Image courtesy of @AHLWranglers X account. [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/8efe17a3-4055-407a-b5fc-ef2b86951ee9.webp] Image courtesy of @AHLWranglers X account. The Calgary Wranglers have been in a slump for the ages, having lost 14 of their previous 18 contests. After a 1-3 homestand, they headed east to Winnipeg to play the Manitoba Moose in a weekend series. They dropped a Saturday night contest 6-5 before picking up a 3-2 victory on Sunday. SUNDAY - WRANGLERS 3 MOOSE 2 In almost a duplicate performance from Saturday, the Moose jumped out to a 1-0 lead with Fabian Wagner scoring at 15:12. However, unlike the previous night, the Wranglers responded within a minute when Rory Kerins scored his 26th of the year at 16:23. Once again, Calgary held a first period advantage in shots, 8-7, while tallying the only goal in the middle frame when Sam Morton netted his 16th at 11:10 on the man advantage. He scored on the man advantage for the second game in a row. Captain Clarke Bishop gave the Wranglers their first multi-goal lead in the third, with his 17th at 9:32, a shorthanded tally for the visitors. With half a period to go, Calgary sported a 3-1 lead but couldn't stay out of the box, which led to Dylan Coghlan's power-play goal at 11:52 to cut the deficit back to one. After taking the game's first two penalties, the Wranglers played with fire in the third, taking four penalties in a row, at 0:25, 8:19, 11:12, and 11:49. Thankfully, the Moose went 1-for-6 on special teams, with Calgary scoring once on three opportunities. Devin Cooley had a bounceback performance, making 27 saves on 29 shots and producing a .931 SV%, his best SV% performance since Feb.8. His counterpart, Chris Driedger, finished with 26 saves on 29 shots, good enough for a .896 SV%. SATURDAY - MOOSE 6 WRANGLERS 5 In night one, the Moose and Wranglers traded goals in the opening period, as Dominic Toninato opened the scoring for the home team at 4:47 before Morton scored his 15th of the year at 15:19 on the power-play. Although the score was 1-1, Calgary outshot Manitoba 13-11, the only frame they held an advantage in this category. Overall, the Moose outshoot the visitors 36-32, with the Wranglers collecting more than 30 shots in a game for the first time since Feb. 26. In the second, the Moose got goals from Wagner (5:12) and Danny Zhilkin (16:29), sandwiched around Adam Klapka's 14th at 8:18. In his first game back with the Wranglers, he lit the lamp, providing some much-needed secondary scoring. Interestingly, Calgary opened up a one-goal lead within five minutes of the third period thanks to Jonathan Aspirot (5th) and Dryden Hunt (15th) goals. Hunt has goals in three of five games since returning to the lineup on Mar. 1. The Moose rallied back with goals less than a minute apart from Mason Shaw (6:39) and Isaak Phillips (7:49), restoring their one goal lead. Yan Kuznetsov tied the game again with his fifth of the year at 15:41, giving the Wranglers a shot at collecting their first win in four games. However, Shaw's second of the night at 17:01 stood up as the game-winner. His tally came less than 32 seconds after Cooley stopped Brad Lambert on a penalty shot. Cooley finished the game with 30 saves on 36 shots (.833 SV%), while Domenic DiVincentiis made 27 stops on 32 shots (.843 SV%) for his 15th win of the season. After the split, the Wranglers are now 31-21-4-2, good enough for 68 points and third place in the Pacific Division, behind Coachella Valley and Colorado, who each have 70 points. They continue their road trip next weekend in Abbotsford with games on Saturday and Sunday.
