The Manitoba Moose (9-10-0-0) hit the road to clash with the Calgary Wranglers (16-4-1-0), on Friday evening at Scotiabank Saddledome for the first of two weekend tilts. Manitoba was coming off a 3-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs on Dec. 3.
Manitoba opened the scoring at the 16:16 mark of the first period. With both sides skating four-on-four, Danny Zhilkin gathered the puck in the neutral zone and took off on a partial break. The forward showed pass before snapping the shot through the legs of a Wranglers defender and past Oscar Dansk. The goal was the lone tally of the opening frame. Manitoba took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Collin Delia, who was making his third straight start for the Moose, saved all nine shots he faced in the opening frame.
Calgary tied the contest 1:01 into the second. With the Wranglers on the power play, Dryden Hunt found Emilio Pettersen, who ripped a one-timer past a screened Delia. The Wranglers pulled ahead with 4:15 left in the stanza. Brady Lyle’s shot was knocked down in front and fell to the stick of Adam Klapka. The forward found open ice and roofed the puck. Calgary added another marker with 1:20 to play in the frame. With the Wranglers once again on the power play, Cole Schwindt won the draw and got the disc to Rory Kerins, who quickly fired it into the back of the net. Manitoba was outshot 19-5 in the middle frame and trailed 3-1 heading into the third period.
Manitoba pulled within a goal 5:46 into the final stanza. Brad Lambert grabbed the puck and attacked with speed. The forward challenged a Wranglers defender and quickly pulled the puck to the outside before firing it in off the far post. Calgary restored the two-goal lead less than a minute later. Kerins got the final touch through traffic off the point shot from Nick DiSimone. The Wranglers took a three-goal edge, as Mitch McLain redirected a shot along the ice past Delia. Schwindt was then able to find the back of the net off the rush at the 13:25 mark. Manitoba outshot Calgary by a count of 18-9 in the third period but dropped the contest by a score of 6-2. Delia was hit with the loss and ended the road contest with 31 stops, while Dansk picked up the victory and made 29 saves of his own.
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