Wranglers strike early, beat Eagles 5-2
Calgary jumps out to a three-goal lead and holds off a 52-shot push from Colorado in a 5-2 road win. Hunt posts three points, Murphy makes 50 saves.
Photo by David Moll / Calgary Wranglers
LOVELAND, Colo. — The Calgary Wranglers built a three-goal cushion early and held off a high-volume push from the Colorado Eagles to secure a 5-2 win Friday night at Blue FCU Arena.
Calgary opened the scoring just 36 seconds in when Sam Morton finished a setup from Étienne Morin to make it 1-0. Daniil Miromanov doubled the lead at 7:04 on the power play, and Aydar Suniev extended it to 3-0 at 11:52, also with the man advantage, giving the Wranglers full control through 20 minutes.
Colorado cut into the lead early in the second period, as Tristen Nielsen scored at 2:03 to make it 3-1.
The Wranglers restored their three-goal margin in the third. Dryden Hunt scored at 3:48 off feeds from Martin Frk and Miromanov to push it to 4-1. Nielsen answered again for Colorado just 20 seconds later, bringing the Eagles to within two, but Justin Kirkland closed it out at 9:54, finishing a play from Hunt and Frk to seal the 5-2 final.
Hunt led the way with a goal and two assists, while Miromanov and Frk each recorded two-point nights. Suniev and Morton drove the early momentum with first-period goals.
Colorado outshot Calgary 52-31, but the Wranglers controlled the moments that mattered. The power play went 2 for 4 and the penalty kill shut down all seven Eagles opportunities.
Connor Murphy delivered a standout performance in net, stopping 50 of 52 shots for a .962 save percentage. Trent Miner made 26 saves on 31 shots for Colorado, posting an .839 save percentage.
Dryden Hunt was named first star with a goal and two assists. Murphy earned second star honours with his 50-save effort, and Suniev was named third star.
Calgary wraps up the 2025-26 regular season Saturday night against the Eagles, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. MT in Loveland.