logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Recap: Wranglers control entire game against the Eagles in 5-2 win
alt
Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Apr 18, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 18, 2026, 00:58 EDT
Comments
The Calgary Wranglers kicked off their last series of the season with a Friday night game against the Colorado Eagles. They got most of their players back from the Flames in time for this road match-up and played this game with a lot of energy and held control of the lead the whole game. Sam Morton started the scoring 36 seconds into this game and four other scorers got on the board over the course of the game to earn Calgary the 5-2 win. 

Lineup notes

In the pre-game injury update, Lucas Ciona, Artem Grushnikov and Ivan Prosvetov remained out for this game. Added to the list was Kyle Walker, who missed this game due to illness. Rory Kerins, Arsenii Sergeev and Aydar Suniev all played in Calgary on Thursday night and made it to Loveland, CO in time for puck drop but they did not all play. Sergeev got the night off and he did not even need to dress and Rory Kerins was originally in the starting lineup then a late change brought Parker Bell in instead. Aydar Suniev was the only Thursday Flame in for the Wranglers for this Friday night game. 

Wranglers lines

Dryden Hunt – Justin Kirkland – Martin Frk
William Stromgren – Sam Morton – Aydar Suniev 
Brennan Othmann – Clark Bishop – David Silye
Alex Gallant – Carter King – Parker Bell
Etienne Morin – Daniil Miromanov
Nick Cicek – Kent Anderson 
Xavier Bernard – Gavin White
Connor Murphy

Game at a glance

Connor Murphy got his second straight start in this game after Arsenii Sergeev picked up his first NHL win on Thursday. Sergeev was in town in time for the game, but the team opted to give him the night off. Aaron Trotter backed up Murphy for this game. On the Eagles’ end, Trent Miner got the start between the pipes.
The Wranglers jumped on their opponents early when Sam Morton scored just 36 seconds into the game. Etienne Morin broke up a pass and got it back up to Morton to light the lamp early. Morin was the lone assist on this marker.
Just under a minute later, Calgary took the first penalty of the game when Aydar Suniev was called for cross-checking. The Wranglers only gave up two shots on this chance and after their successful penalty kill, William Stromgren nearly made it 2-0 with a backhand shot that snuck past Miner but didn’t quite cross the line before it was cleared out. At 6:28, the Wranglers got their first chance on the power play when Gustav Stjernberg was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. 36 seconds into the power play, Daniil Mirmanov settled the puck in his zone and ended up going the whole distance of the ice to split the defence and beat Miner to make it a 2-0 game. This goal was unassisted at 7:04. 
At 7:39, Tristen Nielsen tripped up Clark Bishop and this drew a crowd. David Silye and Brennan Othmann got involved in some roughing with Nielsen and the three of them took a seat for roughing and Nielsen was dealt the extra tripping call. The offsetting calls prevented a power play for either side. At 9:59, the Eagles were called for interference then at 10:49, another call went against the home team for hooking. Calgary had 1:10 of a five on three to try and extend their lead. 
They did end up connecting on this two man advantage when they settled into the zone and William Stromgren got a pass to Dryden Hunt that he was able to feed over to Aydar Suniev on the doorstep at 11:52.
Later in the period, the Wranglers were penalty killing when Gavin White was called for hooking at 18:36. They prevented any scoring by the end of the first and 36 seconds of the Eagles power play carried into the second period. At the end of the first, the Wranglers were up 3-0 with their two power play goals and Sam Morton’s marker to kick things off. Calgary outshot Colorado 13-10 in the opening frame. 
The Eagles had 36 seconds of power play time that carried over into the second period. After this expired, the Eagles got on the board with a bit of a weird goal from Tristen Nielsen. Ronnie Attard took the shot from the point and the puck deflected off the post and out and Nielsen got the rebound past Murphy to put the home team within two. This goal came at 2:03.
Shortly after this goal, Xavier Bernard was called for hooking at 2:24. Calgary killed this penalty off and Bernard was called for another penalty at 5:03 for holding. The Wranglers successfully killed this second penalty and at 7:44, Gustav Stjernberg put up an ugly hit on William Stromgren and Nick Cicek made him pay. Cicek ended up getting a 10 minute instigating misconduct, a fighting major and an instigating minor on this play. 
The Eagles got some momentum in the minutes following and had another power play chance at 11:07, when Calgary was called for too many men. The Wranglers killed this off as well and Kent Anderson got a string of good looks after the special teams scenario. At 16:21, the Wranglers got a man advantage of their own but this came and went with the score remaining the same. 
At the end of the second period, the Wranglers were still ahead 3-1 and shots in the middle frame were 20-8 for the Eagles. Just 3:48 into the third period, Martin Frk dished a pass over to Dryden Hunt and Hunt scored Calgary’s fourth goal of the game on Miner’s glove side. 
Just 20 seconds after Hunt’s goal, the Eagles answered back with another goal from Tristen Nielsen. After this, right at the five-minute mark, the Wranglers needed to activate their penalty killers again when David Silye was called for high-sticking. By this point, Nick Cicek had served his whole 10 minute misconduct and was available for the penalty kill and they succeeded in killing it off. 
At 9:54, Dryden Hunt set up Justin Kirkland for a one-timer he blasted into the back of the net. Martin Frk picked up the secondary assist on Calgary’s fifth goal of the game. 
At 15:37, Martin Frk and Jack Ahcan got tangled up and were called for offsetting roughing calls. Shortly after they made their way to the box for the four-on-four, the Eagles pulled Miner at 16:06 for the extra attacker. At 17:08, the Eagles took their timeout. With just 15 seconds left in the frame, Alex Gallant and Tristen Nielsen dropped the gloves briefly. They were called for roughing and Gallant was called for a double minor so Colorado had a brief power play.
The rest of the time expired and Calgary picked up the 5-2 win. Their penalty kill was perfect in this game, killing off all seven opportunities and Connor Murphy had an outstanding performance in net, stopping 50 out of 52 shots. The overall shots finished 52-28 for the Eagles. 

Scoring stat summary

William Stromgren – 1A
Dryden Hunt – 1G, 2A
Etienne Morin – 1A
Justin Kirkland – 1G
Daniil Miromanov – 1G
Martin Frk – 2A
Aydar Suniev – 1G
Sam Morton – 1G

Next up

The Wranglers play game 72 of 72 on Saturday in their season closer against the Colorado Eagles. They did not qualify for the postseason, and their final game goes at 7:05 p.m. MT.

This Article is a presentation of LeaseBusters

LeaseBusters is Canada’s premier lease takeover marketplace, helping drivers get out of their current vehicle leases without costly penalties or negative equity. Instead of paying thousands to break a lease, sellers connect with qualified buyers ready to take it over—saving money and avoiding financial stress. Buyers benefit from shorter-term commitments and often better monthly payments, while dealerships retain a replacement customer and leasing companies keep contracts active. It’s a smarter, more efficient solution for everyone involved. Four parties, four wins—only with LeaseBusters.  For more information, check out www.LeaseBusters.com

News

Breaking News