The Calgary Wranglers celebrated New Year’s Eve in Ontario, California to face the Reign for one game to complete their road trip. The two faced each other just before Christmas so things ended up picking up pretty much where they left off. The Wranglers ended up taking control of the scoring and earned their sixth straight win. The final score in this one was 3-1.

Mr. 1,000

Saturday’s game was Brett Sutter’s first game back in Ontario after hitting his 1,000 AHL game milestone. He was honoured by his former team with an in-game presentation that he actually ended up taking from the press box. Sutter was surprisingly scratched for this game. 
This is the second consecutive game he’s missed. No confirmation on whether it was a healthy scratch or if he needed a maintenance game with how tight their schedule has been as of late. It is looking like it may be injury related. 
Sutter had played in every one of Calgary’s game up until Friday’s game against Bakersfield and has a healthy stat line of six goals, and 12 assists for a total of 18 points. He did not earn a point in their last game against the Condors but had three points in the games against the Reign. It would’ve made sense to have him in the lineup if there was no other reason he could not play. 
Advertisement
Ad

Game at a glance

This game kicked off quite evenly. Both teams came ready to play and played a tight first period. Dustin Wolf got the start in net after taking the night off the previous night. Oscar Dansk earned the win in their last game. 
The first period didn’t have any scoring from either side but did have a fair share of work for Wolf. The Reign outshot the Wranglers 13-7 through the first 20 minutes. In the second period, the Wranglers picked things up a bit, getting more shots on goal and a pair of goals to give them the lead. 
The first goal of the game was scored on the power play by Jakob Pelletier. He set up as if he were going to go for the one-timer but ended up taking the shot himself and got it through traffic. This goal is worth a look for Connor Zary’s little celebratory jump alone. 
Advertisement
Ad
Nick DeSimone and Mitch McLain assisted on Pelletier’s opening goal and Pelletier went around and did it again much later in the period. He scored on the power play once again 16:46 into the second with Matthew Phillips and Connor Zary picking up assists. 
The Wranglers have a division and conference-leading power play percentage, sitting at 26.8% after this game. This also places them third in the league. So the power play is something their opposing teams are going to be trying to avoid. 
Ontario still kept a lead in shots through 40 minutes of play with a 23-20 edge. The Wranglers went into the second intermission up 2-0. In the third, the Reign were able to get one back but that was the end of their comeback. 
They scored 11:30 into the third and cut the Calgary lead in half. They pulled their goalie with about two minutes to go and ended up with a two-man advantage with a late Wranglers penalty call. Kevin Rooney was able to get some space and took an attempt at the empty-net and scored a shorthanded goal with 30 seconds to go in regulation. 
Advertisement
Ad
This solidified the final score at 3-1 Calgary. Dustin Wolf stopped 33 of 34 Reign shots and the Wranglers ended up putting up a total 24 shots on the night. Dustin Wolf was awarded the first star and Jakob Pelletier was awarded the second one. 

Next up

It’s a quick turnaround once again for the Wranglers as they will travel back home and start their next series at home against the Abbotsford Canucks on Monday evening. You can catch their first game of 2023 at the Saddledome at 7:00 p.m. MT.