Wranglers in must-win territory to keep Calder Cup hopes alive
ByAlex Medina
CalgaryFlames.com
Win or go home.
It's as simple as that.
The Wranglers head into a pivotal Game 4 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds tonight for an 8:00 p.m. MT puck drop.
AHL TV will carry the stream while Sportsnet 960 The FAN will host the radio broadcast.
Game 3 was a thrilling battle, that needed triple overtime as the teams battled for over 100 minutes before Ryker Evans ended it to give the Firebirds a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five match-up.
"We knew this was going to be a tight series," head coach Mitch Love said. "We had our chances in overtime especially in that first overtime, just didn't fall for us and they found a way. We knew we were going to have to come in here and try and win hockey games.
"We gotta win two in a row and we gotta try and win on Wednesday."
The Wranglers got off to a hot start, taking a 2-0 lead into the second before the Thunderbirds would slowly chip away with goals in the middle and third frame to force overtime to then complete the comeback.
All season the two clubs have been neck-and-neck and this series has proven to be more of the same.
"We had a 2-0 lead on the road, obviously you don't want to see those things get salted away," Love said. "But, it's a fine line out there and we knew that was going to be the case in this series.
"We just gotta win our battles, stick together as a group. Maybe the day off in between will be a good thing for us."
Leading The Charge
Headed into tonight's game, Matthew Phillips and Jeremie Poirier both are riding six-game point streaks and lead the club with seven points each (1G, 6A).
Player To Watch - Jakob Pelletier
Since rejoining the Wranglers for the Calder Cup Playoffs after spending time with the Flames, Pelletier hasn't missed a beat with six points in seven playoff tilts. His four goals has him tied for the team lead alongside Klapka.
During the regular season, Pelletier ended with 37 points in 35 games with the Wranglers, and notched seven points in 24 tilts with the Flames.
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Quotables
Mitch Love on the fight in the group:
"I was proud of the guys. That's a lot of hockey. That's not easy to do mentally and physically. I was proud of
the guys sticking with it there. It just didn't fall for us, hopefully it falls for us Wednesday."
Brett Sutter on the mindset heading into Game 4:
"The game could have went either way, I thought we had our chances to finish right from the third period right on through the end. In playoffs you've got to have a short memory and the guys are saying the right things in that room. We trust we're going to come out and get the job done in Game 4 here."
