The red-hot Calgary Wranglers kept their win streak alive with a 6-3 win against the Tucson Roadrunners on home ice Saturday.
Wrangler’s centre Sam Morton, who finished Saturday’s match-up with two power-play goals and an assist, says he is working to maintain consistency and be reliable.
“I’m trying to take steps in the right direction and continue to be consistent,” he told reporters.
“We want to be hard to play at home, and we want to be a good road team as well. As long as we keep winning games, we’re happy.”
Wranglers forward William Stromgren, who capped the game with a goal and an assist, snagged the first goal of the game in the first three minutes.
However, Tucson blueliner Kevin Connauton responded with his third goal of the season to tie the game. Josh Doan, who assisted Connauton, scored on Wrangler netminder Waltteri Ignatjew after forward Yan Kuznetsov lost the puck in the Wranglers zone, giving the Roadrunners a 2-1 lead going into the second period.
Calgary’s Jeremie Poirier made it 2-2 a minute into the second, and lead Wrangler scorer Rory Kerins slipped one past Roadrunner goaltender Matt Villalta two minutes later. A power play for the Wranglers led Sam Morton to give them a 4-2 lead before the midway point.
After Roadrunner Hunter Drew made it 4-3 near the end of the second period, Ignatjew lost his mask with a big save in the third, denying Roadrunner Ben McCartney his fifth goal of the season to maintain Calgary’s lead.
With seven minutes remaining, Morton collected his second power-play goal of the night to make it 5-3, and Wranglers forward Dryden Hunt collected an empty netter with just over a minute remaining to cap off a 6-3 game and two-game homestand.
The Wranglers are now 17-5-1-0, tying the Hershey Bears for the top spot in the AHL this season, and the Roadrunners are 10-10-0-0.
The Manitoba Moose (6-12-0-1) head to Calgary on Tuesday for a two-game homestand, while the Roadrunners head back to Tucson to host the Henderson Silver Knights (6-14-0-0) on Friday, Dec. 13.