Firebirds outgun the Wranglers 7-5 in AHL playoff barn burner
A third period double-minor penalty proved to be the Calgary Wranglers’ undoing Wednesday night as they lost to the Coachella Valley Firebirds 7-5 in Game 3 of their best-of-five AHL playoff series.
The defeat puts the Wranglers on the brink of elimination: a loss Friday night to the Firebirds ends their season.
Jeremie Poirier, Jonathan Aspirot, Adam Klapka, Jakob Pelletier and Cole Schwindt scored for the Wranglers, who lost their second game in a row to the Firebirds, who eliminated them from the AHL playoffs in 2023.
The Wranglers opened the scoring on a goal from Aspirot, but Coachella Valley responded twice, on goals from John Hayden and Jacob Melanson, to take a 2-1 lead after one period.
Klapka scored on a power play to make it 2-2 before Coachella's Marian Studenic scored to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
Early in the third, Poirier scored to tie the score at 3-3 before a Firebird shorthander from Studeric that gave Coachella Valley another one-goal lead at 4-3.
That didn’t last long, as Schwindt fired in a power play goal from high in the slot to tie the game at four apiece.
With 12 minutes left, Adam Klapka was given a double-minor for high sticking and the Firebirds responded twice, getting goals from Devin Shore and Max McCormick to take a 6-4 lead.
Pelletier made it a one-goal game with a little over eight minutes to go, but that was as close as the Wranglers got.
With Dustin Wolf pulled in favour of an extra attacker, McCormick scored an empty-netter to make the final score 7-5 Firebirds.
Coachella Valley outshot the Wranglers 37-36, with Chris Driedger picking up the win for the Firebirds.
After the game, Wrangler coach Trent Cull said the team gave the Firebirds too many chances and paid the price for it.
“They’re a high-end skill team. If you give those guys chances, usually they end up benefitting from them,” he said.
“We created some offence, but this (Coachella Valley) is a team that’s high-end, that can run-and-gun,” he added. “But that’s not us. That’s not how we play.
“We know how we play as a team – we call it Wrangler hockey and that’s the way we’ve got to keep it.”
Game 4 is scheduled for Friday night in Palm Springs. Puck drop is 8 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'There could have been an explosion,' 8 people, including 4 children injured in St. Constant, Que.
Eight people, including four children, have second- or third-degree burns as a result of an incident at a home in Saint-Constant, Que. south of Montreal, the Coopérative des techniciens ambulanciers de la Montérégie (CETAM) reported on Saturday.
Ontario gave parents more than $1B in cash over 2 years. Here's where the money went
During the pandemic, the Ontario government started to hand out cash to parents to help offset the cost of at-home learning while schools were shuttered.
Ryan Reynolds has declared 'War of the Popcorn Buckets.' He's honestly onto something
Ryan Reynolds this week unveiled arguably the most anticipated and sure-to-be coveted merchandise tied to his upcoming 'Deadpool' sequel: the movie’s novelty popcorn bucket.
Do this once a month and extend your life by up to 10 years. No gym required
Research shows that art experiences, whether as a maker or a beholder, transform our biology by rewiring our brains and triggering the release of neurochemicals, hormones and endorphins.
Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
One dead, 26 wounded in overnight shooting in Ohio: reports
A shooting on a street in Akron, Ohio, killed one man and wounded 26 other people early Sunday morning, according to reports by local news outlets.
North Korea says it will stop sending trash balloons as South Korea vows strong retaliation
South Korea said Sunday it’ll soon take retaliatory steps against North Korea over its launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border and other provocations.
Mass parachute jump over Normandy kicks off commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
Parachutists jumping from Second World War-era planes hurled themselves Sunday into now peaceful Normandy skies where war once raged, heralding a week of ceremonies for the fast-disappearing generation of Allied troops who fought from D-Day beaches 80 years ago.
Ambassador says interactions with Russia 'quite limited' but 'not unfriendly'
Canada's ambassador to Russia says while Ottawa has 'grave concerns' about the Kremlin's 'longer-term trends,' the war in Ukraine is 'a primary barrier to a change in the relationship.'