters for slashing and Martin Frk for holding. After these penalties, the rest of the period was pretty back and forth between these two and the score was 6-2 Abbotsford at the end of 40 minutes. Shots in the second period were 14-6 Canucks.
Rory Kerins once again came out of the intermission hungry for a goal. At 3:56, he scored his second goal of the night and 25th of the season with a smooth backhand deflection off Jeremie Poirier’s shot. Martin Frk also assisted on this marker.
https://twitter.com/AHLWranglers/status/1896036492184850610
About 40 seconds later, Dryden Hunt scored for Calgary and put them within two goals. His shot went right off the back post and popped out right away so it required a lengthy review. Even with that, the goal stood and all of a sudden, the Wranglers were back in this game with a 6-4 score. Martin Frk and Jeremie Poirier earned the assists on Hunt’s goal.
https://twitter.com/AHLWranglers/status/1896038100536869017
At 9:56, the Canucks added another goal to their lead when Danila Klimovich caught Calgary sleeping skated his way into the Wranglers’ zone pretty much unguarded and beat Ignatjew glove side.
The Wranglers opted to pull their netminder early and Igantjew was on the bench by 15:51. 15 seconds later, Klimovich scored again on the empty net to make it an 8-4 game. The last four minutes of the game were filled with penalties for mostly roughing and a slashing call against the Canucks. This didn’t leave much room for anything else and the Wranglers lost and split their weekend series.
The final score was 8-4 and shots finished 34-29 for Abbotsford. Devin Cooley gave up four goals on 18 shots and Waltteri Ignatjew gave up three goals on 15 shots.
Scoring stat summary
Jeremie Poirier – 2A
Hunter Brzustewicz – 1A
Rory Kerins – 2G
Dryden Hunt – 1G
Parker Bell – 1G
Martin Frk – 3A
Kyler Kupka – 1A
Yan Kuznsetov – 1A
Highlights
Next up
The Wranglers continue their four game homestand into next week where they’ll host the Coachella Valley Firebirds for a back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games have a 7:00 p.m. MT start time.
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