The Manitoba Moose (6-11-0-0) fell 3-2 to the Calgary Wranglers (15-5-1-0) on Friday night. The Moose were coming off a 6-1 loss against the Wranglers two days prior.
Both teams were held off the scoresheet through the first period. The Moose outshot the Wranglers 15-6 in the frame and generated some excellent scoring chances, but weren’t able to put one over the line. Devin Cooley made 15 saves in the Calgary crease, and Thomas Milic stopped all six pucks sent his way for Manitoba.
Both clubs were held at 0-0 through the middle frame. Manitoba’s penalty kill went to work during the second period, successfully killing off four Calgary power plays. The Moose outshot the Wranglers 8-7 in the period, with Milic and Cooley making some huge saves for both clubs to keep their opponents off the scoresheet once again.
Martin Frk opened the scoring for Calgary just under four minutes into the final frame, giving Calgary the 1-0 lead. Manitoba answered with a goal from C.J. Suess three minutes later to tie things up. Rory Kerins struck eight minutes into the period to re-establish the Calgary lead, but Dmitry Kuzmin netted his first goal of the season for the Moose a minute later, evening the score at 2-2. William Strömgren snuck one over the line around a crowd in the crease, with eight minutes remaining to secure a 3-2 win for the Wranglers. Cooley made 35 saves in the Calgary win, and Milic ended with 19 saves.
