The Calgary Wranglers hosted the San Jose Barracuda on Friday for a kids Friyay game. This game included family events and custom jerseys designed by a young fan. The theme of the game kept things light for the opening period but after giving up four goals in the second period, the Wranglers didn’t echo the energy of their fans at ice level. This game ended up outside of Calgary’s reach as they fell 8-3.
Lineup notes
Hunter Brzustewicz and Sam Morton were called up for the last Flames game of the season on Thursday. They both had great showings including Morton’s first NHL goal. They were sent back down on Saturday, but since they were on the road with the NHL club, they weren’t back in time for this game.
Everyone else in the lineup was expected to be there, and the only noticeable absence was Parker Bell. Bell came out of the Wranglers’ last game against the Abbotsford Canucks after fighting an opposing player and being knocked down and discombobulated. It’s likely he is still recovering from a head injury because of this.
Wranglers lines
Rory Kerins – Carter King – Ty Tullio
William Stromgren – Sam Honzek – Martin Frk
Alex Gallant – Clark Bishop – Lucas Ciona
Brett Davis – Carter Wilkie – Kaden Bohlsen
Artem Grushnnikov – Ilya Solovyov
Yan Kuznetsov – Simon Mack
Jonathan Aspirot – Jeremie Poirier
Devin Cooley (starter)
Waltteri Ignatjew
Game at a glance
This Good Friday game drew an impressive crowd of 5,937. The starting netminders consisted of Devin Cooley for Calgary and Gabriel Carriere for San Jose. These teams were sitting at the same winning percentage prior to this game and are looking to hammer down the final seedings for their opening playoff series. Things got started quick in this game when Luca Cagnoni scored on the first shot of the game at 2:23. Cagnoni was set up with time and space for a slap shot and took an early 1-0 lead for the visitors.
The Wranglers got going in the offensive zone after this goal and ended up taking the first penalty of the game at 6:57. After this penalty expired, they scored the equalizing goal from Martin Frk at 9:44. Frk scored on a backhand shot that came from a sharp angle. Jeremie Poirier and Jonathan Aspirot assisted on this opening Wranglers goal.
Tuck it in for bedtime 💤 pic.twitter.com/q5mD9Cr6F8
— Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) April 18, 2025
The Barracuda took back some momentum later in this period and at 18:22, the Wranglers were on the penalty kill that wouldn’t end up being successful. Just 1:22 after the penalty whistle, Danil Gushcin capitalized on the man advantage by scoring on a backhand shot that went post to post on the top corners of the net.
This late period goal put the Barracuda up 2-1 by the end of the opening frame and shots after 20 minutes of play were 9-6 San Jose. The second period was where things started to get out of hand, starting with a Barracuda goal just 37 seconds into the frame. Pavol Regenda took a shot that pulled Cooley out of the crease and Filip Bystedt buried the rebound.
The Barracuda ended up scoring their next goal on their next shot just under a minute later at 1:26. Cooley tried to make a glove save that he completely missed the puck on. What should’ve been a routine save, ended up being an opposing goal that ended Cooley’s night between the pipes. Waltteri Ignatjew ended up coming in for relief right after this goal.
The Wranglers started generating some shots after their early frame goals but unfortunately, were not the next ones to light the lamp. At 8:36, Braden Hache scored the first San Jose goal on Ignatjew off a slapshot through traffic to make it a 5-1 game.
The Barracuda also put up the next goal a few minutes later at 13:03. Scott Sabourin scored on a backhand shot in the slot and made it a 6-1 game. By this point in the game, the Wranglers’ lines shuffled to try and make something happen for the home team to stop the bleeding. They ended up getting one goal back before the end of the period with Carter Wilkie’s second goal as a Wrangler at 14:56. Kaden Bohlsen forced a turnover at center ice that allowed Alex Gallant to set up Wilkie on the doorstep.
Wilkie finds it🚨 pic.twitter.com/m9ZSiCvAOQ
— Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) April 18, 2025
That was the last of the second period scoring and at the end of 40 minutes of play, San Jose had a 6-2 lead over Calgary despite Calgary outshooting the visitors 16-9 that frame. The second period felt painfully similar to the opening minutes of the last two frames when Calgary took an early penalty 22 seconds in and San Jose scored on the man advantage 31 seconds in.
Luca Cagnoni scored his second of the game from the point off a shot through traffic in front. Calgary was able to answer back soon after when William Stromgren scored off a backhander on the edge of the face-off circle at 3:12. Jeremie Poirier and Simon Mack assisted on this third Wranglers goal.
Strommer with the backhand 💥 pic.twitter.com/jkkAkmKgnY
— Calgary Wranglers (@AHLWranglers) April 18, 2025
The rest of the period was really about containing their opponents and they exchanged power plays through the middle of the frame that didn’t end up affecting the scoring. Much later in the period, Alex Gallant was called for slashing and ended up getting ejected on a game misconduct for continuing the altercation at 17:12. Martin Frk ended up serving his minor penalty.
This game was getting to the bitter end and after the penalty expired, the Barracuda managed to get one more goal past Ignatjew at 19:46. Anthony Vincent tipped in a pass from behind the net and added to the San Jose Sharks affiliate’s significant lead.
This game came to a close and the Wranglers fell in a shocking 8-3 decision. Shots finished 30-29 for San Jose and both Wranglers netminders ended up letting in four goals each.
Scoring stat summary
Jeremie Poirier – 2A
William Stromgren – 1G
Carter Wilkie – 1G
Alex Gallant – 1A
Martin Frk – 1G
Simon Mack – 1A
Kaden Bohlsen – 1A
Jonathan Aspirot – 1A
Highlights
Next up
The Wranglers look for some redemption after this tough loss and have the chance to earn that in their next game on Sunday. They’ll play their last regular season game against the Barracuda and hope for a better result for their confidence going into the playoffs next week. Game two of this Easter weekend series goes at 1:00 p.m. MT.
Sponsored by bet365: