The Calgary Wranglers and Manitoba Moose continued their weekend series for a Sunday matinee. The Wranglers took game one by a 4-2 score and were looking for a series sweep. Calgary won off of a four-unanswered goal comeback on Friday and Manitoba flipped the script on Sunday to win off a three-unanswered goal comeback in overtime. The final score was 3-2.
Game at a glance
The lineup for the Wranglers remained mostly the same with the exception of Oscar Dansk getting the start between the pipes instead of Dustin Wolf. October does not have any midweek games so getting Dansk some action on the weekend is not a bad idea by any means. Last year, these two would rotate on back-to-back match-ups typically.
The first period had a good flow to it. Only a few stoppages and some solid chances on both ends. The Moose and the Wranglers had chances on the power play but were shut down. Just after the buzzer rang to signal the end of the period, Adam Klapka appeared to have scored the opening goal. If only they had a few more seconds on their side.
After the first period, the Wranglers had a 9-6 edge in shots. In the second period, they got rolling quickly. Just 1:45 into the period, Jeremie Poirier and Connor Zary set up a passing play that ended up on Cole Schwindt’s stick. He was left open on the left side and scored the opening goal of the game.
The Wranglers kept control of the period and found themselves on the power play when the Moose were called for high sticking. Just 16 seconds into the power play, Connor Zary set up Martin Pospisil for his first goal since Dec. 20 of last year. Pospisil missed most of last season due to injury and has been solid for Calgary in his first two games of the year. Jeremie Poirier also assisted on this second goal, putting him at five points on the year already.
The period continued without any further scoring updates, despite Manitoba’s best efforts. They outshot the Wranglers 13-8 in the second frame and the score remained 2-0 for Calgary. Emilio Pettersen was sent to the box late in the period and the bulk of the penalty remained on the board by the end of the period.
In the third, the Wranglers were still on the penalty kill and the Moose got on the board 45 seconds into the period. Chaz Lucius beat Dansk on a high blocker side shot and cut the Wranglers’ lead in half.
Calgary got caught on their heels early in the period and Manitoba took advantage once again. Brad Lambert broke into the Wranglers zone and Poirier could not catch up to prevent his scoring chance. Lambert chipped the puck over Dansk and tied the game 2-2.
There were some chances on either side through the rest of the period, but neither was able to score the go-ahead goal. The third period finished up with the score stuck at 2-2 and both teams picking up a point going into overtime. Manitoba outshot Calgary 15-8 in the third.
Overtime action went from zero to one hundred right away. Wranglers Head Coach, Trent Cull, opted for Clark Bishop, Brett Sutter and Jeremie Poirier to start the extra frame. Brad Lyle came on afterwards and had the best look for Calgary to win the game 1:49 into overtime. Any momentum that was generated from that chance, deflated when Ben Jones took a high sticking call off an offensive zone faceoff and headed to the box with 2:20 to go in overtime.
The Moose took a timeout and while it looked as if the Wranglers would kill off that unfortunate penalty, Dominic Toninato deflected a shot in front of Oscar Dansk and won the game for the home team. Lyle’s overtime shot was the only one Calgary registered in overtime.
The Wranglers fell 3-2 but picked up a point in this competition. They split the weekend series and got a taste of their own medicine with three unanswered goals from the Manitoba Moose. The back half of the game didn’t have the best effort and it showed. The Wranglers were outshot 40-26 and despite Dansk’s best effort between the pipes, it wasn’t enough to win this afternoon’s match-up.
Jeremie Poirier cracked the three stars coming in at third for his two-assist performance. The other two spots were awarded to Manitoba skaters.
Next up
The Calgary Wranglers continue their stretch of away games and will be back in action next weekend. They will head to Abbotsford to face the Canucks for the first time since eliminating them from playoff contention last season. They play on Friday and Saturday. Game time for both is set for 8:00 p.m. MT.
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