The Calgary Wranglers looked for some revenge on the Reign after falling in their last two games against them over the Family Day weekend. They had another tight battle in this game and ended up taking the game out of regulation for the third game in a row. This time, the game was not decided in overtime and went to a shootout.
Unfortunately, the Wranglers couldn’t score and both Reign shooters found the back of the net to pick up the win.

Lineup notes

On a back-to-back and no wins on the month, this game felt like the natural time to make some changes to the lineup. Kyler Kupka, who was signed to a PTO on Saturday, made his Wranglers debut for this game and wore number 33. Calgary went with a less experienced lineup for this game giving some time to Charles Martin and Waltteri Ignatjew in addition to Kupka. The changes from their previous game included scratches to Joni Jurmo and Brett Davis as well as a night off for Devin Cooley.

Wranglers lines

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

Game at a glance

Calgary switched things up in net to start Waltteri Ignatjew for his first game in nearly a month. On the other end of the ice Pheonix Copley started for the Reign. The Wranglers had the first few looks on Copley and Kupka wasted no time registering a shot for his new team. The Reign started taking things the other way but Ignatjew kept these shots out.
The Wranglers struck first for the sixth time in a row against Ontario this season when Hunter Brzustewicz evaded a defender and put up a perfect shot for his fourth goal of the season. This goal came at 15:59 and was assisted by David Silye and Trevor Janicke.
It was a pretty uninterrupted first period with no penalty calls and with Ontario’s push in the middle of the period, they led the Wranglers 12-5 in shots after one complete period but Calgary had the 1-0 edge in scoring. 
In the second period, the Reign had their first best look of the night about four minutes in with Ignatjew pulled out of the net and the Wranglers’ defenders trying to cover the net. The Ontario shooter fanned on this chance and kept the game at a 1-0 score. 
Ontario ended up getting an equalizing goal at 9:59 when Jeff Malott passed up to Joe Hicketts who beat Ignatjew on his shot. Calgary pushed back for a few minutes after this tying goal and the Reign owned the zone in the last few minutes of the period. Another period went by without a penalty call and the score was 1-1 at the end of 40 minutes. Shots through the middle frame were 17-8 Ontario.
The penalty-less game came to an end quickly in the third when Charles Hudon was called for tripping just 20 seconds into the period. This turned into a brief five on three for Calgary when Francesco Pinelli was called for a spearing attempt double minor. The Reign’s woes continued with a delay of game call at 3:01, giving Calgary a full two minutes five on three. It was not a reviewable play but it did appear the puck stayed in on this play.
Despite this rough go of calls against the home team, they still managed to prevent Calgary from scoring a go-ahead goal. The Reign got a five on three chance on the power play later in the period after Parker Bell was called for tripping then Sam Morton was called for holding at 12:23. Calgary also killed this penalty off and the score remained 1-1.
One more penalty against Calgary towards the end of the third didn’t end up changing the score either and time ran out in regulation. The Reign and Wranglers finished 1-1 at the end of the third and Calgary out-shot Ontario 12-6 in the third period.
Overtime was very energetic and either team could’ve taken the game in this extra frame, but time ran out before they could. Shots in overtime were 3-2 for the Reign. In the shootout, William Stromgren and Jeremie Poirier were unable to score and both shooters, Glenn Gawdin and Jeff Malott scored to take the win. The Reign won 2-1 in a shootout.
The shots finished 39-27 for the Reign in this game and the Wranglers are now up to seven straight losses on this losing skid.

Scoring stat summary

Hunter Brzustewicz – 1G
David Silye – 1A
Trevor Janicke – 1A

Next up

The Wranglers wrap up their three games on the road with a match-up against the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday. Puck drop is at 8:00 p.m. MT.
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