By: Annie Nadin

The Wranglers rode goals from Justin Kirkland (2), Aydar Suniev (2), Sam Morton, Clark Bishop and Artem Grushnikov to a commanding 7-2 victory over the Moose at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night.

BOX SCORE

Calgary weathered an early push before taking firm control with a dominant middle frame and a stellar performance between the pipes from Arsenii Sergeev, who turned aside 42 shots.

The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first when Brayden Yager converted on the powerplay to give the Moose a 1-0 edge.

But the Wranglers seized the momentum in a wild second period.

Kirkland got Calgary on the board early in the frame, jamming home a puck from the top of the crease after a strong push by Dryden Hunt to even things up at 1-1.

Suniev took over to put on his own show.

The rookie forward finished a slick breakaway set up by Etienne Morin, wiring a top-shelf shot past Moose netminder Domenic DiVentiis five minutes into the period to give the Wranglers their first lead of the night.

Suniev struck again less than a minute later, pouncing on a loose puck during a scramble and tucking it home, with Bishop collecting the helper as Calgary pulled away.

Morton added to the onslaught, ripping a top-shelf shot past DiVentiis to make it 4-1, with Brennan Othmann, making his home debut, picking up the assist.

The powerplay kept rolling soon after.

Kirkland tipped a Hunt point shot past DiVentiis for his second of the night, stretching the lead to four.

Bishop capped the second-period surge during a two-on-one man advantage, finishing a Carter King setup with a toe-drag release to bring the score to 6-1 after 40 minutes.

The Moose found a response early in the third when Walker Duehr beat Sergeev to trim the deficit, but Calgary quickly restored order.

Artem Grushnikov answered back with a blast from the left circle off a William Stromgren feed, picking the top corner to round out the scoring.