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Wranglers Recap: Scoring frenzy ends in 7-4 loss to the Firebirds
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Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Dec 12, 2025, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 12, 2025, 01:50 EST
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The Calgary Wranglers wrapped up their midweek series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Thursday after beating them 3-0 on Tuesday. This game would have a drastically different result with the Firebirds scoring on nearly every second shot on goal in the first period. They got a couple back in the second period to the point that both sides switched out their starting goaltenders. This game ended in a 7-4 win for the Firebirds. 

Lineup notes

The Flames announced earlier in the day on Thursday that Dryden Hunt was reassigned to the Wranglers after being up with the Flames since Nov. 17. He got into two games with the Flames on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 and managed to avoid most of the Wranglers’ 10 game road trip. He was available and in the lineup for this game. 
Changes from last game included Dryden Hunt slotting into the lineup for up front, along with Lucas Ciona. Andrew Basha and Alex Gallant came out. 

Wranglers lines

Dryden Hunt – Rory Kerins – William Stromgren
Aydar Suniev – Sam Morton – Matvei Gridin
Clark Bishop – Justin Kirkland – Martin Frk
Parker Bell – Carter King – Lucas Ciona
Turner Ottenbreit – Daniil Miromanov 
Nick Cicek – Jeremie Poirier
Artem Grushnikov – Etienne Morin
Owen Say (starter)
Connor Murphy

Game at a glance

Calgary went right back to Owen Say after he posted his first professional shutout on Tuesday night. The Firebirds switched up their netminder, going with Victor Ostman for this game. The scoring got going right from the first puck drop, with goal number one for the Firebirds coming just 1:30 in. Justin Kirkland was in front of the net trying to clear the puck out and ended up deflecting the puck into his own net. Tyson Jugnauth got the last touch, so he was credited with the goal.
28 seconds later, Adyar Suniev got puck possession back in the offensive zone and found Matvei Gridin from the slot to drive a wrist shot home. Sam Morton also picked up an assist on this goal.
The relief of shaking that first goal off was brief as the Firebirds scored again at 2:31. Kaden Hammell took a shot from the point that deflected off the end boards and caught the end of Say’s pads and ended in the back of the net. 
The game got some structure back for a few minutes after this goal, but the next tally would come from the Firebirds. At 6:50, Oscar Fisker Molgaard was left in front of the net and pulled a backhand move on Say to make it 3-1 for the visitors. At this point in the game, the Wranglers had allowed three goals in six shots. 
At 10:41, the Firebirds were called for hooking and the Wranglers got their first chance on the power play. Matvei Gridin had the best look of the power play but they weren’t able to register a shot on goal. 
The Firebirds added another tally to their lead at 15:10 when Tyson Jugnauth took a shot from the left faceoff dot and beat Say glove side. William Stromgren shot the loose puck into the boards out of frustration. 
Calgary called a timeout immediately after this marker. It didn’t solve things long enough for this period to come to a close as Logan Morrison scored 43 seconds later on a very similar play. Connor Murphy stood up right after this goal and entered the game in relief for Say. Owen Say ended up letting in five goals on 11 shots and his night came to an end after shutting out this same team less than 48 hours prior. 
At 18:36, Justin Kirkland and Lukas Dragicevic got tangled up enough to draw offsetting roughing calls and they went off for the intermission early. Before the period came to a close, Aydar Suniev skated a half circle around the back of the net, looking for a pass but wound up for a shot and caught Ostman on his heels. Nick Cicek and Clark Bishop picked up assists on this goal.
The first period was one of the weaker ones we’ve seen out of the Wranglers this season. They were down 5-2 after 20 minutes of play and were outshot 11-6 by the Firebirds. In the second period, there were still 36 seconds left in the offsetting minors against Kirkland and Dragicevic. 
At 3:20, the Firebirds scored their first goal on Connor Murphy and their sixth of the night off a shot that went straight off the back post and out. Ty Nelson was the goalscorer. The Wranglers managed to answer back at 6:09 when Rory Kerins chipped the puck in on Ostman’s glove side. Dryden Hunt and Martin Frk picked up the assists.
Shortly after this goal, Ty Nelson was called for slashing and the Wranglers managed to add a goal on this power play. They cycled the puck in the offensive zone and Justin Kirkland finished the play on the doorstep. Martin Frk and Dryden Hunt picked up the assists.
Right after this goal, the Firebirds also made a goaltending change and Nikke Kokko came in for the Firebirds. This change gave both teams their longest stretch of the game without a goal. At 18:16, the Firebirds were called for too many men and David Goyette went to the box to serve the bench minor. 
At the end of the second period, the Wranglers were trailing 6-4 and flipped the shots from the first period in their favour to be ahead 11-6 in the middle frame. The Wranglers were penalty killing for the first time this game at 3:35 when Jeremie Poirier was called for hooking. They’d only need to kill off 34 seconds as the Firebirds took an interference penalty to make it a four-on-four for about a minute and a half.
These penalties came and went, then both teams had a good stretch of about 3-4 minutes without a whistle, where they exchanged chances. Calgary pulled Connor Murphy at 16:19 for the extra attacker. He needed to come back in for an offensive zone draw and seconds after he went back to the bench, the Firebirds scored on the empty net to make it a 7-4 game. Jacob Melanson was the goal scorer.
That goal was pretty well the final nail in the coffin and the Wranglers lost 7-4. Shots finished 26-24 for the Wranglers. 
Head coach Brett Sutter talked about the focus for their next series and said after the game:
“Just our competitiveness like we need to start doing that for 60 minutes. We’ve kind of been in this thing where we play two or three good ones then we sat back in one. So just making sure we’re bringing that mentality for a full game and they’re a hard working team so we’re gonna have to do that from start to finish.”

Scoring stat summary

Matvei Gridin – 1G
Aydar Suniev – 1G, 1A
Nick Cicek – 1A
Rory Kerins – 1G
Dryden Hunt – 2A 
Martin Frk – 2A
Justin Kirkland – 1G
Clark Bishop – 1A
Sam Morton – 1A

Highlights

Next up

The Wranglers have another home series this weekend when the Abbotsford Canucks come to town. They’ll play a back to back with the first game going at 6:00 p.m. MT on Saturday and the second going at 4:00 p.m. MT on Sunday.

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