The Calgary Wranglers kicked off their last road series of regular season in Abbotsford, BC. They play their last pair of games against the Canucks, who won their last 13 games in a row. They wouldn’t make it to 14 however, as the back and forth night of scoring needed overtime and then a shootout. Martin Frk exploded in production in this game with a hat trick and a goal in the shootout. The Wranglers’ two goals in the shootout secured them the 5-4 win.

Wranglers lines

Rory Kerins – Sam Morton – Ty Tullio 
William Stromgren – Sam Honzek – Martin Frk
Lucas Ciona – Clark Bishop – Parker Bell
Brett Davis – Carter Wilkie 
Jonathan Aspirot – Ilya Solovyov 
Yan Kuznetsov – Hunter Brzustewicz 
Artem Grushnikov – Jeremie Poirier 
Charles Martin 
Waltteri Ignatjew

Game at a glance

After the Wranglers started Devin Cooley for both games against the Ontario Reign last weekend, they went back to Waltteri Ignatjew to start this series in Abbotsford. On the other end of the ice, Arturs Silovs got the start for the Canucks. These teams took a few minutes to get things going but once they did, the play mostly swayed in Calgary’s direction. 
At 8:38, Martin Frk sprung on a breakaway and before he could get a shot off, netminder Arturs Silovs threw his stick at Frk’s skates. This caused a penalty shot that Frk scored on a quick release on Silovs’ glove side. 
A couple of minutes later, the Wranglers had about a 90-second five-on-three opportunity, and they used that time to get a good rotation and positioning set up. Martin Frk scored on pretty much the same spot as his first goal. Just this one was from more of a distance. 
At 13:54, the Wranglers went on their first penalty kill of the game when Ilya Solovyov was called for cross checking. The Canucks ended up scoring about halfway through this power play with a goal from Christian Wolanin. 
That was the last of the scoring in the first and all three goals were on the special teams. Calgary led Abbotsford 2-1 at the end of the first and shots were 11-5 for Calgary. 
Early in the second period, the Canucks were looking for an equalizer but Rory Kerins was able to add one more goal to the lead at 2:26. This is hands down my vote for Wranglers goal of the year. Kerins backhand batted the puck out of mid-air and into the back of the net. Ty Tullio and Jeremie Poirier picked up the assists on this impressive goal. 
Calgary rode this 3-1 lead for most of the second period with minimal whistles in the middle frame. A burst of Abbotsford action took place towards the end of the period when Cooper Walker scored at 18:14. He was parked in the slot and buried a rebound.
Exactly a minute later, the Canucks scored again to even up this game. Danila Klimovich was in tight and beat Ignatjew glove side at 19:14. Yan Kuznetsov was called for delay of game before this period came to a close and by the end of 40 minutes, the Wranglers and Canucks were tied 3-3. Shots in the middle frame were 12-5 Abbotsford. 
The Wranglers had a great start to their third period despite having to kill off most of Kuznetsov’s penalty. After this, their first shot found the back of the net. The stick it came off? Martin Frk once again. He scored his fifth career AHL hat trick and pulled the Wranglers ahead 4-3. He crossed the blue line and took a wrist shot that beat Silovs. Hunter Brzustewicz and William Stromgren scored on this go-ahead goal at 4:38.
This lead only lasted 1:12 as the next Abbotsford shot ended up beating Ignatjew. Nate Smith scored on a quick release at 5:50 and brought the tie back to this game. The Canucks had more chances as this period went on but didn’t end up scoring again.
At 12:14, Jonathan Aspirot and Dino Kambeitz were tagged out of a crowd of angry players for offsetting roughing calls and the remaining three shots of the game came off the sticks of Canucks. By the end of regulation, the score remained an even 4-4 and Abbotsford outshot Calgary 10-2 in the third.
Overtime played out similarly to the theme of the game with equal opportunities for each side. Both teams were able to put up three shots but no goals in the five minutes of free hockey. This one needed to be decided in a shootout. Ignatjew stopped the first and second shooter and just let in one goal off the third Canucks shooter, Jonathan Lekkerimaki.
For Calgary, Rory Kerins was stopped as the first shooter then Martin Frk scored and William Stromgren secured the win with his shootout goal. Martin Frk picked up the first star for his three goal night and William Stromgren earned the third star for his performance in the shootout and his primary assist. Shots in this game finished 30-22 Abbotsford. 

Scoring stat summary

Martin Frk – 3G
Sam Morton – 1A
Rory Kerins – 1G, 1A
Ty Tullio – 1A
Jeremie Poirier – 1A
Hunter Brzustewicz – 1A
William Stromgren – 1A

Next up

With this win, the Wranglers have a magic number of just one with three games remaining. They could be in a playoff spot within the next day, depending on the results. Calgary and Abbotsford play their last game of their weekend and season series on Saturday night. Game time is at the same time at 8:00 p.m. MT.
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