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Oct 31, 2023

WRANGLERS FALL IN OT IN GAME 3

In another tightly-contested match-up, the Calgary Wranglers fell 3-2 to the

In another tightly-contested match-up, the Calgary Wranglers fell 3-2 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in triple overtime and are now down 2-1 in the best-of-five Pacific Division Final.

"We knew this was going to be a tight series," head coach Mitch Love said. "We had our chances in overtime, especially that first overtime (period). It just didn't fall for us and they found a way. We knew we were going to come here and try to win hockey games so now we've got to win two in a row.

"Honestly, we probably played some of our best hockey of night in the overtime periods. Obviously it doesn't mean anything in the playoffs when you lose ... it's a tough one but hey, it's playoff hockey. We've been on the other side of it in the Abbotsford series. We've just got to get some rest here now and try to win a hockey game on the road on Wednesday."

The Wranglers were able to grab a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Adam Klapka and Jakob Pelletier. Both forwards now have four goals in seven playoff games, leading the Wranglers.

Klapka opened the scoring at the 8:25 mark, taking a pass from Walker Duehr while he was alone on the doorstep, easily shovelling the puck into the back of the net.

Video: Adam Klapka's goal in Game 3 vs. Coachella Valley

Pelletier scored his third goal in as many games when he grabbed an excellent pass from Matthew Phillips and went sprinting towards the net with two defenders bearing down on him. He was able to push the puck past Coachella Valley netminder Joey Daccord at 15:23.

Video: Jakob Pelletier's Game 3 goal to make it 2-0

The Firebirds evened things up with a goal from Gustav Olofsson in the second period and a goal from Max McCormick in the third frame.

In the first overtime period, the Wranglers outshot the Firebirds 19-3 while the second was more evenly matched, with each club getting shots on net. In the third overtime period, Ryker Evans played the hero for the home team, beating Dustin Wolf at 11:22.

Wolf ended the night with 48 saves on 51 shots while Daccord made 60 stops on 62 shots.

Game 4 goes on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. MT with AHL TV carrying the stream and Sportsnet 960 The FAN hosting the radio broadcast.