BRYAN WILSON – 11.22.2022

It’s good to be home!

The Wranglers returned to the Scotiabank Saddledome Tuesday night facing a familiar foe in the Coachella Valley Firebirds and picked up their third straight win.

Jakob Pelletier extended his scoring streak to seven games with a goal and an assist and was named the game’s First Star, while Matthew Phillips scored his 11th goal of the season.

Yan Kuznetsov notched his first-career AHL goal, which held up as the game-winner, and added two assists, and captain Brett Sutter registered a goal and a helper in the 5-3 Wranglers win.  Cole Schwindt tallied into the empty net to round out the scoring.

Dustin Wolf made multiple massive saves between the pipes in this one, turning aside 23 shots in total to pick up his ninth win of the season (9-2-0-1). He also assisted on the Wranglers fifth goal of the game. Wolf is now unbeaten in his last seven starts.

CGY Goal Scorers – Brett Sutter – Jakob Pelletier – Matthew Phillips – Yan Kuznetsov – Cole Schwindt (EN)

Chances were very limited in the first period.

However, when the Wranglers desperately needed a goal to sway momentum at home, the captain came through. A dump-in from Kuznetsov was picked up by Walker Duehr, who quickly sent the puck on net, and though the initial shot was stopped, the rebound popped out onto the stick of Sutter, who fired it home to give the Wranglers the 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.

The second period couldn’t have been more different than the first with goals galore.

Shane Wright made his presence felt in his first game with the Firebirds since joining the team for a conditioning stint from the Seattle Kraken. He scored his first professional goal on the breakaway to tie the game 1-1.

Max McCormick (PP) and Kole Lind would also add goals for Coachella Valley in the frame.

For the Wranglers, Pelletier and Phillips tallied to tie the game 3-3 at the break.

It was a tightly contested third period, with both goaltenders keeping things close.

Late in the period however, Kuznetsov walked into a shot from the point and blasted it by Firebirds netminder Joey Daccord. Then, with seconds left on the clock, Schwindt was rewarded after putting in the extra effort to skate up the ice and get into a good shooting position to score into the empty net to seal it.

The Wranglers have picked up points in each of their last eight games (7-0-1-0) and will look to continue their hot streak against the Firebirds on Thursday night.

Game Stars:

  1. Pelletier – 1g, 1a
  2. Sutter – 1g, 1a
  3. Kuznetsov – 1g, 2a