AHL Playoff Picture Taking Shape
Calgary heads into Sunday’s rematch with Manitoba looking to keep momentum after Friday’s 7–2 win at the Saddledome. With seven teams qualifying from the Pacific Division and several clubs clustered in the middle of the standings, the Wranglers still have room to climb as the AHL schedule moves deeper into its final stretch.
CALGARY — The American Hockey League standings are beginning to take shape as the season moves into its final stretch, with a few clubs already securing their place in the postseason.
At the top of the league, the Grand Rapids Griffins (90 points) and the Providence Bruins (89 points) have already clinched playoff spots in their respective divisions, setting the pace across the AHL.
In the Pacific Division, the Ontario Reign currently lead with 80 points, followed by the Colorado Eagles (78) and San Jose Barracuda (74). Several teams remain tightly grouped behind them as the race for positioning continues.
From a Calgary perspective, the Calgary Wranglers picked up an important result Friday night at the Saddledome, earning a 7-2 win over the Manitoba Moose. The victory leaves Calgary eight points outside a playoff position in the Pacific Division.
The format in the division allows seven teams to qualify for the playoffs, meaning the path is still there for the Wranglers if they can continue collecting points down the stretch.
Calgary is back in action Sunday at noon, again facing the Manitoba Moose, in what could become another opportunity to chip away at the gap in the standings as the final weeks of the AHL regular season approach.
Rocket score twice in third, beat Wranglers 5–3
The Laval Rocket scored twice early in the third period to break a 3–3 tie and defeat the Calgary Wranglers at Scotiabank Saddledome.
CALGARY — The Laval Rocket scored twice early in the third period to break open a tie game and defeat the Calgary Wranglers 5–3 on Saturday afternoon at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Laval set the tone quickly, opening the scoring just 37 seconds into the game when Filip Mešár netted his fifth of the season off a setup from Lucas Condotta and Adam Engström. Calgary answered at 5:32, as Dryden Hunt buried his 12th of the year, finishing a play created by Martin Frk and Daniil Miromanov.
The Rocket regained the lead midway through the first period. At 9:39, David Reinbacher jumped into the rush and snapped home his fourth of the season, with Condotta recording his second assist of the period and Owen Beck adding the secondary helper to make it 2–1 after 20 minutes.
The second period saw momentum swing back and forth as both teams traded goals. Calgary tied the game at 6:41 when Lucas Ciona scored his fourth of the season, finishing a setup from David Silye with Zayne Parekh picking up the secondary assist. The Wranglers then took their first lead of the night at 8:47, as Aydar Suniev buried his ninth of the season with Parekh collecting his second assist of the period and Rory Kerins adding the secondary helper.
Laval responded late in the frame. With 43 seconds remaining, William Trudeau tied the game at 19:17, scoring his sixth of the season off a feed from Laurent Dauphin to send the teams into the second intermission knotted 3–3.
The Rocket wasted little time pulling ahead in the third period. At 1:54, Engström scored his second goal of the game and seventh of the season, finishing a play set up by Jared Davidson and Mešár to make it 4–3. Laval struck again at 4:12, when Davidson added his 13th of the year, with Beck and Tyler Thorpe recording the assists to extend the lead to two.
Calgary pressed for a response but could not break through the rest of the way. The Wranglers outshot Laval 33–26 on the afternoon, but the Rocket goaltender, Jacob Fowler turned aside 30 of 33 shots for a .909 save percentage. Calgary netminder, Arsenii Sergeev finished with 21 saves on 26 shots for a .808 save percentage in the loss.