BLAZERS WIN 4-2 OVER WILD
By Colton Davies – Follow Colton on X
The Kamloops Blazers hosted the Wenatchee Wild Saturday night on the second night of back-to-back games.
The first frame opened up with solid action on both ends keeping Blazers’ Ivans Kufterins and Wild’s Tobias Tvrznik busy through the opening 9 minutes of play. The Blazers broke through first, when Nathan Behm forced a turnover and sprung a two-on-zero with JP Hurlbert, who finished the one-timer to make it 1–0.
Wenatchee would then gain a powerplay, which the Blazers killed off with ease. The Blazers then earned a powerplay of their own, and capitalized late in the period as Isa Guram wired a shot past Tvrznik to extend the lead to 2–0 heading into the intermission.
Wenatchee got on the board early in the second as Blake Vanek picked up a quick rebound that beat Kufterins. Kamloops continue to apply pressure which saw chances come from Cooper Moore and Josh Evaschesen, each who generated quality looks, but both were turned aside by a Tvrznik.
The Blazers nearly struck when Behm and Tommy Lafreniere connected, but were again stopped by Tvrznik. Wenatchee then went to the powerplay, where Josh Toll came close to tying the game, but Kufterins stood tall with a big stop. Back the other way, Hurlbert came flying down the left side with speed and dangled the Wenatchee defender before almost roofing it on Tvrznik, but was robbed on the goal line.
The Blazers got the third period off to a quick start with chances from Evaschesen and Hurlbert, but neither could solve Tvrznik. Wenatchee answered with a flurry of shots of their own, testing Kufterins, who remained composed and came up with several key saves.
Kamloops then struck on the powerplay, as Moore fired a shot past Tvrznik to extend the Blazers lead by two. Wenatchee pulled their goaltender late, and Caelan Joudrey capitalized to pull the Wild within one. With the goalie out once again, Kamloops sealed the victory as Hurlbert buried his second of the night into the empty net, securing a 4–2 win.
The Blazers will play host to the Spokane Chiefs next Friday and the Penticton Vees on Saturday.
