logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Recap: Wranglers fall to Firebirds, continue winless February
alt
Photo credit: Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds
Paige Siewert
Feb 23, 2025, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 23, 2025, 01:53 EST
Comments
The Calgary Wranglers have yet to win a game in the month of February. They went into their match-up against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Saturday, looking to break that trend. They had some life to start the game but their shots ran extremely dry in the second and third periods. Calgary lost their sixth game in a row 4-1 to the Seattle Kraken affiliate.

Lineup notes

The Wranglers announced some injury updates prior to this game. Thankfully, Joni Jurmo and Sam Morton were not mentioned, making them available for this game. However, the bad news was the loss of one of their alternate captains, Jarred Tinordi, for the remainder of the season due to a lower body injury that requires surgery. 
Dryden Hunt and his wife are awaiting the birth of their child so he did not join the team for this trip. Tyson Barrie has no announced status, but he was not in the lineup for this game. 

Wranglers lines

William Stromgren – Rory Kerins – Martin Frk
Sam Honzek – Sam Morton – Parker Bell
Alex Gallant – Clark Bishop – David Silye 
Lucas Ciona – Brett Davis – Trevor Janicke
Artem Grushnikov – Hunter Brzustewicz
Jonathan Aspirot – Jeremie Poirier
Joni Jurmo – Yan Kuznetsov 
Devin Cooley

Game at a glance

Devin Cooley was in the net for Calgary for his eighth straight start since returning from a concussion in late January. On the other end, Nikke Kokko was between the pipes for the Firebirds. Right off the opening faceoff, Alex Gallant and Ian McKinnon were having a conversation and dropped the gloves just six seconds in. Gallant seemed to have the advantage in this fight and ignited some early energy. 
The Firebirds got their first rush of the game but shot the puck wide. The Wranglers got possession back and went on a two-on-one going the other way. Martin Frk went for the toe drag and was blocked but cleared some space for himself and found the back of the net. The only assist on this marker 55 seconds into the game went to Rory Kerins.
The Wranglers continued to generate a few opportunities through the opening minutes of the game then the Firebirds started taking it the other way. Past the midway mark of the first and beyond, things were pretty even. Hunter Brzustewicz got tangled up with an opponent in front of the Wranglers net and took a penalty for hooking at 11:47. Coachella Valley used this man advantage to even up the scoring.
John Hayden scored for the Firebirds at 13:41 on the power play when Max Lajoie took a shot from the point and Hayden tipped it in. Ty Nelson also assisted on this goal. The first period came to a close and the score was an even 1-1. Shots through the opening frame were 9-8 Calgary.
The second period had a few penalties going back and forth starting with an interference call against Artem Grushnikov at 3:06. The Firebirds were down a man about five minutes after then Yan Kuznetsov was the next one to the box at 11:36. The Firebirds gave the Wranglers absolutely no space this period and they struggled to get anywhere near the net.
At 14:56, the Firebirds scored their go-ahead goal with a marker from Lleyton Roed. It was another shot from the point that was tipped in front and in. Nikolas Brouillard and Ryan Jones assisted on Coachella Valley’s second goal of the night.
In the last couple of minutes of the period, Martin Frk was called for roughing and this one hurt the Wranglers in the final seconds of the frame. John Hayden scored his second of the game off a slap shot that beat Cooley clean. At the end of two periods, the Firebirds were up 3-1 on the Wranglers. Shots in the middle frame were a whopping 15-2 Coachella Valley.
The third period didn’t bring any good fortune for the Wranglers and they were held to just two shots for the second period in a row. The Firebirds scored their fourth of the evening at 11:36 when Ben Beyers finished the play on the one-timer set-up and put this game away.
The Firebirds won 4-1 and Calgary only had a total of 13 shots all game. The Kraken affiliate had 33 shots on the night and despite the score, Devin Cooley did give a solid performance preventing a larger spread in scoring.

Next up

The Wranglers play again tomorrow evening but face another opponent. They get another shot at the Ontario Reign, who swept them in two overtime decisions last weekend. That game gets going at 6:00 p.m. MT.
Sponsored by bet 365:

News

Breaking News