By: Annie Nadin

A late push came up short for Calgary in a 4-2 setback Sunday to the Manitoba Moose at the Scotiabank Saddledome, with goals from Justin Kirkland and Alex Gallant providing the offence for the Wranglers.

BOX SCORE

Calgary spent much of the tilt battling to claw back momentum, responding twice but unable to find the equaliser late.

Despite the loss, rookie Arsenii Sergeev stood tall between the pipes in the doubleheader, turning aside 42 shots in Sunday’s matchup after making another 42 saves in Friday night’s opener.

The Moose opened the scoring late in the first period when Isak Phillips jumped into the play and beat the Wranglers netminder with just over five minutes remaining in the frame.

Calgary answered, working on the powerplay in the dying seconds, Daniil Miromanov fired a puck through traffic from the point that found Kirkland at the crease.

Kirkland managed to squeeze it past Thomas Milic to send the clubs into the intermission knotted 1-1.

The Moose regained the lead in the middle frame when Jaret Anderson-Dolan capitalised on a chance in tight.

Calgary pushed back again midway through the period.

A shot from the point by Nick Cicek created a bounce in front, and Gallant got a piece of it, chipping the puck past Milic to tie the game 2-2 and give the squad a chance.

The deadlock held until the late stages of the third.

With just over five minutes remaining, Calgary product Dylan Anhorn restored the Moose lead with a shot that found its way through traffic.

Calgary pressed with the extra attacker in the final minute, but David Gustafsson sealed the game with an empty-netter.