The Calgary Wranglers found the right answer on Outlaw night: a 4-2 home win over the Laval Rocket that snapped a three-game skid and gave them a much-needed reset after a six-game road trip.
They had to survive a heavy first period first. Laval owned the shot clock early, finished the night with a 38-28 edge, and spent long stretches pressing in Calgary’s end.
But the Wranglers made their chances count. Mike Benning opened the scoring late in the first, William Stromgren added another in the second, and after Laval rallied to tie it in the third, Alex Nylander delivered the go-ahead goal before Ben Jones sealed it with an empty-netter.
Connor Zary remained out of the lineup, while Jones returned to the Wranglers for this one. Calgary shuffled things around a bit, though there were no call-ups before puck drop, so the core stayed largely intact.
There’s a chance that changes on Friday morning for the Flames’ game against the Kraken, with Devin Cooley expected to be out and Brennan Othmann possibly unavailable as well after not returning to Wednesday’s game against the Oilers. That could leave this group short on a couple of key pieces by the second half of the series.
Calgary also made a small adjustment to the starting group to give Will Dineen a chance to skate against his former team before settling back into the announced look. Arsenii Sergeev drew the start in net opposite Kaapo Kahkonen, and both goalies were busy early in a first period with few whistles and not much room.
The Rocket gradually tilted the ice as the period wore on, but Sergeev held firm. Luke Philp took the game’s first penalty at 16:56 for tripping, giving Laval a look on the man advantage, though the visitors couldn’t cash in.
Then, with time winding down, Dryden Hunt absorbed a hit, Rory Kerins jumped the rush, and Benning finished the play with an elevated backhand over Kahkonen at 19:51. Kerins and Hunt got the assists, and Calgary somehow left the period up 1-0 despite being outshot 21-8.
Laval kept leaning on the Wranglers in the second, but Calgary’s power play gave them breathing room. After a holding call on Laval, then a delay of game penalty that extended the advantage, Hunt and Kerins set up another finish.
This time it was Stromgren firing through traffic at 10:33 to make it 2-0. Calgary earned another power play moments later when Filip Mesar was whistled for hooking, but that chance came up empty.
Still, the Wranglers carried a two-goal lead into the third even while trailing 26-18 in shots.
The final period turned into a scramble. Calgary was trying to add to the lead, then found itself short-handed when Rory Kerins was called for holding at 4:13.
Laval got on the board at 5:11 when Luke Mittelstadt beat Sergeev with a partially screened shot over the shoulder. The Rocket kept pushing and finally tied it at 14:58 on Xavier Simoneau’s backhand from deep in the zone.
That same sequence brought a heavyweight hit from Brayden Pachal on Dillan Bentley behind the net. Bentley stayed down for a few minutes after taking the board-side contact while carrying the setup pass, and although the game stayed too tight for anything to spill over right then, it may not be the last word on that play.
Calgary answered almost immediately. Just 1:04 later, Nylander buried a rebound after a broken sequence in the zone, with Philp and Jones earning the assists.
That put the Wranglers back in front for good. Laval pulled Kahkonen for the extra attacker at 18:11, but Jones iced it with the empty-net goal.
The Rocket put Kahkonen back in, then Vincent Arseneau was called for goaltender interference at 19:19, and the game ended with William Stromgren and Braden Hache receiving misconducts at 19:51.
Sergeev finished with 36 saves in the win, and all three stars went to Calgary: Nylander first, Sergeev second, and Kerins third after his two-assist night. Jones finished with a goal and an assist, while Benning, Stromgren, Hunt, and Philp all chipped in on the scoresheet.
The Wranglers are back at the dome next, with the Flames taking the ice Friday night before Calgary plays a Halloween game Saturday at 12:00 p.m. MT. Fans attending in person are invited to wear costumes, and the team will hand out Wranglers-branded buckets for kids.
In Other News...
Flames Momentum Vanished Fast Against A Colorado Team They Couldnt Contain
The Flames came in looking to build on some momentum, but Colorado stripped that away quickly in a 5-2 loss that left Calgary chasing the game from the opening stretch. The Avalanche scored the first four goals, with Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson all getting in on the action, while Cale Makar kept the puck moving with four assists in a night that showed just how hard the Avalanche can be to contain when they get rolling.
Calgary did get goals from Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil, and Farabee has been one of the brighter spots in the lineup lately with his offense continuing to show up. Still, the bigger concern was how quickly Colorado turned a competitive matchup into a steep climb, and the Flames were left searching for answers after another reminder of how thin the margin can be against a top-end opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Injury Trouble Is Creating A New Wranglers Problem
The Calgary Wranglers Halloween-night matchup with the Laval Rocket had the feel of a game played in a hurry and under pressure, with penalties, fights and a 2-1 loss that left the series split. Alex Nylander provided Calgarys lone goal, but the bigger story around the organization has been the steady drain of bodies moving up to the Flames as injuries pile up, with Arsenii Sergeev and William Stromgren among those called on to help at the NHL level.
Connor Zarys situation only adds to the uncertainty, and it leaves the Wranglers trying to keep their own season on track while serving as a patchwork support system for the parent club. The result against Laval was competitive enough, but it also underscored how thin the margin has become for Calgarys depth chart, where every new absence creates another hole for the Wranglers to fill. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Get Another Shot At A Flames Team With Real Questions
The Flames head into the first week of November with a 6-8-0 record and a few more questions than answers, even after a recent win over the Seattle Kraken. Calgary followed that up with a loss to the Colorado Avalanche, a reminder that the margin for error remains thin as the schedule tightens and the team heads into a stretch of two road games against divisional opponents before coming home for two more.
Offensively, Calgary has at least found some help from Matvei Gridin and Joel Farabee, who have been among the brighter spots in a lineup still dealing with injury absences. Devin Cooley, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sam Honzek and Brennan Othmann are all sidelined, and the Flames will have to keep piecing things together while trying to turn mixed results into something more sustainable. [Read more 🡒]