Wild Storm Back Saturday, Stun Spokane for 4-3 Win
Photo Courtesy: Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild
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WENATCHEE, Wash. – Saturday night at Town Toyota Center, the Wenatchee Wild were only too happy to oblige their biggest home crowd of the season with one of their biggest wins yet.
Down 3-0 just eight-and-a-half minutes into the game, Wenatchee charged back for four unanswered third-period goals to shock the Spokane Chiefs for a 4-3 win, knocking off the second-best team in the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference one night after a down-to-the-wire finish in the Chiefs’ home building. Brendan Gee made his 2024-25 WHL debut and was perfect in relief of Daniel Hauser, making 23 saves.
The Chiefs grabbed the momentum early, starting with a Chase Harrington goal on a shot down the slot just 90 seconds off the opening draw. Hayden Paupanekis picked up a goal on the power play at the 8:07 mark, sneaking a puck over the goal line that Kenta Isogai found himself only a split-second too late to rescue. 27 seconds later, Mathis Preston switched the puck to the backhand side of his stick before sweeping it into the Wild net for a 3-0 lead, and ending Hauser’s 150th career WHL appearance.
After that, the stalemate began. The teams traded scoring chances for more than 34 minutes, with neither side gaining ground on the scoreboard. Finally, the Wild broke through when Dawson Seitz hit Evan Friesen for a one-timer on an odd-man rush at 2:58 of the third period. Paupanekis was called for a violation on the ensuing faceoff, giving Wenatchee a power play – 30 seconds into the man-advantage, Luka Shcherbyna found Miles Cooper out front for a tap-in to put the Wild back within a goal.
By the 4:44 mark of the period, the three-goal Spokane lead had evaporated completely, as Shaun Rios collected a rolling puck on the right wing and deposited it into the cage to even the score at 3-3. Wenatchee completed its scoring with 3:27 left, when Friesen won a left-wing faceoff for Seitz, who hurled it on net and past Chiefs goaltender Carter Esler to give the Wild their only lead.
“I thought we started to come on at the end of the first period, and the second period was pretty even for the most part,” said associate head coach Chris Clark. “You’ve just got to stick with it – you get one, and you never know what can happen. Fortunately, we got the power play on the next faceoff, (Miles) Cooper makes an unbelievable shot on the power play, and you’ve got momentum on your side. All of a sudden, it goes from 3-0 to 3-3 in a hurry, just like it went from 0-0 to 3-0 in a hurry in the first. (Friday) night, we definitely deserved a better fate, but the puck didn’t bounce our way. Tonight, we got those bounces, and it was good for our guys to get rewarded.”
Seitz and Friesen each had a goal and an assist, while Reid Andresen ended the night with two helpers for the Wild. Preston and Harrington each finished with a goal and two assists for Spokane, as Esler made 22 saves in the loss. Wenatchee picked up a power play goal for the fourth straight game, going 1-for-3, while the Chiefs capitalized on their only power play of the night.
In front of a crowd of 4,050, the Wild earned their first victory of the season against the Chiefs, and the first of the year on a comeback of three goals or more, while also jumping back within a point of a Western Conference playoff spot. Sitting at 12-17-3-1, Wenatchee sits a point behind the Kelowna Rockets, who will visit Town Toyota Center to end the calendar year on Tuesday. Spokane slipped to 23-12-0-0 with Saturday’s loss.
Tuesday’s New Year’s Eve battle against the Rockets is set for a special opening puck drop of 5 p.m. Tickets for that game and all regular-season home games are on sale now by phone at 509-888-7825, online here or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team’s website and on the team’s social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
Spokane 3 0 0 – 3
Wenatchee 0 0 4 – 4
1st Period-1, Spokane, Harrington 9 (Preston, Armstrong), 1:30. 2, Spokane, Paupanekis 8 (Harrington, Preston), 8:07 (PP). 3, Spokane, Preston 12 (Harrington, Armstrong), 8:34. Penalties-Cooper Wen (hooking), 7:28.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Gillespie Spo (cross checking), 4:04.
3rd Period-4, Wenatchee, Friesen 13 (Dawson Seitz, Andresen), 2:58. 5, Wenatchee, Cooper 13 (Shcherbyna, Isogai), 3:33 (PP). 6, Wenatchee, Rios 11 (McCagherty, Andresen), 4:44. 7, Wenatchee, Dawson Seitz 7 (Friesen), 16:33. Penalties-Paupanekis Spo (face off violation), 3:03; Crampton Spo (holding), 7:16.
Shots on Goal-Spokane 9-10-10-29. Wenatchee 9-4-13-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Spokane 1 / 1; Wenatchee 1 / 3.
Goalies-Spokane, Esler 4-4-0-0 (26 shots-22 saves). Wenatchee, Hauser 7-9-2-1 (6 shots-3 saves); Gee 1-0-0-0 (23 shots-23 saves).
A-4,050
Referees-Mark Pearce (5), Kacey Walker (28).
Linesmen-Brennan Walker (143), Mitchell Gibbs (142).
