On Family Day, the Calgary Wranglers picked up another point but lost to the Ontario Reign for the second straight game in overtime.
On Family Day, the Calgary Wranglers picked up another point but lost to the Ontario Reign for the second straight game in overtime.
The Calgary Wranglers (29-15-4-1) packed the lower bowl of the Saddledome for a Family Day matinee against the Ontario Reign (29-14-2-1).
After dropping the opening game of this set on Saturday 4-3, the Wranglers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, only to fall 3-2 in overtime for the second time in three days.
Now, the Southern California affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings is just two points back of the Wranglers for the top spot in the Pacific Division.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWRpH-gjp9g[/embed]
The Wranglers opened the scoring in the first period when Jérémie Poirier ripped one home with one second left on the 5-on-3 at 11:28.
As Rory Kerins circled out of the corner with the puck on his stick, he found space to fire one from the slot, which kicked out to Poirier, who made no mistake, putting the home team up 1-0.
Approaching the final minute of the period, Martin Frk, who had seven goals in the past seven games, found himself wide open on the right side of the ice after laying out a Reign player at the blue line.
As the puck came out of the scrum in the corner, Hunter Brzustewicz found him alone on the other side. After picking his spot, Frk sniped home his 20th of the year at 18:58.
Frk joins Kerins as the only other Wranglers player with 20 goals. On Family Day Monday, Kerins had two points, including assists on his team's two goals.
Eventually, the Reign got on the board at 7:55 of the second period when Glenn Gawdin beat Cooley with a shot through a pile of players.
The visitors continued to chip away at the Wranglers' lead at the start of the third period when Martin Chromiak scored at 1:33 to tie things up at 2-2 on a 5-on-3 power-play.
After maintaining a comfortable lead on the scoreboard and in shots through the first 25 minutes, the Wranglers let the game slip away and became undisciplined in the final 22 minutes. They took five penalties, including Devin Cooley's delay-of-game infraction at 18:27.
Thankfully, Calgary killed it off as the game ventured into overtime, but once the teams returned to 3-on-3 action, Jeff Malott scored with just 49 seconds left with a shot that snuck in under Cooley's right side.
The Wranglers used a different lineup for Monday's game following Saturday's loss. After missing the previous game, William Strömgren and Poirier were reinserted, and Poirier netted the game's first goal.
Meanwhile, Calgary announced a handful of lineup notes ahead of the game, including injury updates to Jared Tinordi and Sam Morton and the status of Joni Jurmo, who was recently called up from Rapid City.
In the goalie rematch from the weekend, Cooley made 27 shots to record a .900 SV%, while Portillo made 24 saves, with just seven over the third and overtime periods.
Interestingly, Cooley hasn't won since the AHL All-Star break, dropping to 0-1-2-1. Since the calendar flipped to Jan. 1, the 27-year-old is just 2-4-3-1 with a .886 SV%.
Thankfully, another two points on the weekend keep the Wranglers atop the Pacific Division. However, as mentioned, the Reign are just two back, and these two clubs will meet again next Sunday in California.
The Wranglers are off until Saturday, Feb. 22, when they visit the Coachella Valley Firebirds.