The Calgary Wranglers played their first home game in weeks, but the Ontario Reing played spoilers, rallying for a 4-3 overtime win.
The Calgary Wranglers (29-15-3-1) returned to the Saddledome for their first game since Jan. 26, hosting the Ontario Reign (28-14-2-1) for a Saturday matinee.
Unfortunately, the Reign spoiled interim head coach Joe Cirella's return to the bench. The visitors rallied from a 3-2 third-period deficit to escape with a 4-3 overtime victory.
Meanwhile, before the opening face-off, Calgary announced that William Strömgren and Jérémie Poirier would not be in the lineup. Later, in his post-game interview, Cirella mentioned that both players were having a "development day."
After starting the game shorthanded, things got worse as the Wranglers lost Jarred Tanordi and Sam Morton to injuries in the first period. There's no word on whether they will be available for the rematch on Monday afternoon.
During the game, the Wranglers' top line of Martin Frk, Rory Kerins, and Dryden Hunt led the way, with Frk scoring two goals, Kerins picking up a helper, and Hunt assisting on all three of his team's lamplighters.
Frk opened the scoring at 10:12 of the first period, finding some space in the face-off, and sniped home a feed from Kerins and Hunt.
Saturday's opening goal was Frk's sixth lamplighter in the past seven games, with his five-game goal streak snapped in Calgary's most recent loss to the Henderson Silver Knights on Feb. 8.
Later, during the Reign's first power-play in the second period, David Silye extended the home team's lead with a shorthanded tally at 3:20. He buried a cross-ice feed from Hunt, with Artem Grushnikov picking up a second assist on the play.
Although the Reign didn't score on the man advantage, they capitalized on an opportunity shortly after when Shawn Element got one past Devin Cooley on the blocker side at 4:28.
Frk restored the Wranglers' two-goal lead with his second of the night less than 30 seconds later at 4:54. He buried one into an empty cage as the Calgary attack got Reign goalie Erik Portillo scrambling. All three forwards on the top line connected on the goal as Hunt and Kerins had helpers.
However, Ontario didn't let things get out of hand, cutting back into the deficit at 8:57 when Jason Studnicka once again beat Cooley on the blocker side with a shot that trickled under the netminder's arm on the power play.
The two teams battled back and forth as the physicality and intensity increased. At 14:12, Ontario's Charles Hudon tied the game, 3-3, with the first shot to beat Cooley on the glove side.
Interestingly, neither team took a penalty in the third period, one reason the tightly contested game went to overtime.
Despite winning the opening face-off in overtime and controlling the puck, defenseman Ilya Solovyov fell in the corner, leading to a costly turnover in his zone.
Whether or not Francesco Pinelli had anything to do with Solovyov falling, he was the first to pounce on a loose puck, feeding Francesco Pinelli in the slot.
His snap shot beat Cooley on the glove side to give Ontario its third victory over Calgary in four meetings this season.
For the Wranglers, Cooley made his sixth consecutive start between the pipes, turning away 15 shots to finish with a .789 SV% while watching his record stumble to 1-2-2-1.
Meanwhile, for the Reign, Portillo picked up his 14th win of the season, making 17 saves (.850 SV%) in his victory since Feb. 1.
Although the Wranglers picked up a point, their stranglehold on the top spot in the AHL has been broken. They now trail the Hershey Bears by five points, and their lead in the Pacific Division is down to just two points.
Calgary and Ontario meet again on Monday afternoon for a 2:30 pm contest on Family Day.
