Wranglers drop 5-2 decision as Firebirds take over in the second
Calgary built two separate leads but couldn’t withstand a late push, as Coachella Valley took over in the second and never gave it back.
PALM DESERT — The Calgary Wranglers grabbed the opening goal and later rebuilt a one-goal lead in the second period, but Coachella Valley answered with four straight from there to take a 5-2 win Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena.
Dryden Hunt opened the scoring at 9:05 of the first period, finishing a play set up by Daniil Miromanov and Turner Ottenbreit to give Calgary a 1-0 lead.
The Firebirds answered early in the second when Jani Nyman tied the game at 1:54 off assists from Cooper Marody and Tyson Jugnauth.
Calgary pushed back at 4:14 of the second as Nick Cicek scored his sixth of the season from Aydar Suniev and Gavin White, restoring a 2-1 Wranglers lead.
That was the last Calgary goal of the night.
Coachella Valley pulled even at 14:30 of the second on Ty Nelson’s ninth of the year, with Cooper Marody and Gustav Olofsson drawing the assists. The Firebirds then took the lead for good at 18:43 when Eduard Šalé scored his 11th, assisted by Mitchell Stephens, sending the home side into the third period up 3-2.
In the final frame, Logan Morrison extended the lead on the power play at 2:15 with assists from Jagger Firkus and Nikke Kokko. Nyman added his second of the night at 19:26 to close the scoring.
Coachella Valley finished with a 39-24 edge in shots, including a 30-15 advantage over the final two periods. Arsenii Sergeev made 34 saves on 39 shots for Calgary, good for an .872 save percentage. Nikke Kokko stopped 22 of 24 for the Firebirds.
The Wranglers went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Coachella Valley finished 1-for-5.
Calgary now returns home for a Friday afternoon meeting with the Colorado Eagles at the Scotiabank Saddledome.