Wranglers Defeat Roadrunners As Captain Skates In 400th AHL Game

The Scotiabank Saddledome is a special place to play hockey in 2024-25.

On Tuesday night, upon returning home, the Calgary Wranglers quickly dispatched the Tucson Roadrunners 5-1, halting a three-game losing streak.

Even though the Wranglers walked away with a loss in their last game at the Saddledome, Tuesday's win keeps them as the top home team in the AHL with a 16-5-0-0 record on home ice.

Interestingly, they remain two wins ahead of the Colorado Eagles, who just swept Calgary on the weekend, for the most home wins this season.

Meanwhile, lost in the shuffle of the Wranglers' five-goal outburst was that captain Clark Bishop played in his 400th AHL game. He had two assists and was named the game's third star.

Between the pipes, Connor Murphy, recently called up for the injured Devin Cooley, picked up his first AHL win of the year thanks to 32 saves.

The Wranglers wasted little time getting on the board as Sam Honzek buried a one-timer at 2:27 thanks to a cross-ice feed from Sam Morton and Jonathan Aspirot.

Roughly six minutes later, at 8:37, Dryden Hunt tucked in his 10th of the year with a no-look pass behind the net from William Strömgren. Morton picked up his second assist of the period on the play.

The fun didn't stop there. At 15:33, Morton tipped home a Hunt shot from the point for a beautiful goal, giving the home team a commanding 3-0 lead. Meanwhile, Aspirot also assisted on the play for his second point of the period.

In the middle frame, the Wranglers only added one goal at 18:48, when Lucas Ciona sprung Adam Klapka on a breakaway, who lit the lamp on a backhanded goal.

While battling for the puck in his zone, Bishop started the play, resulting in the goal, his first point of the night.

At the beginning of the third, the Roadrunners made things interesting with two goals at 8:32 and 13:23 before Strömgren sealed the win with an empty net goal at 16:30.

It was only fitting that Bishop had the lone assist on the game's final goal on his special night, feeding Strömgren at center for a clean chance at the empty cage.

Interestingly, the game was quiet for two periods, with the Roadrunners taking two penalties and the Wranglers one.

However, things boiled over in the final two minutes, with Klapka fighting Ben McCartney and Ciona getting a ten-minute misconduct.

Honzek had the night's only special teams goal as the Wranglers went 1-for-2 on the powerplay, and the Roadrunners went 0-for-3. The home team was outshot on the night 34-32.

As mentioned earlier, Murphy picked up the victory, turning away 32 shots in his first AHL action since Dec. 15 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He's 1-1-0 on the year with a .919 SV% and 2.54 GAA.

Thanks to their big win, the Wranglers move back into a tie with the Hershey Bears for the top spot in the AHL, each team now at 49 points.

Meanwhile, Calgary remains the top team in the Pacific Division and will look to extend their lead with a rematch against the Roadrunners later tonight. The puck drops at 7:00 pm MT.