Wranglers Suffer Second Worst Defeat Of Season On Saturday

The Calgary Wranglers had a rough weekend in Colorado, dropping both contests to the Colorado Eagles by a combined 12-4 score.

Although the Wranglers lost on Friday by a respectable 5-2 score, things were worse on Saturday when the Eagles secured a 7-2 win.

Saturday marked only the second time this season that Calgary gave up seven or more goals in a contest.

The Wranglers were also without their top scorer, Rory Kerins, who earned a call-up to the Calgary Flames. Devin Cooley, the team's top goalie, left Friday's game after making a diving save.

He didn't dress on Sunday, leading Calgary to call Connor Murphy to back up Waltteri Ignatjew.

Although the score was not in the favor in the end, the Wranglers did open the scoring with Martin Frk tallying his 10th goal of the season at just 1:51 thanks to assists from Clark Bishop and Dryden Hunt.

However, the Eagles would tie the contest at 6:54 with a Matthew Phillips power play goal. They gained their first lead of the game at 2:41 with a Jason Polin goal before Hunt somehow poked home the puck in a scrum in the crease to tie things up at 2-2 at 7:31. Somehow, Sam Honzek and Alex Gallant picked up assists on the play.

Unfortunately, that was the last time the Wranglers would find the back of the net, as the Eagles finished the middle period with two power-play goals by Jacob MacDonald.

The home team tacked on three more goals in the final period, with Oskar Olausson scoring at 13:37, followed by an empty net shorthanded goal by Chris Wagner at 18:57 before Polin ended the night with a shorthanded tally at 19:28.

Special teams were a significant factor in the outcome. The Wranglers went 0-for-4 on the power play and surrendered two shorthanded goals. Meanwhile, the Eagles were 3-for-5 on the man advantage and outshot Calgary 40-35.

Ignatjew recorded a .846 SV% between the pipes with 33 saves on 39 shots. His counterpart, the Eagles Kevin Mandolese, also had 33 saves on 35 shots while producing a .943 SV%.

Surprisingly, because of all the action on special teams, no one on the Wranglers finished with a plus/minus lower than minus-1. Hunt led all skaters with seven shots, and Frk had a game-high 14 penalty minutes.

Because of the loss and a Hershey Bears win, the Bears leapfrog the Wranglers as the top team in the AHL, but Calgary still holds a four-point cushion atop the Pacific Division. They are back at the Saddledome for a back-to-back against the Tucson Roadrunners on Tuesday and Wednesday.