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Recap: Wranglers snap record-high losing streak with 3-2 win over the Canucks
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Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Mar 1, 2025, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Mar 1, 2025, 08:58 EST
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The Calgary Wranglers had a rough February mostly spent on the road and without a win. Friday was their last chance to change their fate for a winless month of hockey and avoid adding another game to their longest losing streak in team history with eight in a row. They opened their weekend series against the Abbotsford Canucks and managed to snap their losing streak with a much needed 3-2 win.

Lineup notes

Dryden Hunt missed the three game road trip to be home with his wife for the arrival of their baby. He was not in the lineup for this game either so he may be ruled out for the weekend. Sam Honzek played in two of the three road games but missed the last game against the San Diego Gulls with a lower-body injury. He was also absent for this game. 

Wranglers lines

Kyler Kupka – Rory Kerins – Martin Frk
William Stromgren – Sam Morton – Clark Bishop 
Lucas Ciona – David Silye – Parker Bell
Alex Gallant – Brett Davis – Trevor Janicke
Jonathan Aspirot – Tyson Barrie 
Yan Kuznetsov – Hunter Brzustewicz
Artem Grushnikov – Jeremie Poirier
Waltteri Ignajtew

Game at a glance

The Wranglers just played on Wednesday and play a back to back this weekend so it made sense to split up the starts with Waltteri Ignatjew for this game. Ignatjew held the Reign to one goal until the shootout on Feb. 23 and looked very composed in that game. On the other end of the ice, he faced off against Nikita Tolopilo.
These teams exchanged shots in the opening minutes of the game and the first penalty went against Calgary just 2:44 in. Lucas Ciona was called for hooking and in the early minutes of his penalty, Artem Grushnikov blocked a shot off the side of his face and was helped off the ice by the training staff. 
The Wranglers managed to kill off this penalty and not even five game minutes later, Grushnikov was back on the ice to fully staff the blue line. Unfortunately, the Canucks were the first to find the back of the net at 5:45 off a tap in on the doorstep from Jonathan Lekkerimaki. 
The Wranglers got a chance of their own on the power play at 9:07 and almost made it a 1-1 game when Tyson Barrie threw the puck on the net then Rory Kerins passed it behind his back to Sam Morton, who tried to jam it in. Tolopilo managed to keep the puck out and the referees waved off the potential goal. 
The Canucks carried the majority of the action through the rest of the period and by the end of 20 minutes, the Wranglers were trailing 1-0. Shots after the first were 13-5.
Early in the second period Alex Gallant was taken down along the boards by Tristen Nielsen and he got right back up to let his opponent know that would not stand. He took a roughing call and put the Wranglers on the penalty kill. Aatu Raty took down Sam Morton by the legs at center ice about halfway into this penalty kill and put them on a four on four for 1:03 before the Wranglers went on the power play. Both penalties came and went without a scoring change.
Calgary ended up getting a good shot on the power play with a five on three at 7:52, one of the penalties expired but before the other could, Rory Kerins came from behind the net to stickhandle the puck all the way to the back of the net. William Stromgren and Martin Frk picked up the assists on this goal at 8:10. 
Just past the 14 minute mark, William Stromgren was sprung on a breakaway and was taken down by an opposing player before the could get a shot off. No call was made but the fans made it known that they wanted a call or penalty shot on that chance that they did not get. 
Late in the period, Parker Bell ended up with the puck on his stick and picked and ripped a shot past Tolopilo to give the Wranglers the first lead of the night. Bell’s goal at 18:50 was assisted by Jeremie Poirier and Hunter Brzustewicz.
The Wranglers held their 2-1 lead to the end of the second period and shots in the middle frame were 11-7 for the Canucks. The home team got an early power play just a minute into the third. Neither resulted in scoring but at 5:37, Brett Davis scored his first career AHL goal to put Calgary up 3-1. He was in the perfect spot for the Saddledome end-boards bounce and beat Tolopilo on his shot. Yan Kuznetsov and Lucas Ciona picked up the assists. 
Right after this goal, Martin Frk was called for hooking and Abbotsford made this man advantage hurt for Calgary. Danila Klimovich took a shot over the shoulder of Ignatjew at 7:35 to put the visitors within one goal at this point in the game. 
As time was running out in the third period, the Canucks pulled their goalie with about three minutes to go in regulation. With just 2:05 to go in regulation, Sam Morton scored on the empty net but it was just a second after the play was whistled dead for what appeared to be an offside on Martin Frk. There was some debate on the ice but that didn’t change the result of the play. 
The Canucks used this opportunity to take a timeout and continued on for the last two minutes of the period. The last seconds ticked down and the relief could be felt across the dome. The Wranglers are back to being a winning team and snapped their losing streak on home ice. The final score was 3-2 and shots finished 38-22 for Abbotsford. 
Calgary took all three stars with Waltteri Ignajtew getting the third star, Parker Bell getting the second and Brett Davis getting the first. 

Scoring stat summary

Rory Kerins – 1G
William Stromgren – 1A
Martin Frk – 1A
Parker Bell – 1G
Jeremie Poirier – 1A
Hunter Brzustewicz – 1A
Brett Davis – 1G
Yan Kuznetsov – 1A
Lucas Ciona – 1A

Highlights

Next up

This series continues less than a day later for a back to back on Saturday night. They play the Canucks again with an hour earlier start time at 6:00 p.m. MT.
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