Recap: Calgary Wranglers close home series with 3-1 loss to Abbotsford Canucks

The Calgary Wranglers played their last home game of the regular season on Friday and hosted the Abbotsford Canucks for the second night in a row. It was fan appreciation night but unfortunately, the Wranglers could not come up with a win for their larger crowd of just over 7,000. The score finished up the same as the night prior with a 3-1 final for Abbotsford.

Lineup notes

Etienne Morin and Jaden Lipinski both made their AHL debuts in this game. Morin skated on a pairing with Colton Poolman and Lipinski skated on a line with Brett Sutter and Matthew Wedman. Lipinski played a very comfortable game and was a solid addition to the lineup. Morin was limited in his opportunities in this game but still had some good looks from the point that could have changed some of the scoring in this game. 

Other changes from Thursday’s game included Sam Morton and Mark Pysyk returning to the lineup. These four took the places of Yan Kuznetsov, Mitch McLain, Lucas Ciona and David Silye. The Wranglers skated with seven defencemen this game so Jonathan Aspirot played as a forward (which he has done a few times this year) on a line with William Stromgren and Ben Jones. 

Game at a glance

Calgary switched things up between the pipes with Oscar Dansk getting the start. The Canucks also made a change in net with Zach Sawchenko starting. There wasn’t much time for them to settle in as the first penalty of the game was called against Calgary just 59 seconds into the game. 

They were able to kill this one off then went right back to the box at 4:41. At 5:56, the Canucks were very close to making it a 1-0 game but Oscar Dansk managed to keep the puck out. It wasn’t called a goal on the ice but the officials gave it an extended review to be sure. It remained scoreless by the time their decision came. 

However, just a second after this penalty ended, the Canucks opened up the scoring at 6:42. Ty Glover was the goal scorer for Abbotsford with a shot that Jeremie Poirier attempted to tip away but accidentally, redirected into the back of the net. 

Just after this goal, the Wranglers finally got a chance on the power play but that was cut short by a high-sticking call against Sam Morton. These penalties went by without any other damage to the score and both sides were finally able to get some regular even-strength ice time in.

Jonathan Aspirot had the best chance at tying up the game off Ben Jones’ rebound but rang it off the post. This did cause a late power play for the Wranglers as a Canucks skater flipped the puck out of play and was called for delay of game. 

Calgary finished the period on the power play but were down 1-0 on the scoreboard. Shots were 14-8 Canucks through the first. In the second, the Wranglers continued to push and with more even strength time, they were able to get one on the board. Jordan Oesterle took another shot from the point that mimicked Thursday’s goal and Rory Kerins got a piece of it up front to make it a 1-1 game. Adam Klapka also picked up an assist on this marker.