The Calgary Wranglers dropped Game 1 of the AHL's Pacific Division Final, falling 6-3 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Game 2 goes tonight at 7:00 p.m. MT at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Tickets are available HERE.
Coachella Valley opened the scoring early in the first period, with Luke Henman beating Dustin Wolf at 1:48. Just under three minutes later, Jeremy McKenna struck, giving the vistors a 2-0 lead.
Jakob Pelletier, Calgary's first round pick in 2019, got the Wranglers on the board quickly after with second goal of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Matthew Phillips spotted Dryden Hunt with a quick cross-seam pass, who sent the puck backdoor to Pelletier, who redirected the puck by Firebirds goaltender Joey Daccord.
The high-scoring first period continued with Max McCormick making it a 3-1 game for the Firebirds at 7:11 but Hunt was able to pull the Wranglers within a goal before the frame came to a close, taking a pass from Walker Duehr and snapping into the back of the net.
Coachella Valley pulled away in the second period, scoring three goals off the sticks of Kole Lind (2) and Carsen Twarynski. Adam Klapka netted the Wranglers third goal in the second stanza, capitalizing on a Jeremie Poirier rebound at 6:04.
Wolf played 28:24 before Oscar Dansk took over in net for the final 31:36.
