Calgary is looking to rebound after dropping Friday's opening match-up against the Canucks.
"We're a young group," Calgary Wranglers head coach Trent Cull said afterwards. "You can see that, we don't have a lot of pro experience and I think a lot of guys probably learned a little bit about pro hockey. It was a bit of a learning lesson.
"I thought we were battling back in the second, showed some good signs, and then we got a little careless with the puck, and then got into some penalty trouble in the third.
"I don't think we moved pucks particularly well out of our zone, that's tough to create offence from. But also, we didn't work away from the puck the way we should have, as a group of pro hockey players. It's a lot of learning lessons for some fresh faces."
The Flames were limited to 13 shots in the setback, a struggle that can be attributed to the group learning each other's tendencies as they tried to build up chemistry with their new teammates.
"You're trying to build as much," Lucas Ciona, who scored Calgary's lone goal in the loss, said. "It's a lot of jam-packed information in such a short period of time. You're meeting everybody else pretty much for the first time, playing with them for the first time. It's tough building the chemistry but you have to do it and you have to find a way. That's what we're focused on, especially going into (today's) game."
PLAYER TO WATCH
With a game under his belt, Sam Honzek will be looking to push his play to another level this evening in his first foray into the Battle Of Alberta.
The 18-year-old, who went 16th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, had a tremendous first season in North America in 2022-23, scoring 23 goals and 56 points in 43 games with the WHL's Vancouver Giants. In the playoffs, he was a point-per-game player for the Giants.
THE OPPOSITION
The Oilers, who have a roster made up of 15 tryouts, eight draft picks, and two prospects acquired via trade/signing, are coming off of a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday evening. Jake Sloan scored twice in the second period and Beau Akey added the insurance marker in the third period. Goaltender Nathan Day played the full game on Friday, with Zachary Bowen backing him up.
