By: Annie Nadin
They’ve arrived in Palm Desert.
The Wranglers open a key road matchup against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on March 25 at 7:30 p.m., looking to get back in the win column.
The Matchup
Calgary enters the contest on the heels of back-to-back losses in Bakersfield (1-0) and San Diego (5-4), but showed plenty of fight in their most recent outing.
Against San Diego, the Wranglers nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback after falling behind 4-0 early in the second period.
Goals from Carter King, Clark Bishop, and Dryden Hunt, who also reached a career-high 50 points, sparked a three-goal surge in just two minutes to completely shift the momentum.
A late marker from Sam Morton brought Calgary within one, but a hat-trick from Nathan Gaucher sealed the result for San Diego.
This marks the final meeting of the season between Calgary and Coachella Valley, with the Firebirds holding the edge in the series at 4-2-1-0.
In their last clash on March 8, Coachella Valley earned a 4-1 win, with Justin Kirkland scoring Calgary’s lone goal, assisted by Brennan Othmann.
The Other Side
The Firebirds come in with momentum after a strong showing on the road, picking up back-to-back wins over the Colorado Eagles on March 21 (5-2) and March 22 (4-3 OT).
Those victories are key as they push for home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
Currently fifth in the Pacific Division, Coachella Valley holds a 34-21-5-0 record (73 points in 60 games).
Oskar Fisker Mølgaard was the difference-maker in their most recent win, recording two assists, scoring to force overtime, and then netting the game-winner to cap off a standout performance.
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